This is the true story of Mala Kacenberg, one of nine children in a large Jewish family living in Poland. Three of her siblings died in infancy to diseases that are curable today. At the time she could not know that her entire family was to be slaughtered in one of mankind’s most heinous and brutal crimes, Hitler’s genocidal Holocaust.
Mala lived a simple, but happy existence, enjoying life, the simplicities of the countryside and nature. However, things were about to change. August 1939, and the German invasion, the Blitzkrieg, begins. Segregation soon starts after her small town is occupied. Every Jewish person must wear a yellow Star of David. Ghettos, curfews, and starvation follow.
Mala survives by living in the forest and moving from village to village. Her light blonde hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion allow her to move more freely and help to conceal her Jewish heritage. Eventually she moves to work as a maid in Germany, hiding in the very heart of her enemy.
I found myself admiring this brave, intelligent young girl and the choices she makes in order to survive. Constantly changing her identity and making life or death decisions, thinking and outwitting her enemies. Enemies who are not all German.
Malach, the name of Mala’s cat, seemed to warn and protect her from danger time and again, never leaving her side through Mala’s six years of struggle. Mala truly believes that this special cat was her guardian. Fittingly the name Malach is Hebrew for ‘Angel’.
Mala’s Cat is a wonderful true story of survival in the face of adversity that we simply cannot fathom.
Reviewed by Neale Lucas
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mala Kacenberg (nee Szorer) was born in Tarnogrod, Poland in 1927. As World War II broke out, Mala found herself having to fend for herself at the tender age of 12.
Surviving by her wits, courage and the help of a guardian angel (her cat Malach), she was the sole survivor of her family.
Mala immigrated to London with other Jewish refugees after the war, where she raised a large beautiful family, living long enough to be blessed with many grandchildren.
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