Minneapolis resident Mary Neuman will read from her new book on June 15 at Temple Israel
By ERIN ELLIOTT BRYAN / Community News Editor
Tell your children about it,
And let your children tell theirs,
And their children to the next generation!
Joel 1:3
Minneapolis resident Mary Neuman has authored her memoir as Maryla Neuman, a “combination name: Maryla to recall the name my parents gave me and Neuman to echo the family name of my children.”
Neuman’s new book, Pockets in My Soul, chronicles her incredible life that began in Lwów, Poland. Her happy childhood was followed by Russian occupation, life in the Lwów (Lemberg) ghetto, time spent hiding on a farm, and internment in two prisons and two concentration camps, Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz.
As a Holocaust survivor, she made her way to the United States and raised three children, only to endure the loss of two of her children — one to murder and one to cancer — and one of her teenaged grandchildren to a car accident.
“While I act whole and look whole, I have empty pockets in my soul,” Neuman writes in the prologue. “My friends ask where I get the strength to lead an active life. I have no answer.”
Neuman’s story was told to fellow Shoah survivor Fred Amram. Pockets in My Soul was edited by Marcy R. Frost.
Neuman will be honored during a reception following Nefesh Shabbat services 6 p.m. Friday, June 15 at Temple Israel, 2324 Emerson Ave. S., Minneapolis. Neuman is a member of Temple Israel and its Sisterhood.
Mary Neuman’s life story is chronicled in Pockets in My Soul.
Mary Neuman’s life story is chronicled in Pockets in My Soul.Among the experiences recounted in the book is Neuman’s encounter with Dr. Josef Mengele, Auschwitz’s “Angel of Death,” who caught her and several others stealing cabbage from a truck.
“I knew I was done for,” Neuman says. “I looked at his pistol. I waited for it to jump out its holster. I listened for the shot. I could smell the smoke. But no shot came… Suddenly he slapped my left cheek with his open hand. ‘That’s for stealing,’ he said. I didn’t even feel any pain. I was so frightened I couldn’t breathe.”
After the encounter, a German prostitute whispered to Neuman, “You should consider yourself lucky that such a gorgeous man touched your face.”
After liberation, Neuman spent time in a displaced persons camp and traveled throughout Europe looking for her family. Eventually, she came to the United States and settled in Minneapolis.
And while Neuman acknowledges that she has had “more than my share of darkness,” she continues to “try to find the light.”
The book includes an epilogue by Amram and a timeline of Neuman’s life.
Temple Israel’s Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman has visited with Neuman once a week for the past four years, and Zimmerman considers Neuman “a second mother.”
“The book idea was hatched during one of our lunches,” Zimmerman writes on the book’s back cover. “This book is a blessing, healing words that bear witness to Mary’s courage and endless capacity for caring and insight.”
The book is available for $14.95 at the Temple Israel Gift Store.
