Gerda Weissman was born in Bielsko, Poland,in 1924. She belongs to a jewish family and lived until the Nazis marched into Poland. Although they were allowed to live in their basement once the Nazi occupation started, after a while they were separated and sent away to different labor and death camps. Gerda was imprisoned in Marzdorf, Landshut, and Gruenburg. By the end of the war, Gerda had lost her family members and friends to Nazi brutality. Klein masks nothing in her emotionally upsetting description of the events and conditions she endured.
In May of 1945, American troops freed the camp in Czech Slovakia where Gerda was imprisoned. She stood in the door of the barracks and was approached by an American soldier who asked if anyone spoke English or German. Gerda told him that she spoke German, but she also confessed that she and other women were jewish. After a pause, the soldier informed her that he was also a jewish. The soldier asked Gerda if she could see "the other ladies." This simple request was stunning to Gerda, whose hair was white and who was also skinny, weighing in at 68 pounds; she understood that she had not been called a lady in more than six years. In a remarkable and unexpected twist of fate, Gerda Weissman married Kurt Klein, the American soldier who freed her.
In spite of the horrors that the victims endured, Klein paints a picture of friendship and humanity that existed among the prisoners. She even describes the unexpected kindness of Nazi guard, Frau Kuegler, toward her and the other prisoners. Gerda immigrated to the United States in 1946 where she has lived ever since. All But My Life also served as the basis for the Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary.
