The Linden Still Bloom is a memoir of a teenager's resiliency, audacity and a drive to live. Shoshana tells how her charmed life growing up in Liepaja, Latvia, a sea side resort, gradually changed as first the Communists and then the Germans conquered the land. She was still in high school when the Nazis began rounding up and murdering Jews. She tells how the Jews still alive, including her family, were forced to live in a ghetto, until they were taken to concentration camps where survival was foremost in everyone's daily routine, and how she escaped during the Death March. Having escaped, she was now alone in the midst of the enemy. With courage and luck, she out wits the Nazis and makes it until the war ends, however she is not yet safe. The adventurous story continues until the conclusion in Palestine. It is told with humor and insight into human nature. The Linden Still Bloom defies expectations of holocaust books by not being a grim and dark tale, though there is that too. It is a wonderful testament to audaciousness and the drive to live.
A video of Shoshana Kahn telling her story was recorded for the USC Shoah Foundation. It is on youtube. https: //youtu.be/jkTJghlZXm4?si=armZStDHkkFK6Atv
Many viewers wrote comments. Here are a few. ...I'm 25 minutes in and my GOD this woman is out of this world amazing! What a beam of light! ...She is wonderful. I love that she knew how to handle herself in such hellish situations. ..Incredible. I am so inspired by who this woman is, and what she did. It makes me thirsty for life. ...She was a joy to listen to - she had me laughing out loud a few times ...What an incredible, inspirational, intelligent and beautiful woman! Someone should write a book or make a movie about Shoshana please! ...She has a tremendous life force. ...What a fantastic badass!
