About the Book

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by Fanny Goose with Janet Fridman

The astonishing real life story of an indomitable young Jewish girl whose inner resolve and faith in God help her to survive the horrors of Hitler's plot to destroy her people.

Rising From the Holocaust is the astonishing life story of Holocaust survivor, Fanny Goose of London, Ontario, Canada, an indomitable young Jewish girl who miraculously survives the horrors of Hitler’s plot to destroy her people. Here is the quintessential account of survival while all around is being destroyed. Fanny’s determination and irrepressible spirit keep her from bitterness as she forges ahead to make a joyful life in North America and to wield influence in the political and social fabric of her community and nation. 

Though it was extremely difficult for Fanny to face a myriad of terrifying memories in the telling of her story, in doing so she has fulfilled a promise she made a long time ago to herself―that she would live to be a witness to tell all she had seen. Indeed, she has survived as the only witness of some historical events, involving the obliteration of her community, battles between the Germans and the Russians, partisan skirmishes and brutal murders in front of her eyes. 

Fanny was a young, irrepressible teenage girl (then known as Fanie Stenbock), growing up in Skalat, a small Jewish town in Poland, when the Nazis took over. By degrees, the community unravels until it is totally destroyed. Only by an endless string of miracles does Fanie survive. No matter how horrible the devastation, including the loss of her family and friends and entire community, her inner resolve and her faith in God keep her hopeful for a better future. And she is determined that she will live to be a witness of all the atrocities she sees.  Her indomitable spirit cannot be destroyed and her constant goodwill towards others brings the support and intervention she needs to help her survive. Many risk their lives to save hers, including a priest and nuns who hide her in a monastery where she is kept dressed in religious garb to disguise her race and religion. She is also hidden in a barn by Polish farmers, saved from the trains heading to a death camp by a young Judenrat police officer who pretends to be her fiancé, and spared certain death before the final destruction of the ghetto when a sympathetic railroad official ushers her out. 

When the war is over, Fanie returns to find her whole town obliterated, with only a small tree remaining on the grounds where her family home had once stood. This tree was one that had been planted by her father on the date of her birth and beneath its trunk, among the roots, she finds in the dark soil heirlooms that had been hidden by her family who had since perished in the ovens of the Holocaust. She meets Jerzy Gusz, a hero from the Jewish underground, who she finds attractive and exciting. They decide almost immediately to get married as the only way for Fanie to get an exit visa is for them to be a married couple. Fanie and Jerzy eventually find a way to travel to North America where they make a new life for themselves. They take new names – Fanny and Jerry Goose – and become respected members of their community, with Fanny in particular becoming politically influential. No would-be politician in her city could hope to be elected without first coming and getting Fanny’s blessing. 

This story, with its many twists and turns and with the uniqueness of its main character – Fanny Goose - leaves readers in both tears and laughter. And readers cannot help but acknowledge the miracles that spared Fanny and allowed her life to be a blessing to many.