The Girl in the Green Sweater: A Life in Holocaust's Shadow

Krystyna Chiger · Daniel Paisner

Sep 2008 · Macmillan + ORM

About this ebook

Based on the true story explored in the Academy Award–nominated film, In Darkness, this holocaust memoir is “a gripping account of survival and friendship” (Booklist).

In 1943, with Lvov’s 150,000 Jews having been exiled, killed, or forced into ghettos and facing extermination, a group of Polish Jews daringly sought refuge in the city’s sewer system. The last surviving member this group, Krystyna Chiger, shares one of the most intimate, harrowing and ultimately triumphant tales of survival to emerge from the Holocaust. The Girl in the Green Sweater is Chiger’s heartwrenching first-person account of the fourteen months she spent with her family in the fetid, underground sewers of Lvov.

The Girl in the Green Sweater is also the story of Leopold Socha, the group’s unlikely savior. A Polish Catholic and former thief, Socha risked his life to help Chiger’s underground family survive, bringing them food, medicine, and supplies. A moving memoir of a desperate escape and life under unimaginable circumstances, The Girl in the Green Sweater is ultimately a tale of intimate survival, friendship, and redemption.

“With a powerful story and a keen voice, Chiger’s Holocaust survivor’s tale is a worthy and memorable addition to the canon.” —Publishers Weekly

“Chiger’s exceptional story . . . stands out among the many Holocaust survival narratives as one that will touch the hearts of teens and adults alike and bring home the horrors of this very dark period in history.” —School Library Journal

“Through the eyes of the child that Krystyna Chiger was in Lvov, Poland in 1939 we see the whole moral universe.” —Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife and The Covenant

“[A] gripping memoir.” —Kirkus Reviews

Ratings and reviews

This is a heart-wrenching memoir but still an easy read. The beginning sometimes felt clumsy or plodding, but by half-way through I couldn't put it down. She somehow managed to depict her unthinkable circumstances vividly and realistically without sounding sensational. If anything, the emotional impact of the situation sometimes seems almost under-played. I would have been interested to read more about how the Chiger family re-adjusted to life above ground and find out some about the lives they went on to lead. Imperfect, but overall, more than satisfying.

Very heartfelt . The poor Jewish families. Never deserved the way they were treated by the Germans .My heart goes out to them all .I am so sorry for the way that they were treated They are kind and selfless . I love the Jewish people . God be with you .

What a moving story of survival, of the hunted and the angels that helped them. Really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down

About the author

KRYSTYNA CHIGER survived the Holocaust by hiding with her family in the sewers of Lvov, Poland for 14 months. A retired dentist, she lives in Long Island. DANIEL PAISNER has collaborated on many books, including the New York Times bestselling Last Man Down: A Firefighter's Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center.