Hanna and Walter

by Walter Kohner, Frederick Kohner, Hanna Kohner

Book Overview

Hanna and Walter met in a small Czech town in 1935. They fell in love. Nazi Germany was far away--but before they knew what was happening, their world was torn apart and they were forced to flee, seemingly separated forever. This is the powerful and heartwarming story of what they went through--and how they found each other again.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394521641
• ISBN13: 9780394521640
• Release Date: April 1984
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A nice story

Good book about what happened to two different Jews during the Holocaust. I don't feel that it really portrayed the horrific events of the holocaust justly.

Moving story of love, tragedy, and triumph

I first read this story as part of the Reader's Digest Condensed books. I've picked it up several times in the years since, and it never fails to move me. I was sorry to learn that Hanna and Walter have passed on; I feel as if I've lost two heroes. The book follows Hanna and Walter through their early romance, separation, and Hanna's marriage to another man (who is murdered in Auschwitz) and her suffering in the death camps to their eventual reunion. Walter's journey to find her, praying that she's somehow survived, and their reunion are equally moving. I'm glad that they had a happy marriage, and wish their souls peace. They saw enough of hell. Everyone should read this book along with "The Diary of Anne Frank." Lest we forget.

Patience in a noble virtue, that pays off in the end...

I would recommend this book to a patient reader. It begins slowly at first, and the reader has to motivate him or herself to keep reading but by the middle of the book it's a total page-turner. I think the thing I like most about this novel was that love prevailed. Walter and Hanna both went through their terrible times, but in the end, it was like all that disappeared and there they were again, her standing up on the stairs, him in the entry hall, just like they had been 7 years earlier. I think after you finish the book you sit back and think, "Dang! This can't be real!" But it is, and that's what I think is magical about it. It's a true tale of love persevering.

I was amazed at how hard it was to put this book down!

I cannot express how much I liked this book! This couple wrote in thier own words the experiences they encountered during WWII. Hanna and Walter are two young lovers near the Austro-Hungary border in a amall Jewish Community. When WWII broke out, they were torn in seprate directions. You cannot get a more personal view of what was going on at the time (unless you were there). This story was from real people, in real situations, with a real and romantic ending. I recomend this book to anyone who is interested in not only WWII history, but anyone who beleves in hope.