Let Me Go

By: Helga Schneider

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Helga Schneider was four when her mother suddenly abandoned her family in Berlin in 1941. When she next saw her mother, 30 years later, she learned the shocking reason why. Her mother had joined the Nazi SS and had become a guard in the concentration camps, including Auschwitz, where she was in charge of a "correction" unit and responsible for untold acts of torture.

Nearly 30 more years would pass before their second and final reunion, an emotional encounter in Vienna, where her ailing mother, then 87 and unrepentant about her past, was living in a nursing home. Let Me Go is the extraordinary account of that meeting and of their conversation, which powerfully evokes the misery of obligation colliding with inescapable horror.

©2004 Helga Schneider (P)2004 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Rosenblat's narration captures the boastful, pitiable, and unrepentant mother in a matter-of-fact style that is both chilling and disturbing." (Booklist)

"The story will bring tears to most listeners' eyes.... Barbara Rosenblat's reading is astounding....the listener is chilled by the evil in her voice, and when she reads Schneider's words, the listener feels the anger and confusion that permeate the book." (AudioFile)

Stunning, Annoying, Haunting

I found this book because I was looking for books narrated by the great Barbara Rosenblatt. She's a national treasure.

This is one of the most profound books I've ever encountered. The balance of hatred and love. The longing for love. The unremitting digging by Helga at a mother who is both helpless and sadistic. As Helga is, too. I said "irritating," because I got really annoyed at the "why didn't you love me, mother?" repeated over and over in different ways. I wanted to say, "Oh, get a life." There was a certain amount of melodrama I got tired of. But the honesty was stunning and the ambiguity totally captivating. The descriptions of the people and places are marvelous.

Helga provides endless details and digs for more. Her obsessive research is one of the best things about this book. The factual info, in this context, is somehow even more horrible.

This is a picture, closeup, of a woman whose life lacked meaning (the mother) until she found a belief and a home in the SS and somebody to hate -- the Jews. It gives new meaning to the idea of a woman's leaving home to "find herself." She found herself quite contentedly in hell. And her daughter deals with it all both intellectually and emotionally with amazing insight.

Wow. This book is going to haunt me for a long time.

gripping

great book. I've wanted to read this for years. I enjoyed the reader as well. she did a wonderful job!

Excellent...

This is a chilling story... mostly because it is true. This would be a very difficult thing to live with. A story of forgiveness. If only we could all be so forgiving. I highly recommend.

Can't beat Rosenblat!

I found myself pulled into this book from the start. Barbara Rosenblat is a first class actress when it comes to reading. I think she has an amazing facility with nuance and emotion. The story is engaging, and all through the story, I felt that I was watching a play unfold on stage.

The story itself is interesting, giving a somewhat different view of the holocaust period. The story weaves personal tragedy with tragedy on a tremendous scale, and manages to hold its own. There are so many delicate touches and details in the story that it's easy to conjure the scene in the mind's eye, as if watching it on stage in front of you.

Highly recommended book.

Great Story

The Narrator of this story is great, as is the story itself. I couldn't imagine being left behind by a Mother who went onto evil, and left me with a person who didn't love me. Looking for closure, in a life with a gapping hole. Sad, but good.

Horrifying

What made the experience of listening to Let Me Go the most enjoyable?

It tears your feelings while you are waiting for a good ending.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt sorry for Helga and outraged about her mothers stubbornness and lack of acceptance.
The mother might well clinge to her beliefs till the end but one kind of hopes that she would take in her daughter even so.

good

dont change a thing. need more books like that l
love the story of the book.

Excellent narrator but uninteresting characters

This is a true story about a woman who has only seen her mother twice since the woman was a little girl. The mother is an unpleasant character. The second visit is what the book focuses on. By the time of the second visit, the mother is not only unpleasant but seems to be suffering from senile dementia. I quickly lost interest in the mother. There did not seem to be any reason for the daughter to be visiting her. I lost interest in the story and starting skipping ahead. The narrator was excellent however.

Fascinating!

Where does Let Me Go rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The quality and read of this book was wonderful! I literally felt like I was in the room with the mother and daughter- listening to a conversation. Totally un-like any other book Ive read

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES!

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended. Worth the money paid.

Mixed Emotions

Would you consider the audio edition of Let Me Go to be better than the print version?

Have no idea.

If you’ve listened to books by Helga Schneider before, how does this one compare?

No, but I'd like to

Which scene was your favorite?

Hard to say

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. It left me very empty and unsure about my feelings toward Helga. Very mixed emotions. I understand her point for sure, on the other hand, I felt sad about her 98 year old mother.

Any additional comments?

It was too short. I wanted more and I wanted Helga to relent a little with her old mother. It left me very sad and confused. Also, very interesting format and great narration.