Destined to Live : One Woman's War, Life, Loves Remembered

An extraordinary story of courage forgiveness and reconciliation. Sabina Wolanski was just 12 years old when her home town in Poland was invaded by Nazis.

In her diary along with innocent adolescent longings she recorded what happened next: the humiliations and terrors the murder of her beloved family and the startling story of her own survival. Leaving Europe after the war Sabina forged a new life in Australia juggling a thriving design business her family and an unorthodox love life.

But as time wore on she began asking herself why had she survived when so many died? And what kind of justice fitted such crimes? Those questions came to a head when at the trial of the man who had killed her father and brother she met the daughter of a former Nazi who was researching her own agonising past. In May 2005 when Germany opened its controversial Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin Sabina was chosen to speak as the voice of the six million dead.

In her speech she noted that although the Holocaust had taken everything she valued it had also taught her that hatred and discrimination are doomed to fail. Her ability to survive to love and to live well have been her greatest triumph. 'I couldn't put down this engaging honest story of love loss and survival.' Diane Armstrong bestselling author of The Voyage of Their Life '[an] extraordinary memoir' Sunday Mail Brisbane 'Wolanski tells an absolutely gripping story' Sunday Telegraph