Author event! Keren Blankfeld with Margrit Polak

Zibby's Bookshop is excited to welcome Keren Blankfeld and Margrit Polak to celebrate Blankfeld's LOVERS IN AUSHWITZ.

About the book:

The “mesmerizing and inspirational” (Judy Batalion) true story of two Holocaust survivors who fell in love in Auschwitz, only to be separated upon liberation and lead remarkable lives apart following the war—and then find each other again more than 70 years later.

Zippi Spitzer and David Wisnia were captivated by each other from the moment they first exchanged glances across the work floor. It was the beginning of a love story that could have happened anywhere. Except for one difference: this romance was unfolding in history’s most notorious death camp, between two young prisoners whose budding intimacy risked dooming them if they were caught.

Incredibly, David and Zippi survived for years beneath the ash-choked skies of Auschwitz. Under the protection of their fellow inmates, their romance grew and deepened, even as their brushes with death mounted and David’s luck in particular seemed close to running out. As the war’s end finally approached and the time came for them to leave the camp, David and Zippi made plans to meet again. But neither of them could imagine how long their reunion would take or how many lives they would live in the interim. They had no inkling, either, of the betrayals that would await them along the way. But David did suspect that Zippi harbored a secret—one that could explain the mystery of his survival all those years ago.

An unbelievable tale of romance, sacrifice, loss, and resilience, Lovers in Auschwitz is a saga of two young people who found themselves trapped inside a waking nightmare of the Nazis’ creation, yet who nevertheless discovered a love that sustained them through history’s darkest hour.

About the speakers:

Keren Blankfeld is an award-winning journalist. Her first book, LOVERS IN AUSCHWITZ: A TRUE STORY was published through Little, Brown in 2024 and is being translated to fourteen languages. Her stories have appeared in the New York Times, Forbes, Reuters, The Toronto Star, and others. A former editor and staff writer at Forbes, Keren has been a guest on CNN, BBC World News, and E! Entertainment. In 2013, Keren served as a creative executive at New Regency Productions, where she worked with screenwriters and playwrights to develop material for movies and TV shows. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and English from Tufts University and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Keren spent her teenage years in Houston, Texas. She now lives in New York with her husband and two sons.

Margrit Polak: Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Margrit's parents Jack and Ina Soep Polak were Dutch Holocaust survivors. When Margrit was 18, she and her father discovered 130 letters written between he and her mother, chronicling their courtship in the Dutch and German internment and concentration camps Westerbork and Bergen Belsen. She translated and annotated the letters which have subsequently been published as a book , filmed as a documentary and presented as an opera, all entitled STEAL A PENCIL FOR ME. Margrit owns and operates a boutique talent management company, Margrit Polak Management Inc. Margrit received her AB in the Theatre from Kenyon College in Ohio, and studied in NY with the late Lee Strasberg. She has been a talent manager in Los Angeles for over 30 years, representing both US and international talent. In 2020, along with her husband Harvey, and daughter Sofi, she founded the non-profit Anne Frank Los Angeles to honor the legacy of her parents. AFLA works with their partner Anne Frank organizations in Amsterdam, Basel, New York and South Carolina.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

1113 Montana Ave, 1113 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, United States