AJR Book Club: Mala's Cat by Mala Kacenberg

28 March 2022
Frimchy Geller, in conversation with AJR's Next Generations & Communications Manager, Debra Barnes, discusses her mother's incredible memoir and being the daughter of a Holocaust survivor
Mala Kacenberg (nee Szorer) was born in Tarnogrod, Poland in 1927. As WWII broke out, Mala found herself having to fend for herself at the tender age of twelve, eventually escaping the ghetto and surviving in the forest, witnessing the horrors unfold in front of her. Surviving by her wits, courage and the help of a guardian angel (her cat Malach), she was the sole survivor of her family. Mala immigrated to London with other Jewish refugees after the war, where she raised a large beautiful family, living long enough to be blessed with many grandchildren. She enjoyed running a small Bed & Breakfast, treating all her guests as part of her family.
Mala was a member of the AJR until she passed away in 2018. Her daughter Frimchy Geller managed to get 'Mala's Cat' republished in 2022 by one of the largest publishing houses and it is receiving rave reviews.