Becoming Edith. The Education of a Hidden Child. Edith Mayer Cord.
The Wordsmithy, LLC publishers. New Milford, New Jersey, 2008.
Edith Mayer Cord is a successful financial advisor who fled from the Nazis during her childhood in Austria. Born in Vienna between the wars, her parents struggled to raise their children and then had to run for their lives – first to Italy and then to France. Edith’s father and brother were caught and murdered in Auschwitz.
Edith and her mother struggled to survive in hiding. After the war, Edith needed to overcome a dysfunctional family life while coming to terms with the Holocaust. She dedicated herself to pursuing her education under any and all circumstances. As she says, “My life is my triumph, and if I can overcome, so can others.”
A mother of three and a grandmother of seven, Edith is now retired and devotes herself to writing and speaking about her experiences in order to inspire others.
“In her inspiring memoir, Becoming Edith, Ms. Mayer Cord shows how the greatest difficulties in life can be overcome with courage and determination. This story describes the life of a young girl in Nazi Europe as she flees from her persecutors. Her mother is so traumatized and embittered by the loss of husband and son that she makes Edith’s life even more difficult.”
“Deciding that getting a solid education is the only way she will ever be able to break free of her circumstances, she pursues her goal and ultimately attains it. In her quest to find meaning in life, she is liberated spiritually and is able to transcend hatred, ultimately becoming herself, a confident, intelligent, caring person who achieves professional success and a fulfilling personal life.”
Ted Brenig, survivor