What is *I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree* by Laura Hillman about?

*I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree* is Laura Hillman’s Holocaust memoir detailing her survival across eight Nazi labor and concentration camps, including Auschwitz. The book recounts her harrowing experiences, her family’s deportation, and her love story with Dick Hillman, a Polish POW. Central to the narrative is their inclusion on Oskar Schindler’s list and the lilac tree’s symbolism as a testament to hope and enduring love.

Who should read *I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree*?

This memoir is ideal for young adults (ages 14+), Holocaust educators, and readers seeking firsthand accounts of resilience during WWII. Its accessible prose and themes of love amid tragedy make it suitable for classrooms and readers interested in Schindler’s List stories or Holocaust survival narratives.

Is *I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree* based on a true story?

Yes. Laura Hillman (born Hannelore Wolff) wrote this memoir about her experiences as a Schindler’s List survivor. The book documents her family’s deportation, her romance with Dick Hillman, and her eventual liberation after enduring forced labor, starvation, and loss.

How does Laura Hillman describe her experiences in concentration camps?

- **Brutal conditions**: Forced labor, starvation, and constant fear of death. - **Emotional resilience**: Her determination to survive for her family and Dick. - **Moments of humanity**: Small acts of kindness between prisoners and unexpected alliances.

What role does Oskar Schindler play in the memoir?

Schindler emerges as a heroic figure who saves Laura and Dick by adding them to his list of Jews transferred to his Czechoslovakian factory. His actions underscore the power of individual courage to defy systemic evil, offering Laura a lifeline amid genocide.

What is the significance of the lilac tree in the book?

The lilac tree symbolizes Laura and Dick’s promise to rebuild a life together after the war. It represents hope, renewal, and love’s ability to endure even in humanity’s darkest moments.

How does the author depict her relationship with Dick Hillman?

Their love story is portrayed as a beacon of hope in the camps. Laura credits Dick’s emotional support and their shared dream of planting a lilac tree as vital to her survival. They married post-war, fulfilling their promise.

What happened to Laura Hillman after the war?

Laura and Dick immigrated to the U.S., where she became a Holocaust educator and museum docent. She wrote this memoir decades later to share her story of survival and love.

I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree Summary

A Memoir of a Schindler's List Survivor

Laura Hillman

4.16(5507 Reviews)

I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree Summary Overview

In this haunting Holocaust memoir, Laura Hillman's survival through concentration camps becomes a testament to hope. Saved by Schindler's List alongside her future husband, her story has become essential reading in Holocaust education, revealing how love bloomed amid humanity's darkest chapter.

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Chapter 1

A Lilac Tree in the Midst of Darkness: A Testament to Love and Survival

In the shadows of the Holocaust stands a remarkable memoir that captures both the darkest depths of human cruelty and the enduring power of love. Laura Hillman's "I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree" chronicles her harrowing journey through Nazi concentration camps, where amidst unimaginable horror, she found an unexpected romance that would sustain her will to live. The book has become a staple in Holocaust education, praised for its unflinching honesty and accessible narrative that makes this difficult history comprehensible to younger readers. What distinguishes this memoir is not just its portrayal of survival against overwhelming odds, but its testament to how love can flourish even in history's darkest moments. When Oprah Winfrey featured the book in her magazine, she noted that it "reminds us that hope can bloom even in the most barren soil." The story's poignant title comes from a promise made by the author's future husband - a vow to plant a lilac tree once they were free, symbolizing renewal and life after devastation.

Chapter 2

The Fateful Choice: Reuniting with Family in the Face of Danger

In early 1942, the shadow of Nazi persecution hung heavily over Berlin's once-vibrant streets. For young Hannelore Wolff and her Jewish friends, even simple daily activities became fraught with danger. They were forced to wear the yellow Stars of David, though they often concealed them beneath scarves and collars while walking down the city's tree-lined streets. The stars marked them as targets, transforming familiar neighborhoods into potential traps. One particularly harrowing afternoon, two Hitler Youth boys spotted their partially hidden stars near the Kurfurstendamm. Only quick thinking and the intervention of a sympathetic shopkeeper prevented their immediate arrest and transport to Gestapo headquarters. This close call, however, would soon be overshadowed by devastating news that arrived via a terse official letter - her father, a respected businessman who had always maintained they would survive as a family, had been murdered at Buchenwald concentration camp. The notification was brutally matter-of-fact, listing only his prisoner number and date of death, denying even the dignity of his name. The grief had barely begun to settle when another letter arrived, this one from her mother, written in shaking handwriting that betrayed her terror. The Gestapo had ordered her mother and two younger brothers, aged 12 and 14, to report for deportation "to the East" - a euphemism whose true meaning was becoming increasingly clear. They were permitted only what they could carry in a single suitcase and knapsack. Despite her mother's explicit instructions to remain safe in Berlin, where Hannelore had secured relatively stable work and lodging, she made a decision that would irreversibly alter the course of her life - she composed a formal letter to the Gestapo requesting permission to join her family's transport. Her roommates, themselves refugees from other parts of Germany, were horrified by her decision. "Oh my God, what have you done?" they cried, sharing stories they'd heard of families being deliberately separated during deportation, of young people being sent to labor camps while the elderly and children disappeared entirely. But Hannelore's mind was set - family loyalty outweighed personal safety. When the permission arrived for May 2nd, reality finally struck her: "Oh my God, what have I done?" Yet she proceeded methodically, dividing her possessions among friends, keeping only her treasured volume of Rilke's poems as a final connection to her former life. The train journey to Weimar offered a preview of the dehumanization that awaited. In the passenger car, people physically recoiled from her yellow star, leaving an empty circle around her seat while Wehrmacht soldiers in the next compartment sang brutal party songs about Jewish blood spurting from knives. At the station, her mother - still beautiful despite months of hardship - waited with an expression Hannelore had never seen before: a mixture of joy, fear, and resignation. As they embraced, Hannelore sobbed that she sometimes imagined her father would suddenly return, appearing on a street corner with his familiar smile. "I wish that were so," her mother replied softly, "but that is not the reality of it." Walking through Weimar's streets toward their temporary quarters, they passed columns of skeletal prisoners in striped uniforms from Buchenwald, their hollow eyes and shuffling gaits offering a chilling glimpse of what awaited them. This voluntary reunion with her family, born of love and loyalty, would lead Hannelore through the darkest chapters of human history, testing her resilience, courage, and will to survive in ways she could never have imagined that spring morning in Berlin.

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Chapter 3

Into the Abyss: The Beginning of Deportation

May 8th arrived - Hannelore's mother's forty-third birthday - but there would be no celebration. With only knapsacks and suitcases containing bare essentials - a change of clothes, some photographs, and meager food rations - they left Grandmother Henriette waving tearfully from the doorway. Her trembling hands clutched a handkerchief as she watched her daughter and grandchildren disappear down the street. The town offered no farewell as they walked to the deportation assembly point, a deliberate humiliation comparing Jews to animals by herding them into Weimar's stock pen, where cattle were usually traded on market days. The stench of fear mingled with cow dung as armed SA men, their black boots gleaming and faces stern, separated men and boys from women and girls with sharp commands and rifle butts. Hannelore's brothers, David and Kurt, moved left without looking back, their shoulders straight but hands trembling. She stayed close to her mother, clutching her worn wool coat. Officials methodically confiscated valuables - her mother's gold wedding band, worn thin from seventeen years of marriage, and Hannelore's silver bracelet, a cherished thirteenth birthday gift from Great-uncle Nathan. The strip search that followed left her feeling violated as an SA woman examined every crevice of her body, her rough hands and cold eyes treating Hannelore like a piece of merchandise. A piercing cry echoed across the hall, bouncing off concrete walls. An elderly man had begun reciting "Hear, O Israel" - the ancient Jewish prayer of faith - when an SA man attacked him with systematic brutality, continuing until the man's prayers faded to whispers and then silence. Other deportees watched in helpless horror, understanding this was a warning of what resistance would bring. By evening, they boarded a sealed train, finding whatever space they could on wooden benches or atop their own suitcases. Hours later, the train lurched forward, its wheels screaming against rails as it moved into the night toward an uncertain destination. When morning light filtered through the grimy windows into their overcrowded compartment, Hannelore managed a weak wave to her mother across the mass of bodies. Through windows streaked with condensation from hundreds of breathing bodies, they saw Polish farmers pause in their fields, leaning on hoes and pitchforks, staring at their passing train with unreadable expressions. Late afternoon brought them to Lublin, Poland, where men wearing white armbands - Jews appointed by the SS called Judenrat - directed them through narrow streets to the ghetto with practiced efficiency, their faces showing a mix of sympathy and resignation. Despite the cold spring rain that soaked through their clothes, they found their assigned address at Novotnastrasse 10, a run-down apartment building with peeling paint and broken windows. Another family - the Rosenfelds from Frankfurt - already occupied their designated room, but Hannelore's exhausted mother insisted they make space, her usual politeness giving way to desperate determination. They settled into the cramped, dark quarters, sharing a single mattress between them, too tired to wait in line for the single bathroom serving the entire floor of thirty people. This was merely the beginning of their descent into the Nazi machinery of destruction - a system methodically designed to strip away dignity before taking lives. For Hannelore, this journey would test not only her will to survive but her capacity to maintain humanity in a world determined to destroy it. The rain continued to fall outside their window, a fitting backdrop to the first night of what would become years of darkness.

Chapter 4

Separation and Loss: The Disintegration of Family

The knock at night that took Hannelore's brother Wolfgang marked the beginning of her family's disintegration. Despite her mother's protests, a Judenrat policeman insisted he was only being taken for work and would return by morning. Hannelore and her mother spent the night shivering, holding each other, clinging to the promise of his return. At daybreak, Hannelore sought out Eugen Heiman, a policeman who cruelly informed her that Wolfgang had been sent to Majdanek hours ago. He implied her younger brother Selly might suffer the same fate unless she was "nice" to him - a proposition she fled from in disgust. Unable to tell her mother the truth, she offered vague assurances instead, though a mother's intuition told her Wolfgang was in danger. When Eugen later approached with warnings that the ghetto would soon be liquidated, he offered to help them hide, placing each family member in different locations. Though skeptical, Hannelore discussed it with her mother who asked the heartbreaking question: "Do I have a choice?" Their last night together was emotional. They huddled close, reminiscing about Papa and Wolfgang while her mother read tear-stained psalms from her prayer book. At dawn in October 1942, they left their remaining possessions behind and separated, each going in a different direction - a family fractured by forces beyond their control. After hiding in a tunnel during the ghetto liquidation, Hannelore emerged to find the area deserted except for discarded belongings dancing in the wind. Her desperate search for her mother and brother yielded nothing. When Eugen found her collapsed in tears, he delivered the grim news that they were likely captured and forced her to leave immediately. The systematic destruction of families was a cornerstone of Nazi persecution - separating loved ones not just physically but emotionally, severing the bonds that gave life meaning. For Hannelore, these separations marked the beginning of a solitary journey through the concentration camp system, where she would face unimaginable challenges without the comfort of family. Yet these losses also forged in her a fierce determination to survive - to bear witness to what happened to those she loved, and perhaps, against all odds, to find them again.

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Chapter 5

Survival Amidst Brutality: Life in the Camps

Life in the Nazi camps was a daily battle against hunger, disease, and arbitrary cruelty. At Budzyn, Hannelore endured backbreaking labor moving rocks, minimal hygiene, and the sadistic whims of Commandant Feix, who delighted in tormenting prisoners with pointless drills like "caps off, caps on." Despite these harsh conditions, an underground economy thrived on Lagerstrasse, where prisoners traded valuables for food or easier work assignments. When assigned to a "special project" in the forest - covering a mass grave - Hannelore connected with a Polish soldier whose eyes had captivated her. His name was Dick Hillman, a Jewish POW who had survived years in German captivity. Despite the horror surrounding them, she found herself falling deeply in love with him - a dangerous but life-affirming connection. The brutality of camp life took its most personal turn when Hannelore discovered her brother Selly at Budzyn - so emaciated she barely recognized him. Dr. Mosbach confirmed her fears: Selly was undernourished with a collapsed lung from a beating. In a desperate act of courage, Hannelore approached the feared Commandant Feix directly, pleading for her brother. Miraculously, he ordered Selly returned to the infirmary with double rations. But Selly was too ill to recover. On his final night, Hannelore begged to stay with him as he cried for water. By morning, her dear brother was dead. As conditions deteriorated further - food rations cut, guards growing more brutal - Hannelore relied on small acts of kindness and friendship to survive. Her friendship with Fella became crucial, as the young woman taught her survival skills like making bread last longer and warning her about cruel Kapos. When Hannelore fell ill with scarlet fever, it was Eva who bravely defended her from an overseer about to club her. The camps were designed to strip away humanity, to reduce people to numbers and break their spirit. Yet within this system of dehumanization, prisoners found ways to maintain their dignity and compassion. Whether sharing a precious morsel of food, hiding a sick friend during selections, or simply offering words of encouragement, these small acts of humanity became acts of resistance against the Nazi machinery of death. For Hannelore, these connections - especially her love for Dick - provided not just comfort but a reason to continue fighting for survival.

Chapter 6

Love Against All Odds: A Beacon in Darkness

In the most unlikely of places - surrounded by death, starvation, and cruelty - Hannelore found love. Dick Hillman, a Jewish Polish prisoner of war with "beautiful, sad eyes," became her reason to survive. Their relationship developed through secret meetings where he brought her coffee and bread, risking punishment to care for her. "One day, when this is over, I'll plant you a lilac bush," Dick promised, evoking memories of the tree her romantic father used to sing beneath on her mother's birthday. This promise of a future beyond the camps became a symbol of hope that sustained Hannelore through her darkest moments. Their love story unfolded against impossible odds. When Hannelore fell ill with a cold, Dick risked everything to bring her hot soup, boots, and a sweater. Their evening meetings in a shed provided rare moments of tenderness in a world defined by brutality. These precious encounters gave Hannelore strength when she might otherwise have surrendered to despair, especially after losing her brother Selly. Their relationship was fraught with danger and separation. When Dick became increasingly distant and eventually stopped coming to their meetings, Hannelore learned he had connections to partisans and had been arrested and beaten. Later, when she was transferred to Auschwitz, she feared she would never see him again. The power of their connection transcended the physical horrors around them. In a world designed to strip away humanity and reduce people to numbers, their love was an act of defiance - a reclaiming of their humanity and a statement that even in the darkest circumstances, the human capacity for love could not be extinguished. This love story illustrates how, even in the most dehumanizing conditions, people found ways to maintain their humanity. For Hannelore, loving Dick wasn't just about romantic attachment - it was about holding onto hope, finding meaning in a meaningless situation, and believing in a future that seemed impossible. Their relationship became a lifeline, giving her a reason to endure when surrender might have seemed the easier choice.

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Chapter 7

The Horror of Auschwitz: Facing Death's Shadow

The cattle car doors opened to reveal Hannelore's worst nightmare - not Brunnlitz where Schindler's factory offered relative safety, but Auschwitz, the most notorious death camp in the Nazi system. Terror gripped her as she recognized the name of this hellhole. SS guards in heavy coats watched as prisoners shivered in thin dresses in the November wind, while bizarrely, an orchestra played a lively waltz. The surreal scene unfolded as people from other cattle cars were separated into lines. A girl whispered that those sent left - the elderly and small children - "will die before this night is over." Hannelore lost sight of Eva in the chaos, clinging to the assurance that "You're on Oskar Schindler's list. You have nothing to worry about." Life in Auschwitz represented the nadir of human experience. Snowflakes became Hannelore's small blessing, relieving her thirst and filling her stomach slightly, while the constant chill gnawed at her insides. Her damp dress and wooden clogs never dried. Time blurred in the windowless hut where icy winds seeped through cracks and lice infested their thin blankets. The horror intensified when Hannelore heard children crying for their mothers, followed by sickening fumes from the crematorium. During a selection, she was pointed left - a death sentence. Watching what she believed would be her "last sunset" while awaiting the gas chamber, she slipped into a passing work detail when guards weren't looking. Despite causing confusion at roll call, she miraculously escaped detection and returned to her barrack. Disease spread rapidly through the hut. When Hannelore developed a head cold, she wrapped discarded rags around her head for minimal warmth. Using a shard of mirror, she glimpsed her reflection - a skeleton with wrinkled skin like an old woman's. Dreams became her only escape from the pain that wracked her back and belly as her skeletal body pressed against hard wooden planks. Auschwitz represented the ultimate expression of Nazi genocide - an industrialized killing center designed for maximum efficiency in murder. That Hannelore survived this place, even for a relatively short time, testifies to both her remarkable resilience and extraordinary luck. Her experience there brought her face to face with the full horror of the Holocaust, a reality so terrible that many survivors would struggle for decades to find words to describe it.

Chapter 8

Schindler's List: A Narrow Escape from Death

When SS men shouted "Schindler women, up and out!" in the middle of the night, calling names instead of numbers, it seemed like a dream. Eva's name was called, then Hannelore's. As they marched outside to "Rosamunde" playing, Hannelore spotted a woman's body hanging from the electric fence, her arm raised as if in prayer - a chilling reminder of what she'd contemplated herself. The journey from Auschwitz proved difficult in their weakened state. Hannelore wept thinking of Dick and her family, clutching photographs hidden in her clogs - her parents on their honeymoon, her brothers Wolfgang and Selly smiling mischievously. When they finally arrived at their destination, they stumbled from the cattle cars into fresh air and strong sunlight that melted the packed snow. There stood Oskar Schindler in his Tyrolean hat - not the small, portly man Hannelore had imagined but a dashing, charismatic figure whose voice generated trust. He directed them to a building where soup and bread awaited. Inside the camp, men called from a balcony to the women below. Among them, Hannelore heard a familiar voice: "Little one, I have been looking for you all over!" Too afraid to believe it was real, she shuffled along like a sleepwalker, letting Eva guide her toward food - the best she'd eaten since leaving home, with chunks of meat and vegetables. After showering and changing into clean clothes, she was called to the balcony where Dick stood on the other side of a mesh fence, looking remarkably well. Though they couldn't touch, they met nightly at the fence, placing their hands against the mesh from opposite sides. Dick brought her sweetened coffee and bread, making her stronger. He now spoke freely of his work with Czech partisans who provided food, guns, and a radio. Oskar Schindler's intervention saved approximately 1,200 Jews from certain death. His factory in Brunnlitz became a haven where prisoners received better treatment and food than anywhere else in the Nazi system. For Hannelore, being on "Schindler's list" meant not just survival but reunion with Dick - a miracle she had scarcely dared to hope for after the horrors of Auschwitz. Schindler's actions demonstrate how one person's moral courage could create an island of humanity within a sea of atrocity. His willingness to risk his fortune, reputation, and life to save his workers stands as a powerful counterpoint to the indifference and complicity that enabled the Holocaust.

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Chapter 9

Liberation and Renewal: The Promise of the Lilac Tree Fulfilled

As winter eased in 1945, news indicated Germany was losing the war. By late April, the SS guards grew anxious about falling into Russian hands. On April 28, Schindler celebrated his birthday with a daring speech condemning the Nazis. On May 8, 1945 - coincidentally Hannelore's mother's birthday and exactly three years since their deportation from Weimar - Schindler announced Germany's unconditional surrender, urging the prisoners not to seek revenge. The SS guards quietly disappeared. Though officially free, Dick warned everyone to stay inside as some Germans were still fighting. Two days later, a Jewish Russian officer arrived on horseback, officially liberating them with the powerful words: "I am a Hebrew, like you. And so, my brethren, it is fitting that I give you your freedom." For Hannelore and Dick, liberation meant the beginning of a new life together. They married on October 22, 1945, arriving in New York on January 4, 1947. Except for two of Dick's sisters, neither ever heard from their loved ones again. The family they had lost could never be replaced, but together they built a new life from the ashes of their past. The lilac tree Dick had promised to plant for Hannelore became a symbol of their survival and renewal - a living testament to love that had flourished against impossible odds. Like the lilac, they had somehow found a way to bloom even in the harshest conditions, their roots drawing strength from the darkest soil. Their story reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit and the power of love to sustain hope in the most desperate circumstances. It stands as a testament to those who perished and those who survived - a narrative that refuses to let the world forget the horrors of the Holocaust while simultaneously affirming the enduring capacity of humans to rebuild their lives after unimaginable trauma. In the end, Hannelore and Dick's journey from the depths of Nazi persecution to freedom in America embodies both the tragic history of the Holocaust and the possibility of renewal after devastation. Their story, captured in "I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree," ensures that the experiences of Holocaust victims and survivors continue to be remembered, honored, and learned from by future generations.

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Key Themes in the I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree Summary

holocaust survival
schindler's list survivors
wartime romance
family loyalty
concentration camp memoir

Best Quotes from the I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree Summary

"Oh my God, what have I done?"
Hope can bloom even in the most barren soil.
The stars marked them as targets.
Love can flourish even in history's darkest moments.

Characters in the I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree Summary

Hannelore WolffThe protagonist and author of the memoir
KurtHannelore's younger brother
HenrietteHannelore's grandmother

About the Author

Laura Hillman, born Hannelore Wolff in Aurich, Germany (1923–2020), was a Holocaust survivor, memoirist, and advocate for Holocaust education.

Her memoir I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree: A Memoir of a Schindler’s List Survivor blends historical nonfiction with themes of resilience, love, and survival during WWII. Hillman’s firsthand account details her imprisonment in eight concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau, and her rescue through Oskar Schindler’s famous list.

After losing her parents and younger brother to the camps, she married fellow survivor Bernhard “Dick” Hillman and emigrated to the U.S., where she became a public speaker and docent at the Long Beach Museum of Art.

Her work has been integrated into Holocaust education curricula, emphasizing remembrance and the enduring power of hope. The memoir, celebrated for its unflinching yet poignant narrative, stands as a vital historical testimony translated into multiple languages.

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BeFreed has become my daily app for audio books tools... What I like the most is the way you put your text and come with an audio that you can listen on the go.

@kotanzu1

I love the fact that I can get useful, condensed, information and ideas in a 8 - 15 minute podcast style audio. I'm not a general fan of podcasts because of all the fluff, but this cuts through all that.

@BeFreed user

I am finishing up my doctorate, and have to read a lot of unfamiliar material... With BeFreed, you simply enter a prompt, and the app finds source material for you and generates an audio podcast. I find the process in BeFreed to be more streamlined than NotebookLM.

@Brad

I often search YouTube for something to listen to whilst making breakfast, when I'm out walking, commuting, etc, and BeFreed has provided an even more targeted approach, without the adverts and the fluff!

@BeFreed user

The absolute best part about this platform is its versatility. There is literally no subject that is off-topic. It handles whatever you throw at it... It is rare to find an learning tool with zero limitations that actually delivers on its promises.

@jayallen

BeFreed is fantastic. The user-friendly design means I spend less time navigating and more time learning. The mix of audiobooks, podcasts, and learning plans is a genius combo that has completely changed my daily routine.

@BeFreed user

At the start I needed a while to understand how to create podcasts in italian language and boom! It is so great! I can ask to explain every argument and it does so well and so smartly!

@matteo77

BeFreed has become my daily app for audio books tools... What I like the most is the way you put your text and come with an audio that you can listen on the go.

@kotanzu1

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