
Among the Reeds
The True Story of How a Family Survived the Holocaust
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tammy Bottner
-
By:
-
Tammy Bottner
About this listen
A young Jewish mother. A Nazi occupation bent on genocide. A heart-breaking decision that will tear a young family apart.
Belgium, 1940. Melly Bottner is just 18 with a three-week-old newborn son when the Nazi occupation of Belgium begins. She and her young husband Genek live in fear as it becomes obvious that all Jews will soon be taken. Watching friends and neighbors disappear as the Germans carry out their shocking purge, the young family confronts an awful truth: if they are to survive, they must rip their own family into pieces.
In this biography from Melly's point of view, author and granddaughter Tammy Bottner delivers a true and moving family memoir. This meticulously written and researched account brings to life the horrific decisions Bottner’s grandparents had to make simply to survive. Through their monumental choices, Tammy Bottner's grandparents ensured the survival of their family and made their post-war reunion possible.
Among the Reeds is a deeply personal family memoir that is part biography, part psychological observation of the extraordinary wartime lives of a persecuted people. If you like true stories of courage, heart-stopping near misses, and tear-jerking choices, then you’ll love Tammy Bottner’s compelling account.
©2017 2017 (P)2020 2020Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Redhead of Auschwitz
- A True Story
- By: Nechama Birnbaum
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosie was always told her red hair was a curse, but she never believed it. She often dreamed what it would look like under a white veil with the man of her dreams by her side. However, her life takes a harrowing turn in 1944 when she is forced out of her home and sent to the most gruesome of places: Auschwitz. Upon arrival, Rosie’s head is shaved and along with the loss of her beautiful hair, she loses the life she once cherished.
-
-
It’s so real…
- By Diane Findley on 07-02-22
By: Nechama Birnbaum
-
The Daughter of Auschwitz
- My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope
- By: Tova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.
-
-
Very interesting and well told
- By Tracy F. on 03-31-23
By: Tova Friedman, and others
-
Into the Forest
- A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph, and Love
- By: Rebecca Frankel
- Narrated by: Natalie Pela
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1942, the Rabinowitz family narrowly escaped the Nazi ghetto in their Polish town by fleeing to the forbidding Bialowieza Forest. They miraculously survived two years in the woods—through brutal winters, Typhus outbreaks, and merciless Nazi raids—until they were liberated by the Red Army in 1944. After the war, they trekked across the Alps into Italy, where they settled as refugees before eventually immigrating to the United States.
-
-
Great story with an added benefit
- By Scottsville Stu on 12-30-21
By: Rebecca Frankel
-
The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
- The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive
- By: Lucy Adlington
- Narrated by: Lucy Adlington
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the height of the Holocaust, 25 young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp - mainly Jewish women and girls - were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers. This fashion workshop - called the Upper Tailoring Studio - was established by Hedwig Höss, the camp commandant’s wife, and patronized by the wives of SS guards and officers.
-
-
Not what I expected given description and preview
- By Kaeli Mathes on 09-24-21
By: Lucy Adlington
-
Inside the Gas Chambers
- Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz
- By: Shlomo Venezia
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Slomo Venezia was born into a poor Jewish-Italian community living in Thessaloniki, Greece. At first, the occupying Italians protected his family; but when the Germans invaded, the Venezias were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and sisters disappeared on arrival, and he learned, at first with disbelief, that they had almost certainly been gassed. Given the chance to earn a little extra bread, he agreed to become a 'Sonderkommando', without realizing what this entailed.
-
-
Excellent book
- By Rodney on 03-14-23
By: Shlomo Venezia
-
Five Chimneys
- A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz
- By: Olga Lengyel
- Narrated by: Jennifer Wydra
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olga Lengyel tells, frankly and without compromise, one of the most horrifying stories of all time. This true, documented chronicle is the intimate, day-to-day record of a beautiful woman who survived the nightmare of Auschwitz and Birchenau. This book is a necessary reminder of one of the ugliest chapters in the history of human civilization.
-
-
Five Chimneys
- By Grannie Annie on 04-03-19
By: Olga Lengyel
-
The Redhead of Auschwitz
- A True Story
- By: Nechama Birnbaum
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosie was always told her red hair was a curse, but she never believed it. She often dreamed what it would look like under a white veil with the man of her dreams by her side. However, her life takes a harrowing turn in 1944 when she is forced out of her home and sent to the most gruesome of places: Auschwitz. Upon arrival, Rosie’s head is shaved and along with the loss of her beautiful hair, she loses the life she once cherished.
-
-
It’s so real…
- By Diane Findley on 07-02-22
By: Nechama Birnbaum
-
The Daughter of Auschwitz
- My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope
- By: Tova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.
-
-
Very interesting and well told
- By Tracy F. on 03-31-23
By: Tova Friedman, and others
-
Into the Forest
- A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph, and Love
- By: Rebecca Frankel
- Narrated by: Natalie Pela
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1942, the Rabinowitz family narrowly escaped the Nazi ghetto in their Polish town by fleeing to the forbidding Bialowieza Forest. They miraculously survived two years in the woods—through brutal winters, Typhus outbreaks, and merciless Nazi raids—until they were liberated by the Red Army in 1944. After the war, they trekked across the Alps into Italy, where they settled as refugees before eventually immigrating to the United States.
-
-
Great story with an added benefit
- By Scottsville Stu on 12-30-21
By: Rebecca Frankel
-
The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
- The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive
- By: Lucy Adlington
- Narrated by: Lucy Adlington
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the height of the Holocaust, 25 young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp - mainly Jewish women and girls - were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers. This fashion workshop - called the Upper Tailoring Studio - was established by Hedwig Höss, the camp commandant’s wife, and patronized by the wives of SS guards and officers.
-
-
Not what I expected given description and preview
- By Kaeli Mathes on 09-24-21
By: Lucy Adlington
-
Inside the Gas Chambers
- Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz
- By: Shlomo Venezia
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Slomo Venezia was born into a poor Jewish-Italian community living in Thessaloniki, Greece. At first, the occupying Italians protected his family; but when the Germans invaded, the Venezias were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and sisters disappeared on arrival, and he learned, at first with disbelief, that they had almost certainly been gassed. Given the chance to earn a little extra bread, he agreed to become a 'Sonderkommando', without realizing what this entailed.
-
-
Excellent book
- By Rodney on 03-14-23
By: Shlomo Venezia
-
Five Chimneys
- A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz
- By: Olga Lengyel
- Narrated by: Jennifer Wydra
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olga Lengyel tells, frankly and without compromise, one of the most horrifying stories of all time. This true, documented chronicle is the intimate, day-to-day record of a beautiful woman who survived the nightmare of Auschwitz and Birchenau. This book is a necessary reminder of one of the ugliest chapters in the history of human civilization.
-
-
Five Chimneys
- By Grannie Annie on 04-03-19
By: Olga Lengyel
-
Lily's Promise
- Holding On to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond—A Story for All Generations
- By: Lily Ebert, Dov Forman
- Narrated by: Charles HRH The Prince of Wales, Lily Ebert, Dov Forman, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Yom Kippur, 1944, fighting to stay alive as a prisoner in Auschwitz, Lily Ebert made a promise to herself. She would survive the hell she was in and tell the world her story, for everyone who couldn’t. Now, at ninety-eight, this remarkable woman—and TikTok sensation, thanks to the help of her eighteen-year-old great-grandson—fulfills that vow, relaying the details of her harrowing experiences with candor, charm, and an overflowing heart.
-
-
Narration is everything
- By S. Rosen on 06-02-22
By: Lily Ebert, and others
-
Nazis Knew My Name
- A Remarkable Story of Survival and Courage in Auschwitz
- By: Magda Hellinger, Maya Lee, David Brewster
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Zoe Carides
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In March 1942, 25-year-old kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger and nearly a thousand other young women were deported as some of the first Jews to be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The SS soon discovered that by putting prisoners in charge of the day-to-day accommodation blocks, they could deflect attention away from themselves. Magda was one such prisoner selected for leadership and put in charge of hundreds of women in the notorious Experimental Block 10. She found herself constantly walking a dangerously fine line: saving lives while avoiding suspicion by the SS.
-
-
Extraordinary courage.
- By Alice@Wonderland on 10-01-24
By: Magda Hellinger, and others
-
The Happiest Man on Earth
- The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor
- By: Eddie Jaku
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 3 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in Leipzig, Germany, into a Jewish family, Eddie Jaku was a teenager when his world was turned upside-down. On November 9, 1938, during the terrifying violence of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, Eddie was beaten by SS thugs, arrested, and sent to a concentration camp with thousands of other Jews across Germany. Every day of the next seven years of his life, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors in Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and finally on a forced death march during the Third Reich’s final days.
-
-
Everyone needs to listen to this amazing man
- By Christan Derryberry on 05-12-21
By: Eddie Jaku
-
The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz:
- A totally gripping and absolutely heartbreaking World War 2 novel
- By: Ellie Midwood
- Narrated by: Alison Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nobody leaves Auschwitz alive. Mala, inmate 19880, understood that the moment she stepped off the cattle train into the depths of hell. Edward, inmate 531, is a camp veteran and a political prisoner. They are locked up for no other sin than simply existing. But when they meet, the dark shadow of Auschwitz is lit by a glimmer of hope. Edward makes Mala believe in the impossible. That despite being surrounded by electric wire, machine guns topping endless watchtowers and searchlights roaming the ground, they will leave this death camp.
-
-
Very sorrowful book
- By paula wright on 03-30-21
By: Ellie Midwood
-
My Name Is Selma
- The Remarkable Memoir of a Jewish Resistance Fighter and Ravensbrück Survivor
- By: Selma van de Perre
- Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Selma van de Perre was 17 when World War II began. Until then, being Jewish in the Netherlands had not been an issue. But by 1941 it had become a matter of life or death. On several occasions, Selma barely avoided being rounded up by the Nazis. While her father was summoned to a work camp and eventually hospitalized in a Dutch transition camp, her mother and sister went into hiding - until they were betrayed in June 1943 and sent to Auschwitz.
-
-
We need to remember
- By Jeffrey L. Hall on 10-04-21
-
I Escaped from Auschwitz
- The Shocking True Story of the World War II Hero Who Escaped the Nazis and Helped Save Over 200,000 Jews
- By: Rudolf Vrba, Alan Bestic, Sir Martin Gilbert - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 7, 1944 - This date marks the successful escape of two Slovak prisoners from one of the most heavily-guarded and notorious concentration camps of Nazi Germany. The escapees, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, fled over 100 miles to be the first to give the graphic and detailed descriptions of the atrocities of Auschwitz. Originally published in the early 1960s, I Escaped from Auschwitz is the striking autobiography of none other than Rudolf Vrba himself. Vrba details his life leading up to, during, and after his escape from his 21-month internment in Auschwitz.
-
-
Best story from the Holocaust I’ve ever read!
- By Chuck812 on 01-10-21
By: Rudolf Vrba, and others
-
The Secrets We Left Behind
- By: Soraya M. Lane
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Occupied France, 1940. When the staff at a field hospital draw straws to find out who will join the evacuation from Dunkirk, Nurse Cate is left behind. But when the Nazis arrive to claim prisoners of war, she takes her chance and flees into the night, taking one patient with her. Fifty miles away, the surrendering soldiers of the Royal Norfolk Regiment are shot dead by the advancing Germans. Beneath the pile of bodies two men survive, crawling to the safety of a nearby farmhouse, where sisters Elise and Adelaide risk their lives to take them in.
-
-
Great
- By Auntie JoJo 607 on 12-04-21
By: Soraya M. Lane
-
Born Survivors
- Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope
- By: Wendy Holden
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eastern Europe, 1944: Three women believe they are pregnant, but are torn from their husbands before they can be certain. Rachel is sent to Auschwitz, unaware that her husband has been shot. Priska and her husband travel there together, but are immediately separated. Also at Auschwitz, Anka hopes in vain to be reunited with her husband. With the rest of their families gassed, these young wives are determined to hold on to all they have left-their lives, and those of their unborn babies.
-
-
Just an incredible story!
- By PCF on 06-03-17
By: Wendy Holden
-
The Nine
- The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany
- By: Gwen Strauss
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a 10-day journey across the front lines of World War II from Germany back to Paris. Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.
-
-
Soooo good!
- By anne simpson on 09-28-21
By: Gwen Strauss
-
The Warsaw Orphan
- By: Kelly Rimmer
- Narrated by: Nancy Peterson, Charlie Thurston
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1942, young Elzbieta Rabinek is aware of the swiftly growing discord just beyond the courtyard of her comfortable Warsaw home. She has no fondness for the Germans who patrol her streets and impose their curfews, but has never given much thought to what goes on behind the walls that contain her Jewish neighbors. She knows all too well about German brutality - and that it's the reason she must conceal her true identity. But in befriending Sara, Elzbieta makes a discovery that propels her into a dangerous world of deception and heroism.
-
-
Kelly did it again! 🥰
- By Eric Cardoza on 07-21-21
By: Kelly Rimmer
-
Auschwitz #34207
- The Joe Rubinstein Story
- By: Nancy Sprowell Geise
- Narrated by: Richard Rieman
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventy years ago, Joe Rubinstein walked out of a Nazi concentration camp. Until now, his story has been hidden from the world. Shortly before dawn on a frigid morning in Radom, Poland, 21-year-old Joe answered a knock at the door of the cottage he shared with his widowed mother and siblings. German soldiers forced him onto a crowded open-air truck. Wearing only an undershirt and shorts, Joe was left on the truck with no protection from the cold. By the next morning, several around him would be dead. From there, things got worse for young Joe, much worse.
-
-
A life changing read
- By mwatt on 03-26-16
-
The Light in Hidden Places
- By: Sharon Cameron
- Narrated by: Beata Poźniak
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1943, and for four years, 16-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemsyl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio - a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish.
-
-
Honored...
- By Kami on 03-23-20
By: Sharon Cameron
What listeners say about Among the Reeds
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 01-20-25
Epigenetics
Tammy. Thank you. Thank you so much. Deeply, deeply moving. And very informative and thought-provoking regarding epigenetics.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K. Martin
- 01-04-22
Wonderful way to learn history from a family’s view
I’m not the type to sit down and read an history book from start to finish. This book reads like a novel and endeared me to the family immediately.
When reading about history one often learns about the big picture—battles, numbers, deaths. This book takes you to the micro level, the family level.
I was touched by the family’s story of perseverance and survival as well as the lasting effect of the atrocities on descendants for generations. As a result, I feel deep compassion on a whole new level for all who suffered during the despicable acts of WWII.
The author’s voice was soothing and warm and conveyed the strength of her family in a beautiful and authentic way and with lessons for all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ephraim Shimoni
- 05-31-21
Terrible book
The author spent more time whining about her first husband than criticizing the nazis
..
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!