The Strength of Hope

One of the most uplifting stories you will ever read. Abram Goldberg is a beacon of joy and optimism, and a master of keeping perspective.

The day Abram and his mother arrived at Auschwitz death camp they both knew it would be her last. In their final moment together, Abram’s mum urged her nineteen-year-old son to ‘do everything humanly possible to survive, and tell people what happened here’. Then she was taken to a gas chamber and murdered. Abram had already endured and survived so much until that moment, but with his strength of hope, sometimes reduced to a flicker, he survived.

After liberation, Abram eventually found his way to Belgium, where he met the love of his life, fellow Auschwitz survivor Cesia. The young couple came to Australia, where that flicker of hope grew as bright as the sun, illuminating everything they touched and everyone who came into their sphere. Without bitterness and always with perspective, Abram has never forgotten his mother’s last words to him. And in their seventy-five years of marriage, Abram and Cesia have remained dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust and to living their lives to the fullest in tribute to its victims.

The Strength of Hope is full of wisdom, insight and daring, but at its heart it is a love story: for Cesia, for Australia and for life itself.

All royalties to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, where Abram has volunteered since it was founded in 1984.

About the Authors

Abram Goldberg was born in ?ód?, Poland, in 1924. Following the Nazi invasion, Abe and his parents were imprisoned in ?ód? Ghetto. In 1944, Abe and his mother were sent to Auschwitz, where his mother was gassed upon arrival. Abe was sent to a series of camps before being liberated in 1945. Abe met his wife, Cesia, in 1946. They moved to Melbourne, Australia, in 1951, where they had two children and ran various restaurants including the iconic, Goldy’s. Abe has been volunteering at the Melbourn Holocaust Museum since 1984 and remains a member of the executive board. Abram was awarded an OAM in 2013.

Fiona Harris is an award-winning writer, creator and actor working successfully across a range of media and has written and co-written over a dozen books for both adults and kids. She co-wrote the internationally award-winning comedy web series The Drop Off, with her husband, Mike McLeish, which was adapted into both a novel and a telemovie that was broadcast by Channel 9 in 2021. The novel’s sequel, The Pick-up, was released in 2021. Fiona is currently working on a new adult fiction book with Mike, due for release in 2023.