"Love life, and don’t be afraid of death.
Believe in God and a better future"
This inscription was written in Ester Goldstein’s album on 15 September 1942 by her 16-year-old classmate Bella Lassore. Ester Goldstein lived in Berlin with her parents, sister and brother. For a number of years, Ester had been keeping an album in which family members and teachers had inscribed messages to her. The note from Bella, together with her photo, was one of the last to appear in the journal. On 26 October 1942 Ester was sent to Riga, and on 12 January 1943 Bella was deported to Auschwitz. Both girls were murdered. The album, along with other family documents was given to Yad Vashem by Ester’s sister, Margot Herschenbaum (née Goldstein), the sole surviving member of the family. More...