She was liberated from hell on Earth. But will she ever be free from Auschwitz?

Poland, 1943. Dark skies and barbed wire fences were all Bluma Plaskovsky saw as she stepped down from the train onto the main platform of Auschwitz-Birkenau. After surviving the Wehrmacht’s decimation of her hometown, Bluma and what remained of her family were finally put on the long, harsh train ride through inhuman conditions that seemed to last an eternity.

Then the freight doors opened, and their fates were sealed.

For years Bluma was living her worst nightmare, as Auschwitz prisoner 31119. Working as a “blue scarf”—designated for the hard, menial labor around the camps—she witnessed firsthand the hope and kindness humanity is capable of, even under worst conditions of horror and despair. After the camp is finally liberated, Bluma takes whatever family she has left to try and rebuild their lives. But as she soon learns, escaping Auschwitz is harder than she thought. And her experiences will be tattooed on her for the rest of her life.

This is the shocking survival story of Bluma Plaskovsky, Auschwitz prisoner number 31119, as told to her son Yitzchak with touching humility and admirable willpower. Her story is intertwined with Yitzchak’s own quest for justice, not only for his mother, but to all survivors and their families who were, and still are, touched by the trauma of the holocaust.