Survival

Suspense, danger, terror, death and finally exhilaration, joy, and renewed hope. That is a rare combination, but this historical account contains them all, in abundant measure. This book tells three stories of ordinary human beings coping with inhuman conditions and surviving, not only physically but morally and religiously. The stories are true, carefully researched and magnificently told. The centerpiece of this volume is the harrowing story of many families fighting for life under the very noses of the voracious Nazi murderers. Facing treachery, greed, blood-lust, hunger, and overpowering fear " they persevered. Among them was a rabbi destined to become one of the world's major halchic authorities. Others are virtually anonymous, all of them displayed faith, unselfishness, and a moral grandeur that still glows half a century after. And most " tragically, not all " survived, living proof that miracles still happen. Their only human allies were an unlearned laborer and his wife whose decency did not give way to the anti-Semitism of their neighbors. Another miracle! Here is the story of a young teacher caught in the cruelty of Kristalnacht. And, finally, the story of a forlorn orphan, alone and abandoned, and how she put her broken life together after the war. It takes a person of unusual sensitivity and skill to elicit such tales from the participants. The soul wishes to bury such horror and not let it cloud a world of accomplishment, children, and grandchildren. "Let the sun shine," they say. "Bad enough that it was blotted out during the war against the Jews." But Renee Worch, author of Flight, convinces them that the world " and their own offspring " should, must know. Thanks to her, we now have their stories. And because of it, we are enriched.