Out of Poland: when the best revenge is to have survived
by Jenny Harrison
Recently, I find myself drawn more often to stories of the Holocaust, and reading a book like this, Out of Poland, by Jenny Harrison only speeds up my journey.
Right from the start, Harrison sets the scene to this true story.
A small family of Polish Jewish descendants, in New Zealand, discover a suitcase, which reveals some very interesting letters. The question is asked, Why did Nafthali Siegel keep these letters if he was running from a past so painful as described in this work? Why didn't he burn the letters from his parents and siblings, and wipe out his family and past? They were all he had to remind him of them, the letters and one solitary photograph.
All history teachings aside, and they are great in number and diverse, the carnage and devastation committed on Poland, Jews and Gentiles alike, is so utterly absolute.
Astonishing are the sheer numbers of people slaughtered. Astonishing are the vast number who lent a hand, at their own peril, to help a fellow man. The Jews who survived in Poland, owe their lives to Polish Gentiles.
"...It was probably better to be a slave in communist Russia than a victim of the Germans. The Russians were not anti-Semitic, they just treated everyone equally badly."
The heart that has gone into researching and writing this book deserves the best applause. It is so well-written and easy to read, the history and all its horror comes alive.
In the end, I am left speechless...
by Jenny Harrison
Recently, I find myself drawn more often to stories of the Holocaust, and reading a book like this, Out of Poland, by Jenny Harrison only speeds up my journey.
Right from the start, Harrison sets the scene to this true story.
A small family of Polish Jewish descendants, in New Zealand, discover a suitcase, which reveals some very interesting letters. The question is asked, Why did Nafthali Siegel keep these letters if he was running from a past so painful as described in this work? Why didn't he burn the letters from his parents and siblings, and wipe out his family and past? They were all he had to remind him of them, the letters and one solitary photograph.
All history teachings aside, and they are great in number and diverse, the carnage and devastation committed on Poland, Jews and Gentiles alike, is so utterly absolute.
Astonishing are the sheer numbers of people slaughtered. Astonishing are the vast number who lent a hand, at their own peril, to help a fellow man. The Jews who survived in Poland, owe their lives to Polish Gentiles.
"...It was probably better to be a slave in communist Russia than a victim of the Germans. The Russians were not anti-Semitic, they just treated everyone equally badly."
The heart that has gone into researching and writing this book deserves the best applause. It is so well-written and easy to read, the history and all its horror comes alive.
In the end, I am left speechless...
Review by Poppy
Title: Out of Poland: when the best revenge is to have survived
Author: Jenny Harrison
Publisher: Lamplighter Press
ISBN: 9781539027812
RRP: $25.99
Available: Paperback from Amazon.com
Or from the author via email jharrison@orcon.net.nz or website www.jennyharrison-author.com
Author: Jenny Harrison
Publisher: Lamplighter Press
ISBN: 9781539027812
RRP: $25.99
Available: Paperback from Amazon.com
Or from the author via email jharrison@orcon.net.nz or website www.jennyharrison-author.com
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