5 comments about Destined to Live.

1. William Ungar's memoir of survival is the single most moving account of the Holocaust that I have read. With vivd and heart-renching portrayls of his young wife, infant son, other raltives and friends who perished during the Holocaust, Destined to Live brilliantly depicts the devestating emotional toll the Holocaust wrought on those that survived. Without a trace of bitterness, Mr. Ungar describes how he managed to survive the Nazi's occupation of Poland, and went on to create a powerful life that postively impacted the lives of countless others. Destined to Live is not a memoir about survival for survival's sake. It is a gripping tale of how humans, even in the most dire and unjust of circumstances, can use the powers of love and perseverence to create true beauty and greatness. If I were to recommend one book to someone who wanted to learn about the impact of the Holocaust on those that survived, I would recommend Destined to Live.



2. When the Germans invaded and conquered Poland, a young Polish soldier was in more peril than most. Wilo Ungar was Jewish and badly wounded. Because he wore the Polish uniform he was given the last rites by a priest who thought Ungar was Catholic. For the months after his recovery that he was held prisoner by the Germans he was saved by his captors ignorance of his ethnicity. Finally released he made his way back through war-ravaged Poland on crutches. He was given refuge by Polish families and eventually smuggled himself across the German-Soviet border, was captured by the NKVD and imprisoned as a spy. Ultimately he made his way back to the city of Lvov and reunion with his girl. They married and when Germany turned on Russia, they and their baby Michael managed for a while to evade Nazi roundups but in 1942 they were caught and separated in a time when the Nazi holocaust was being carried out in earnest. Highly recommended for students of the Holocaust, Destined To Live is the riveting story of Wilo's search for his family in a world of love and death, organized violence and the indomitable human spirit.



3. Another wonderfully written account of the atrocitites that Jewish Poles faced during WWII. A must read for ANYONE or ANY color, ANY religion, ANY ethnic background!

   Mr. Ungars' nephew, his wife and daughter - happen to be my neighbors and close friends. So when reading this, it becomes a much more personal story to me and my family when reading this.




4. I have read this book and have learned so much more about my husband's employer. We always knew Mr. Unger had a heart of gold. He has helped our family so much through hard times, when the economy was so low. Never once has he laid his employees off. My husband, Joe Iervolino began working for Mr. Unger when he was 19. He is now 65 and ready to retire and still working for Mr. Unger. Throughout all of the hardship this man endured, he has always shown compassion and loyalty to those he employs. There must be thousands throughout the United States. He came here almost penniless, yet he has made thousands enjoy the best of what being a middle class American has to offer.
   His sponsorship of the Holocaust Museums in NY and DC has educated millions of people. His company, National Envelope has given thousands of people well meaningful employment. The next time you throw out an envelope that contains junk mail, a letter from a loved one or a bill, you are probably handling a product made by a National Envelope Employee, such as my Joe.
   Read the book. It will touch you in such a way as he has touched our lives and made us thankful that this immigrant made it to our shores.
   Destined to Live is one of the best Holocaust survivor books I have ever read. It will open your eyes to how inhumane some men can become. After becoming a victom of such men, William Unger not only survived but, became a great human being. He shows only compassion to others and hates no one. He is the ultimate survivor and an example to all of us who suffered through any sort of inhumanity. I feel this book is a "Must Read" for everyone, young and old, alike.



5. My review focuses on matters undeveloped by the other reviews.
   
   Ungar's childhood in Krasne (near the Zbrucz River) repudiates the notion of anti-Semitism (and Christian-clergy hostility) being the constant companion of Polish Jews: "Both Father Hankiewicz and Father Leszczynski mainly preached the loving kindness of God. Because of the priests' behavior, the peasants didn't bear a grudge against Jews...The result was that I had the unbelievable good luck of growing up without either hatred or fear. My playmates were Polish and Ukrainian children and no one ever insulted me or tried to beat me up...Of course, they knew I was Jewish...But they considered me one of theirs." (pp. 66-67).
   
   At least some of the sporadic anti-Semitism which Ungar later did experience was clearly related to the entrenchment of Jewish economic hegemony, which worked against Poles. One Pole said: "I don't know about Lvov, but around here they [the Jews] own all the big buildings, they own the stores, they own the banks. They take our money, and you can bet that they make sure Poles can't get into business themselves." (p. 86)
   
   Ungar provides a seldom-heard Jewish viewpoint of service in the Polish Army just prior and during the German invasion of Poland in 1939. He discusses training, tactics, mobilization, and his wounding during a Luftwaffe air raid.
   
   Polish nationalists commonly suppose that even totally assimilated Jews (like Ungar) seldom become Poles at heart. Along these lines, Ungar candidly admitted that: "I would never have called myself a patriotic Pole..." (p. 31).
   
   After Poland's defeat, Ungar made it back to Lviv, in the Soviet-occupied zone. He touched on Jewish-Soviet collaboration: "It also seemed to Wusia [Ungar's first wife] that they [the Soviets] trusted Jews more than Poles or Ukrainians." (p. 120). "Besides that, you began to see Jews in high positions, which would have been unthinkable before. There were Jewish army officers, Jewish party members, and Jewish city officials." (pp. 136-137)
   
   Up to the time of Operation Barbarossa, most local Jews thought of the Germans as a cultured people who wouldn't do especial harm to the Jews (p. 154). After the Lviv Ghetto was formed, some of the Jewish ghetto police acted reasonably towards their fellow Jews. "But many acted more like devoted servants in the hope of ingratiating themselves with the Gestapo. Others were just callous, brutal people, untouched by any of the nobler sentiments when it came to hunting down their fellows. That was how the Germans turned Jew against Jew." (pp. 171-172). "Neither of us knew any [Jewish] policemen, besides which, many of them were cruel and unscrupulous." (p. 277).
   
   While at Janowska Labor Camp, Ungar was denounced to the Gestapo by oberjude (the German-appointed chief of the Jewish workers) Tenenbaum (p. 253, 276).
   
   Contrary to some reports, Ungar never claims to have been at Belzec. He saw some bodies along the railroad tracks, inferring them to have originated from a failed escape from a Belzec-bound train (p. 298, 321).
   
   Unfortunately, Ungar cheapens his work through a sudden outburst of primitive Polonophobic innuendo late in the book. He denigrates the AK after accusing it, without a shred of supporting evidence, of being behind the killing of Rabbi Barfield. (p. 313, 316). Following Yitzhak Shamir, Ungar blanket-slurs the Poles for imbibing anti-Semitism with their mothers' milk. (p. 316)

1 comments about A Life in Letters, 1914-1982.

1. This book contains letters by and to Gershom Scholem, a great scholar of kabbalism. It covers an amazing amount of ground- beginning with Scholem's youth in World War I Germany, then his move to Israel in the 1920s, his Hitler-era correspondence with his family (most of whom escaped to Australia in 1938-9, at almost the last possible moment for Jews to leave Germany), and his postwar celebrity in Israel.
   
   The most interesting part of the book is the letters to and from his family in Germany. As early as 1923, his mother complains about pervasive anti-Semitism. But despite this, she wrote in 1932 that if Hitler became chancellor, "he won't be any different from the others." But Scholem's letters from Israel make it clear that as early as 1933, German intellectuals were flooding Israel.

No comments about Two Jewish Justices: Outcasts in the Promised Land.

No comments about In Sunshine and in Shadow.

2 comments about They Called Him Mike: Reb Elimelech Tress (Artscroll History Series).

1. If you like history, then this is a book for you.
   Read about the conditions of Jewish life in America in the early 1900's. Read how Mr. Tress played such an amazing role in helping create the vibrant Jewish community we take so for granted today. Mr. Tress saved thousands of people during World War Two. Read the details, and the difficulties in doing so.
   No matter where you affiliate, you'll be deeply moved by reading the story of a man with so great a heart as to encompass all.
   Truly inspiring!



2. This book is very different from many other Artscroll Biographies. It's about a rather simple person who was not a great scholar but whose entire life was devoted to saving and helping his Jewish brethren. He forfeited tremendous success in the business to spend his entire day on rescue work during the Holocaust. His love for another Jew was legendary and his essence is nicely captured in this important work.
   Written by Jonathan Rosenblum based on the research of Dr. David Kranzler, this is a reliable account of the life and times of this exceptional person.

1 comments about Eva's Journey: A Young Girl's True Story.

1. Eva Bromberg has the misfortune of coming into adolescence just as the Nazis invade her homeland. Eva and her father move about Poland, seeking safe haven. After soldiers take her dad and the other Jewish men in town, Eva realizes that he is dead and that she must flee.

   From 1941 to 1945, the blonde girl passes as a Christian, dodging repeated brushes with discovery and death. Ultimately the war ends, and Eva finds freedom with her mother and brother in Palestine.

   As an adult, Eva immigrated to the United States, married, and raised a family. Now a grandmother named Hava Ben-Zvi, she has finally published her thrilling story.

   Ben-Zvi, a librarian, tailors her novella-length narrative to young teens, students who are near the age she was when she began her "journey". She includes a simple timeline of the World War II and a bibliography of books about children who endured the Holocaust and other atrocities such as American slavery and Hiroshima.

   Eva's Journey is not just a lesson in history; it is a terrific read that belongs in every public and school library. For Hava Ben-Zvi is more than an educator and wonderful writer. She is Eva Bromberg--the girl who lived.

5 comments about Coming Home to Jerusalem: A Personal Journey.

1. I teach high school in Brooklyn. The kids are sick of hearing about the Middle East on the news. They groaned when I said we were going to read some books about it. But I just ordered for my class "Coming Home to Jerusalem" because other teachers told me that their students learned so much and enjoyed this book.

   When my sister gave me her copy to read, I couldn't put it down. The history teacher, 12th grade, who teaches "gifted" students said that it was a big hit in her class. I look forward to seeing how my "kids" respond. A rare book that is for adults and smart kids as well. It's a classic, a keeper. 5 stars.




2. As an author myself, I understand how what looks easy on the page in fact takes years to perfect. Wendy Orange's book, "Coming Home to Jerusalem" may read as effortless but I can well imagine the work that went into making this lovely book, a combination personal adventure, cultural odyssey and political update from Israel.

   Given the current givens, some may think this is history. I prefer to think of this easy to read book as futuristic, what must eventually occur between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Especially I learned a lot from the dialogue groups she so vividly describes. Strangely, in the midst of a tortuous road, full of warring, I felt elated by her book because I saw what is inevitable, that the cycle of peace must return. Orange shows what that will look like. She also shows real characters which makes all the wanton violence now sadder. I hope most of her characters, and there are many, are still alive. High recommend.
   Five Stars for sure.




3. I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written and heartfelt, with unbiased, evocative descriptions of people and places. Made me want to hop on a plane and go there immediately!



4. "For hundreds of years large numbers of Arabs have lived in Palestine. Their fathers and fathers' fathers were born here. Palestine is their country where they want to live. We must acknowledge that fact with love."
   The surprising author of these lines was David Ben-Gurion, the legendary Zionist leader who became the first prime minister of the State of Israel.
   Ben-Gurion's compassionate words underscore one side of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis that has threatened for decades
   to engulf not only the Middle East but the world. On the other
   hand there is the claim of the much-tormented Jewish people,whose historic ties to the very same land are even
   older.Surely they should be allowed to return to their homeland
   and live at lastin peace?
   Both claims are just. How can we judge justly between them? And
   how soon can we judge, if ever?
   Wendy Orange's memoir, "Coming Home To Jerusalem." is one
   woman's attempt to answer these questions, at least to her own
   satisfaction.

   Orange grew up in an ardently Zionist American Jewish family,
   but she did not share their enthusiasm for the idea of a Jewish
   state. Instead, she studied the Holocaust with great intensity.
   She became a professional therapist and, later, a journalist. In the early 1990s she was persuaded to attend a conference in
   Jerusalem. As a result of hearing a talk by famed novelist
   A.M.Yehoshua she decided to make aliya, or immigrate to Israel.
   Yehoshua's impact was all the more extraordinary in that his
   talk was delivered in Hebrew, a language whe did not yet
   understand.
   Working as a journalist in her adopted country, Orange made
   contact with her Palestinian counterparts and began to do
   stories from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. She
   was distressed by evidence of brutality on the part of Israel
   Defense Force soldiers. Such conduct does happen, as the writer
   of this review saw on a bus in Jerusalem once; but it is
   important to keep in mind the historical circumstances that have
   bred this kind of behavior.
   Orange kept her intellectual balance well--gazing at the
   looming Golan Heights, formerly Syrian-occupied, she understood
   what fear and physical suffering Syrian artillery once inflicted
   on Jewish farmers and fishermen from those same heights. And she
   felt a wave of sympathy for these victims, too, her own
   people.In a soul-trying situation she is revealed as not a
   hater of anyone.
   As suggested earlier, Orange's work may be seen as a search for what Slovakian Holocaust heroine Gisi Fleischmann described
   as "a better humanity." The search is pursued through a
   landscape deeply scarred by history, and punctuated by depths
   and heights almost impossible to imagine. An example of a height--a rare one--is the cautious euphoria generated by news of the
   Oslo Accords, with their elusive hope of peace at last between
   Israelis and Palestinians. The ultimate low may have been the
   asassination of Israeli Prime Ninister Itzhak Rabin--by a fellow
   Jew, albeit by one whose politics had nothing in common with
   those of his famous victim. It is the murder of Rabin which,
   even years later, seems to have been the most devastatingly
   successful blow against the Middle East peace process.
   Whether Wendy Orange's quest for justice and understanding will have a happier outcome than Gisi Fleischmann's remains to be
   seen. Perhaps she herself does not believe in the possibility,
   for at the end of her memoir she writes, "This drama has
   everything but an ending, I think."
   "Coming Home To Jerusalem" may be considered depressing by many.It is, on the other hand, an important read for those who wish to understand the human dimension of the Middle East
   tragedy. And it is beautifully written.




5. As an Israeli living in Maui, I was drawn back to Israel through this book. "Coming Home to Jerusalem actually made me want to go back home, to the city where I was born. (I'm a fourth generation Jerusalemite.) I felt that the author, an American, knew Israel of the 1990's even better than I did. Now, I'm en route "home" after years abroad. And I thank Wendy Orange for getting me in touch with my Zionism, my love for Israel despite all the problems she shows and I know. 5 Stars.

2 comments about Abraham Joshua Heschel: Man of Spirit, Man of Action.

1. This is a beautiful book! Mr. Rose shares the incredible story of Abraham Joshua Heschel with grace and skill. This is an important addition to the small collection of literature for young readers on the lives of great religious and political figures in the United States.



2. I've always loved Heschel's writings and all that I knew of his life, but never thought any of it could be expressed in a form that kids could get. Or Rose did it!
   When I heard about this book, I was excited by the possibility of my daughters learning about Heschel. I read the book through. I think it will be perfect for middle school kids. It doesn't assume any background.
   A wonderful gift for your friends' children aged 9-13.

No comments about Return.

1 comments about In Search of Sugihara: The Elusive Japanese Dipolomat Who Risked his Life to Rescue 10,000 Jews From the Holocaust.

1. This book was fascinating, and should be required reading in all History classes.