No comments about Der Finfter zman: lider (The Fifth Season: Poems).

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4 comments about World War II through Polish Eyes.

1. This book tells the incredibly true story of a Polish-American woman whose life encompassed most of the major events of Poland in World War II: the Katyn Massacre of Polish leaders by the Soviets; the random abduction of Poles on the streets of Warsaw for deportation to the Nazi concentration camp at Oswiecim (Auschwitz); the Polish underground; the Warasw Uprising (the larger, longer, and lesser known uprising--not to be confused with the earlier Warsaw Ghetto Uprising) and the resultant systematic destruction of the city; and the atrocities of the Soviet "liberation."
   Based on the accounts of the protgaonist, the story is compellingly told, with only a few awkwardly written coversations between her and her grandson (which sound more like history lectures than believable dialog), and an occasional mistake with the author's English (my belief is that the author has learned English as a second language). These are minor, technical problems, though, and should not keep anyone from reading this important saga of one family's struggles for survival during those horrific times. The story of Poland's occupation, and its heroic struggle against annihilatio from both their Nazi enemies and their so-called Soviet allies is little known in the West. This book helps to give the reader a true feeling (with a human face)for what went on during one of the worst times in human history.



2. When Hitler swallowed Austria and Czechoslovakia, he got APPROVALS from Britain and France. Poland was the first to resist him - and that is how World War II has started. This is known. The tragic fate of some 6 millions of Polish citizens during WWII is known too. Some 800 years earlier the Kings of Poland granted special priviledges to Jews so as to attract them to Poland and also save them from persecutions elsewhere. Hitler ended 800 years of coexistence of Christian Poles with Poles of Mosesian religous denomination (this is how Polish Jews were known inside Poland) by killing nearly all members of the latter group.

   Less is known here in the United States about the sufferings of
   non-Jewish citizens of Poland. VERY LITTLE is known about the diabolic JOINT plot of Hitler and Stalin to erase Poland and all its citizens from the surface of the earth. From a historical perspective, this book about Danuta and her life journey provides a wealth of important facts from first hand experience. Stories told me by my father Ludomir Boncza-Brzostowski confirm elements of the story of Danuta, also from first hand experience. He was among those who at the end of Warsaw 1944 Uprising got to the east side of Vistula so as not to surrender to the Nazis; as described in the book, most of those trying to do so were killed by the Nazi artillery. The command of the Polish Army on the Soviet side was taken away from Gen. Zygmunt Berling by Stalin - precisely because Berling tried to help the Uprising. As vividly desribed in the book, Stalin wanted Warsaw destroyed by Nazi hands.

   However, the above description of the book might give a totally false impression ! This is also a FASCINATING book about love and atrocity, friendship and war, adversity and solidarity. Do not be fooled by the awkward book title.




3. World War II Through Polish Eyes
   By
   M.B. Szonert

   This powerful story depicts the gehenna of one Polish family during the greatest human catastrophe in Poland's history. Young Danuta and her family struggles through the invasion of Poland, the defense of Warsaw, and the German occupation. They suffer tragic losses in Katyñ, Siberia, Auschwitz and dozens of other concentration camps, in Gestapo and NKVD prisons, on Monte Cassino, in the Warsaw Uprising, and on the Western front. Danuta loses her husband and her father but thanks to the tenacious solidarity of the Polish people she survives the war with two small children. She later tries to begin a new life, remarries in the 50ties, and immigrates to the United States.

   The book is easy to read thanks to many dialogs and vivid images. What is striking in this story is the attitude of the Polish women - mothers, daughters, and wives. For example, 19-year old Danuta writes to the Auschwitz commander asking him to show a photograph of her newly born son "Jêdruœ" to her husband - an Auschwitz prisoner. In a humanitarian flash, the commander actually releases Danuta's husband from the death camp. It reminds me of my own story when my own photograph (my nickname is also "Jêdruœ") saved the life of my father when he was called to the infamous Pavilion Number 11 in the same concentration camp. Danuta continues her crusade and later fights with the Gestapo to recover the body of her husband, and with NKVD to save her father and brother. Although the women were wise and prudent in those difficult times, the men were often too reckless and were dying unnecessarily.

   This work is not only a fascinating story but also a history book. Each episode from Danuta's dramatic life is told in the larger, historical context. Presented with great diligence to assure a balanced approach to difficult issues, the historical context is well annotated and illustrated with documents and photographs. Written with a keen eye and thoroughness, this valuable work brings to light the enormity of the genocide committed on the Polish nation during WWII.
   Prof. Andrew Targowski
   WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY




4. The novel is a spellbinding portrait of a young girl, Danuta, and her family's journey from peacetime Poland to the German and subsequent Soviet occupation. The author provides a balanced blend of historical background along with intense emotional drama. One can sense the intensity of the hardships, suffering and periods of joy and triumphant over ultimate terror, dishevel and human tragedy. Danuta's extreme resourcefulness, perseverance and wit against the German and Soviet occupants allow her and her family to survive eventhough impending danger is always omnipresent. This true account of Danuta's life expounds on actual events such as random transports to concentration camps, Katyn massacre, indiscriminate shootings and beatings, starvation, ect.. The story line includes a microcosm of the brutalities and cruelties exacted upon the Polish population during World War II. This true story is supported with annotations with a bibliography of historical references. The reality of Danuta's life is also supported with copies of letters written by her husband from Auschwitz prison and other documents to further exemplify the harsh and abominable conditions of life in wartime Poland. The story continually returns to an elderly Danuta who is instructing her young grandson on the historical background of Poland's barbaric occupation centered on the conspiracy of the German-Soviet agreements and subsequent betrayal between the two dictators. Poland becomes a battle ground in the quest for power while Polish resistance, including members of Danuta's family, struggles to resist German and Soviet oppression. The apprehension and tension and hope for the end of the German occupation results in the subjugation of Poland by the Soviet apparatus. Danuta's family must adjust to the Soviet regime change which proves to be a desperate struggle to resist total subjugation of Poland. This novel is a recommended reading to better comprehend the human tragedy of Poles during World War II as seen through the eyes of young Danuta.

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1 comments about Light from the Ashes: Social Science Careers of Young Holocaust Refugees and Survivors.

1. Light From the Ashes arrived as I was watching the latest news about the U.S.'s war against terrorism. I have often wondered if war were declared on the U.S., as it has been declared on so many other nations during my lifetime, how I would "survive." I fear the struggle to survive almost as much as I fear death. Light From the Ashes gives new insight into what it takes to survive war, deprivation, persecution and other horrors of war and holocaust. While many who survived the Nazi Holocaust as adults have written and spoken of their experience and its affect on their remaining years, few, if any have spoken and written of the experience as a child or adolescent. This collection of how those early experiences may have shaped the choice of career in the social sciences is monumental is helping me understand the term "survivor." The essays are literate but completely comprehensible to the layman. The insights into the life of each contributor and editor (also a contributor) comes to light in some cases because they were asked to participate in this volume. It is a timely work, and, I am sad to say, will probably never be out of context in our world.

1 comments about One Family: Before and During the Holocaust.

1. Now in its second edition, One Family Before And During The Holocaust is an account of the personal lives of members of a Jewish family. Written by the son of a Holocaust survivor, One Family Before And During The Holocaust draws upon personal testimony, archival sources, photographs, and official documents to draw a vivid picture of how encroaching restrictions curtailed the family further and further until they were forced to attempt to run or hide, in effort to forstall deportation and execution. A profound and moving testimony, and a welcome contribution to Holocaust literature, the message of One Family Before And During The Holocaust is superbly summarized in its final words: "At least for those who survived, it can be said, their lives were not cut short by murderous hate. For those relatives whose lives were cut short I can only wonder what they could have accomplished if they had lived a full life."