East of the storm : outrunning the Holocaust in Russia / Hanna Davidson Pankowsky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pankowsky, Hanna Davidson, 1929-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pankowsky, Hanna Davidson, 1929-.

Pankowsky, Hanna Davidson.

Jews--Poland--Łódź--Biography.

Jews.

Poland--Łódź.

Jewish refugees--Soviet Union--Biography.

Jewish refugees.

Soviet Union.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Jewish.

World War, 1939-1945.

Łódź (Poland)--Biography.

Łódź (Poland).

Genre:

Biographies.

Personal narratives -- Jewish.

Autobiographies.

Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

xiv, 218 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lubbock, Tex. : Texas Tech University Press, [1999]

Summary:

On September 27, 1939, less than four weeks after the Nazi invasion, Poland ceased to exist as a nation. Only three weeks had passed since ten-year-old Hanna Davidson had said goodbye to her father, Simon, and older brother, Kazik, who had been drafted and sent to defend Warsaw. Hanna and her mother, Sophia, an artist and intellectual, found themselves subjected to Hitler's efforts to dehumanize Poland's Jewish population.

But when they got word that Simon and Kazik were alive in Bialystok in the Soviet-occupied zone of Poland, Hanna and her mother made a fearful decision -- they would risk a harrowing escape from Nazi Poland into safer Soviet territory. They left their apartment just one hour before soldiers would come for Sophia.

Simon Davidson's past as a prominent businessman and capitalist, and his political activism in the socialist Bund (an organization banned by the communists) branded him as undesirable. Moreover, he had been born in Russia -- and his presence could place those members of his family who remained behind in danger. So for the sake of their very lives, the Davidsons would be compelled to invent and memorize not only their own new identities but also an extended family history. Moreover, avoiding persecution by the Soviet regime would entail struggling virtually every day to maintain a pretense of allegiance to Stalin.

As recounted poignantly by Hanna, the Davidsons' journey deeper and deeper into the Soviet interior makes for a singular story. More than a memoir of survival, the Davidsons' triumph is clearly one of a family whose spirit could not be war, famine, or political oppression. impoverished -- or humanity diminished -- by persecution, war, famine,or political oppression.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0896724085

OCLC:

39633766