My war against the Nazis : a Jewish soldier with the Red Army / Adam Broner ; foreword by Antony Polonsky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Broner, Adam, 1925-

Series:

Fire ant books

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Broner, Adam, 1925-.

Broner, Adam.

Poland. Armia.

Soviet Union. Raboche-Krestʹi͡anskai͡a Krasnai͡a Armii͡a.

World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish.

World War, 1939-1945.

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

Soviet Union. Raboche-Krestʹi︠a︡nskai︠a︡ Krasnai︠a︡ Armii︠a︡--Biography.

Soviet Union.

Poland. Armia--Biography.

Poland.

Jews--Poland--Biography.

Jews.

Jews--Soviet Union--Biography.

Genre:

Personal narratives -- Jewish.

Biographies.

Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

xvi, 212 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, [2007]

Summary:

In 1939, to escape Nazi occupation, 14-year-old Adam Broner and his older brother Sam left their home and family in Lodz, Poland, and made their way to the Soviet Union. Adam enlisted in the Red Army to join the fight against the Nazis but was sent to work in a Siberian coal mine instead when his nationality was discovered. After a bold and daring escape from Siberia, Broner reached the Soviet Polish Kosciuszko Army, joined the struggle against the Nazis, participated in the liberation of Poland, and rode victorious into Berlin in 1945. He later learned that his parents, siblings (except Sam), and all other close relatives had perished during the war.

The author emigrated to the United States in 1969 and earned a doctorate from Princeton University. In recounting his struggle for survival during some of the most dramatic upheavals of the 20th century-the Great Depression, Nazism, World War II, and the spread of Communism in Central Europe-Broner reveals a life dedicated to the ultimate goal of freedom, which he achieved through a combination of arduous effort and fortunate circumstance.

Contents:

I Fleeing the Nazis to the "Soviet Paradise"

1 German Occupation and Terror 3

2 Escape from Occupied Poland 11

3 "So You Want to Go to the Soviet Paradise?" 14

4 From Bialystok to Novosibirsk 19

5 A Lavish Reception for the Liberated Belorussians 24

6 The Prosecutor's Case 31

7 Ivanovo-Vozniesiensk: Where One Could Buy Flour and Sugar 35

II My War with the Nazis

8 The Working Battalions of the Red Army 43

9 In the Eighth Reserve Regiment of the Red Army 49

10 A Red Army Deserter from Siberia 55

11 Polish Armed Forces in the Soviet Union 60

12 A Jew in the Polish Army 65

13 The Kosciuszko Army Joins the Struggle 71

14 The Magnuszew Bridgehead 78

15 In Support of the Warsaw Uprising 82

16 Liberating Warsaw 94

17 Racing to Berlin 96

18 War after Victory 112

III Stages of New Life

19 Return to Lodz 127

20 Moscow: The Center of Indoctrination 133

21 Revolt against Stalinist Excesses in Poland 144

22 Mobilization of Reserve Officers in 1967 149

23 The 1968 Student Revolt in Poland 153

24 The Purge of Jews 160

25 Exodus from Poland 165

IV Freedom At Last

26 Vienna and Rome: Refugees Again 173

27 New York and Princeton: Vistas of Opportunity 179

28 The Rats Abandon the Sinking Ship: The Collapse of the Soviet Union 182

29 Pilgrimage to the Past-Kamiensk, the Shtetl 190

Historical References 207.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page [207]) and index.

ISBN:

0817354174

9780817354176

0817315594

9780817315597

OCLC:

71223276