Having read, easily, over a dozen memoirs of Jewish partisans on the Eastern Front, as well as numerous general histories of the partisan movement, I wasn't expecting anything special with this volume. I'm pleased to say I was pleasantly surprised. As is to be expected, this is a difficult read as the topic is far from pleasant. Life during the Holocaust by Bullets in the East as a fledgling partisan movement was just developing was one that witnessed one chaotic and traumatic moment after another. In this case, a father and his son were able to survive an the initial German attempts at their town's destruction and, after numerous additional obstacles, find their way into the hands of an ever-expanding partisan movement. What follows are their experiences surviving among Soviet partisan groups as Jews, the numerous operations they took part in, the many men, women, and children that crossed their paths, and the successes and tragedies that were part and parcel of everyday life in the forests and swamps of the occupied Eastern Front. The author seemingly did a significant amount of research and I can only commend him on a final product that I would easily and earnestly recommend to all who might be interested in Jewish partisan resistance and their lived experience(s) during the war on the Eastern Front.
No comments:
Post a Comment