recommended reading
I just finished reading A Match Made in Hell: The Jewish Boy and the Polish Outlaw Who Defied the Nazis by Larry Stillner with Morris Goldner. It is an account of Holocaust survival based on a unlikely partnership. Morris, who was named Moishe and known as Moniek among the Poles, tell his story with recollection built into the narrative that begins with his surviving being shot and rescued by a notorious Polish robber who is also wanted by the Nazis. They become partners in crime -- literally -- as they rob both to survive and acquire ammunition for the Partisans. Along they way, they do kill some Nazis, though. Though the robber always insists that his sole motive is his own survival, Moishe learns that there is something more involved.
Moishe's small size makes him useful for missions that require squeezing into tight spaces or passing as a child. But his childhood already came to an end when the Germans moved into Poland. As the book progresses, we learn that he had already learned to fend for himself while surviving in hiding. But he does learn a lot more about self-defense and strategy. Moishe is trained in a range of weaponry that include grenades, guns, and his bare hands. He also is tutored in German; his knack for picking up languages serves him well even after the war when he confronts new dangerous challenges.
Though Moishe did not end up in a concentration camp himself, he still bears witness to the horrors of the Holocaust that he saw first-hand or heard about from his robber partner who had escaped from Auschwitz. Though Moishe was brought up in a home where Shabbos and kosher were observed, theis book is not written from a frum perspective.After arriving in America -- where he was assigned the name of Morris -- he asks a rabbi how G-d could allow this to happen. The rabbi said he did not know. Now that was an honest response, I thought, even if it is not a comforting one. At least the rabbi did not make the mistake the Iyov's friends do in offering explanations to justify suffering of someone else. One warning: there is a fair amount of profanity. It may be an accurate translation of the German or Polish dialogue recounted or a rendering of it into the the English that would be expected by modern audiences.
Visit my site www.kallahmagazine.com -- not just for kallahs. You can also see posts at http://www.examiner.com/x-18522-NY-Jewish-Bridal-Examiner
Moishe's small size makes him useful for missions that require squeezing into tight spaces or passing as a child. But his childhood already came to an end when the Germans moved into Poland. As the book progresses, we learn that he had already learned to fend for himself while surviving in hiding. But he does learn a lot more about self-defense and strategy. Moishe is trained in a range of weaponry that include grenades, guns, and his bare hands. He also is tutored in German; his knack for picking up languages serves him well even after the war when he confronts new dangerous challenges.
Though Moishe did not end up in a concentration camp himself, he still bears witness to the horrors of the Holocaust that he saw first-hand or heard about from his robber partner who had escaped from Auschwitz. Though Moishe was brought up in a home where Shabbos and kosher were observed, theis book is not written from a frum perspective.After arriving in America -- where he was assigned the name of Morris -- he asks a rabbi how G-d could allow this to happen. The rabbi said he did not know. Now that was an honest response, I thought, even if it is not a comforting one. At least the rabbi did not make the mistake the Iyov's friends do in offering explanations to justify suffering of someone else. One warning: there is a fair amount of profanity. It may be an accurate translation of the German or Polish dialogue recounted or a rendering of it into the the English that would be expected by modern audiences.
Visit my site www.kallahmagazine.com -- not just for kallahs. You can also see posts at http://www.examiner.com/x-18522-NY-Jewish-Bridal-Examiner
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