East of the Storm: Outrunning the Holocaust in RussiaTexas Tech University Press, 1999 - 218 Seiten 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. Now she believed she would never see them again. Hanna and her mother, Sophia, an artist and intellectual, found themselves subjected to Hitler’s efforts to dehumanize Poland’s Jewish population. There seemed no choice but to cling to what shreds of stability they could by submitting to a ruthless tyranny.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 relatively safer Soviet territory. After a few hasty good-byes to family and with only the clothes on their backs, they left their apartment—just one hour before soldiers would come for Sophia.If the two-percent chance of surviving the crossing were not daunting enough, then the Davidsons’ prospects in the Soviet Union should have been. For Simon Davidson’s past as a prominent businessman (and capitalist) and political activism in the socialist Bund (an organization banned by the communists) branded him as undesirable. Moreover, he had been born in Russia—escaping years before by fooling Soviet authorities into presuming him dead—and his presence could place those members of his family who remained behind in danger. So for the sake of their very lives—and those of relatives they could never publicly acknowledge—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 by Hanna, the Davidsons’ journey into the Soviet interior makes for an extraordinary story. More than a memoir of survival, the Davidsons’ story is clearly one of a family whose spirit could not be destroyed by persecution, war, famine, or political oppression.“A singular and engaging story . . . . More than just another memoir of survival” —Bookwatch |
Im Buch
Seite iv
... Refugees , Jewish - Soviet Union - Biography . 4. World War , 1939-1945 - Personal narratives , Jewish . 5. Kódź ( Poland ) -Biography . I. title . DS135.P63P349 1998 943.8'4 - dc21 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 / 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 98-35211 ...
... Refugees , Jewish - Soviet Union - Biography . 4. World War , 1939-1945 - Personal narratives , Jewish . 5. Kódź ( Poland ) -Biography . I. title . DS135.P63P349 1998 943.8'4 - dc21 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 / 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 98-35211 ...
Seite ix
... 1939. Of 4,508,000 Polish refugees , only 47 percent stayed within Polish borders ; 49 percent moved outside the country , and 4 percent escaped both German and Soviet control . After 29 September 1939 , when the IX Introduction.
... 1939. Of 4,508,000 Polish refugees , only 47 percent stayed within Polish borders ; 49 percent moved outside the country , and 4 percent escaped both German and Soviet control . After 29 September 1939 , when the IX Introduction.
Seite x
... refugees either before or after 22 June 1941. The number of people who escaped through the country was small ( especially when we consider the millions trapped in Europe who died as a result of military action , starvation , or ...
... refugees either before or after 22 June 1941. The number of people who escaped through the country was small ( especially when we consider the millions trapped in Europe who died as a result of military action , starvation , or ...
Seite xiii
... refugees who did not wish to be repatriated and were wel- come to stay in their host countries were lucky . Far less fortunate , however , were those persons , like the Davidsons , who had to set about the arduous task of obtaining new ...
... refugees who did not wish to be repatriated and were wel- come to stay in their host countries were lucky . Far less fortunate , however , were those persons , like the Davidsons , who had to set about the arduous task of obtaining new ...
Seite xiv
... refugees is indebted to Malcolm J. Proudfoot , European Refugees , 1939-52 : A Study in Forced Population Movement ( Evanston : Northwestern Univ . Press , 1956 ) . AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION Digging in the past is a monumental task XIV ...
... refugees is indebted to Malcolm J. Proudfoot , European Refugees , 1939-52 : A Study in Forced Population Movement ( Evanston : Northwestern Univ . Press , 1956 ) . AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION Digging in the past is a monumental task XIV ...
Inhalt
Home in Poland | 3 |
The German Invasion | 19 |
Our Escape | 28 |
Living by Russian Rules | 42 |
Outrunning the Germans | 48 |
Life in the Kolkhoz | 61 |
A Bitter Winter | 69 |
The Move to Yoshkar | 81 |
Camp on the Danube | 153 |
Wegsheid Austria | 155 |
A Military Compound | 159 |
Babenhausen | 162 |
Stuttgart | 173 |
Paris | 184 |
Flight to Mexico | 189 |
Mexico City | 195 |
A Year in Moscow | 104 |
The Journey Back | 119 |
Return to Łodź | 130 |
Making a Life | 138 |
Out of Poland | 144 |
A New Life | 204 |
Glossery | 209 |
Chronology | 213 |
215 | |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
East of the Storm: Outrunning the Holocaust in Russia Hanna Davidson Pankowsky Keine Leseprobe verfügbar - 2008 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
able apartment army arrived asked Babenhausen beautiful became began Bialystok boxcar bread Bund Bundist camp clothing cold Communist dark Davidson door emigration entered escape Fania Father felt finally floor forest friends front German girl goodbye Gor'kiy Grandmother Hagana hands Hania Hanna heard Ispolkom Jewish Jews Kazik kilometers knew Kódź kolkhoz Komsomol Kuzhnur learned leave lived Łódź looked Marie meal Mess Mexico Mexico City morning Moscow Mother moved Nazi Nela night NKVD obtain Olsztyn Once Orsha parents Party Poland Polish potatoes Proskurov reached Recife refugees returned Russian Soviet Soviet Union started station stay Stephany stood stopped street survived talked tears terrible tion told took Toryal train tree turned UNRRA Vala valenki visas waiting walked winter woman wooden Yiddish Yoshkar Ola young
Beliebte Passagen
Seite xiv - Politics of Futility: the General Jewish Workers Bund in Poland, 1917-1943. (Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1967), p. 23. 2. Israel Gutman "Polant: The Jews in Poland," in Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (New York: Macmillian Publishing Co., 1990), p.
Seite xi - Palestine by way of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Hundreds...
Seite xi - By 1921, having been destroyed by mass arrests, repression, and slaughter at the hands of the...