Five shots on Saturday morning changed their fate … happy family thought the Germans would never reach their idyllic village, they quickly understood they were wrong and their happiness came to a brutal end. The family had to flee their house and find shelter in a neighboring Ghetto where they realized that the Gestapo was taking Jews away on trucks every night, and they were never seen again.
The family decided to escape into the deep dark forest. There, surrounded by animals, they knew that this was their only chance to get away from the real beasts. They had no idea what would await them, but they knew that doing nothing was not an option if they wanted to survive.
“Surviving The Forest” is the second book in the “World War II Brave Women” series
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There should be a “sort of” choice here. I probably would have liked the book, but I didn’t like the audio book. I purchased the audio book and wish I had not. If I had read the book instead of listening, I might have enjoyed it more. If you– like me — relish history, then you will relate to this historical novel based on memories of real people going through the Jewish Holocaust. The reasons for not purchasing the audio book are many: probably not done professionally as there are many strange pauses, throat-clearing, hissing sounds between chapters, slightly unorganized as they are trying to fill us in on the historical places and events in Poland while keeping the memories in order. The voice of the narrator is very pleasant. The hesitancy to believe the rumors of war and atrocities are very real and understandable. I had never heard of or read about hiding in the forests. I had never read about anyone leaving the ghettos in order to try to survive. Certainly give this book a chance. It is very informative. The quality of the audio is disappointing.
This is a beautifully written story about one woman’s life during the horrific days of the German occupation of Poland. This book was written in a style that could be enjoyed by readers young and old. I would recommend this book for fans of “The Diary of Anne Frank”.
Sarah “Shurka”Shidlovsky is a normal young woman, starting out her married life with her beloved husband, Avraham, when rumors of Adolf Hitler and his hatred of Jews start to be heard. Soon, Shurka and her family decide to hide in the Parczew Forest. All her life, Shurka has been told that the forest is not a safe place, but now she has to put aside her fears in order to save herself and her family.
It is hard to imagine living in a forest without housing, having to dig bunkers in the ground in order to have shelter. Then, when you finally get settled into this home, you have to pick up and move again. Shurka and her family shuffle from bunker to bunker, venturing to stay in granaries during the winter months, surviving on meager rations and no safety. Those who are brave enough (or greedy enough) to help Jews are in danger of death from the Germans.
This was an amazing story, well written and full of the dangers and horrors of the times. The author does a wonderful job in her descriptions of the areas, the people, their hopes and their fears. I have read many Holocaust stories and have always wondered why people living in those times didn’t heed the warnings to get away from Hitler’s occupation. In this book, the author relates several instances that make it easier to see that it wouldn’t have been an easy decision to make. In our modern times, we often forget that communication during the late 1930’s was mostly through word of mouth instead of our instant worldwide news.
I am always amazed at the resiliency of the human spirit that shines through in stories of Holocaust survivors. Even though it was a horrific time, full of suffering and death, there is always a light at the end of it. The deaths of Shurka’s family during their attempt to stay safe were heartbreaking and the author writes it in such a way that the reader feels every tear. The addition of the immigration of Jews to the new homeland of Israel that was included in this book was very enlightening also.
I was given a chance to read this book through a review group, but this review is entirely my own opinion.
If only this book was around when I was homeschooling my boys history class would have been so much better. Junior high and high school textbooks barely touched on the tragic history of the Jewish communities during WWII. Textbooks gloss over years of suffering, too much detail and too little time. Students need to know the facts, all of the facts or we are doomed to repeat the atrocities of the past.
Surviving the Forest read like an oral history, a history that is almost lost. The horrors dripped from the pages. The fear of the people flowed from the story. Their hopes and dreams crumbles with the turning of the pages. This was history turned reality that more people need to read. Tears should flow for those that lived and survived, for those that lived and died.
Buy this book. Read this book. Learn from this book.