Friday, January 26, 2018

THE AVENGERS: A JEWISH WAR STORY by Rich Cohen



Rich Cohen, The Avengers:   A Jewish War Story (New York: Vintage Books of Random House), 2000.

Available in hard cover, paperback, Kindle and audiotape.




 Non-fiction

 Recommended by Dorinda Kauzlarich-Rupe



This is a World War II true and amazing story of three Jewish young people who, with great courage, actively resisted Nazi Germany.  Upon the liquidation of the ghetto in Vilna, Lithuania, the three escaped to the forest and teamed up with various partisan groups from Russia and Prussia in the fight. They displayed great strength, courage and creativity. The story follows them through the war and into Palestine, where they eventually settled. Cohen paints very colorful, soul grabbing pictures of the struggles these three encountered and sometimes created.

An especially poignant paragraph towards the end of the book, when the three were on a boat heading to Palestine is:  “In one photo, Vitka stands on deck, her hair tossed in the wind. Refugees stare out at the horizon. Vitka could tell a partisan from a survivor at twenty feet. The partisans were soldiers—giving orders, taking orders. The survivors were in some way crippled, sitting until told to move, moving until told to sit.”

The New York Times, in their review said of Cohen and his story,  “Fascinating….His language is spare and muscular, his descriptions evocative, his technique suspenseful.  He is moved by this story and he moves us.”

This is truly an excellent book based on good research. It gives unusual insight into the resistance to Hitler and the struggle for human rights. I highly recommend it.



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