We Were the Lucky Ones, by Georgia Hunter
(2017)
Only after her grandfather died did
author Georgia Hunter learn that he was originally from Poland and had survived
the Holocaust. He never talked about his
experiences, nor did anyone else in the family.
Later, when the author and her cousins would gather, she slowly learned
how her family managed to survive the horror.
This book is based on their stories.
Sol and Nechuma Kurc were affluent Jews
from Radom, Poland. By the time the war
broke out, their five children were young adults, some with families of their
own. The book begins in March 1939. The middle son, Addie, is living in Parish
hopes to return to Poland for Passover.
Letters from his mother, however, convince him to remain in Paris. Soon all communications with his family back
in Poland ceases. For the duration of
the War, neither Addy nor his family know each other’s fate. He manages to leave Europe on one of the last
passenger ships and ends up in Brazil.
The other children in the family are not
so lucky. Much of the family was set
upon remaining in their home in Poland.
During the War, the family members become separated and are exposed to
numerous horrors. They are forced to leave
their home and sent to live in a ghetto.
Two of the sons are sent off to fight in the War.
After the Russians entered Poland, the
oldest son, Genek, was arrested by the Soviet secret police. He and his wife, Halina, wound up in
Siberia. Other family members join the
Polish resistance and are forced into hiding.
Mila survives with her young daughter, teaching her to hide and be quiet
whenever the Nazi’s burst into their home.
From the title, the reader knows that the
family survives the war. They are not
immune to the death and horror that surrounds them, however. Each member suffers through the fear, the
hiding from the Nazi’s or Poles who would be quick to turn them in. Some of the narrow escapes described seem to
defy logic. Still, I enjoyed this book.
Read: April 2, 2018
5 Stars
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