Unique and compelling, this husband-and-wife memoir of the Holocaust
will move and inform generations. As we lose eyewitnesses to this ultimate
horror, the Kuperhands present us with an elegantly restrained, yet hard-hitting,
Kaddish to Polish Jewry.
Miriam was the daughter of a prosperous furrier; Saul was the son of
a poor shoemaker. Miriam was sixteen when she and her brother roamed the
wild countryside of Poland, searching for food and shelter--and for their
parents. Saul was only a few years older when he watched the smoke rising
from the crematoria and knew that his parents, sister, and eight brothers
were gone forever. Miriam lived by hiding; Saul lived by escaping from
the camp.
The authors emphasize the essential role that Polish Christians played
in their survival and stress that wit, courage, faith, luck, and even
a strong will to live were worthless without their help.
The travail of their survival is wrenching yet comforting, tragic yet
upbeat, cinematic yet intimate. Shadows of Treblinka will haunt
and inspire its readers.