Refuge: Surviving the Nazi Occupation of Poland: Memoirs of Kalman Horowitz

Inside are the wartime memoirs of my father, of blessed memory, whose quiet young life and that of his family in prewar Poland were abruptly transported into the abyss of the Holocaust. His narrative records the seismic shifts and tragedies he endured, including the loss of his family and friends. Like many other Jews in Poland, he struggled to survive the murderous onslaught of the Nazis. However, he quickly discovered that he was primarily evading the many Poles who pursued those Jews the Nazis had missed exterminating. In this setting, he was witness to harrowing incidents laced with fear, treachery and murder. The tales of his escapes from death and the story of his survival in the forests of Poland are accompanied by some photographs that my father was able to salvage as well as some other photographs indicative of his experiences. While he did manage to survive, his family, friends and all the other nameless faces in the photographs did not. For me, writing this book seemed to be the most appropriate memorial to my father and all the others.