THIS REMARKABLE WORLD WAR II MEMOIR documents the true story of a Jewish youth from Ukraine who evades death during the Holocaust by joining a transport of non-Jews conscripted for compulsory labor in Germany. Incredibly, he lives in plain sight among his enemies for almost three years.
Eighteen-year-old Sasha flees from the Nazi-occupied Dubno ghetto days before the mobile killing squads of the SS massacre the remaining Jewish inhabitants. He attempts to save himself by posing as a gentile in the very heart of Hitler's Germany. Close calls, unexpected challenges, and hair-raising encounters punctuate each day on the run. As he moves from town to town and job to job, Sasha's quick wit and some twists of fate allow him to survive--at least until the next time. Meeting no other Jews, he fears he may be the only Jew still alive in Europe.
Sasha, a Jewish youth from Ukraine, runs from the Dubno ghetto in October of 1942, at the urging of his mother, who knows that any day the Germans will come for them and kill them. To survive, he uses falsified identity documents to join a transport of non-Jews conscripted for compulsory labor in Germany. In the homeland of his enemy, he hides in plain sight for almost three years.
He is repeatedly forced to flee when suspicions and rumors that he might be Jewish threaten his life. Each day he faces new challenges: whether he is being questioned by the Gestapo after running away from a job or being examined by a German physician who may well discover that he is circumcised.
He lives with the loneliness and isolation of not being able to share with anyone the secret of who he really is, as well as his daily fear of being discovered. He must constantly remain on guard with everyone: his co-workers, his German bosses, and even the woman who professes to love him.
This incredible memoir documents one young man's determination to remain alive during the Holocaust. It is a narrative of anguish, identity confusion, triumph over adversity, and ultimately a final escape to the West to reclaim the identity and ideals of his youth.
Sam Genirberg immigrated to the United States with his wife and child in 1948. Settling in California, his career path progressed from chicken farmer, to owner and manager of a popular ice cream store, to highly successful land developer. Over the years, he has been active in the Jewish community and has remained a steadfast supporter of Israel. He and his wife, Rose, have raised three children. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, continues to be involved in property management, and frequently talks about his Holocaust experiences to Jewish groups and high school students in his community.
