I just heard about this one, although I haven't read it yet:
The Avengers Rich Cohen A.A. Knopf, 2000 - Biography & Autobiography - 261 pages In 1944, a band of Jewish guerrillas emerged from the Baltic forest to join the Russian army in its attack on Vilna, the capital of Lithuania. The band, called the Avengers, was led by Abba Kovner, a charismatic young poet. In the ghetto, Abba had built bombs, sneaking out through the city's sewer tunnels to sabotage German outposts. Abba's chief lieutenants were two teenage girls, Vitka Kempner and Ruzka Korczak. At seventeen, Vitka and Ruzka were perhaps the most daring partisans in the East, the first to blow up a Nazi train in occupied Europe. Each night, the girls shared a bed with Abba, raising gossip in the ghetto. But what they found was more than temporary solace. It was a great love affair. After the liquidation of the ghetto, the Avengers escaped through the city's sewage tunnels to the forest, where they lived for more than a year in a dugout beside a swamp, fighting alongside other partisan groups, and ultimately bombing the city they loved, destroying Vilna's waterworks and its powerplant in order to pave the way for its liberation. Leaving a devastated Poland behind them, they set off for the cities of Europe: Vitka and Abba to the West, where they would be instrumental in orchestrating the massive Jewish exodus to the biblical homeland, and Ruzka to Palestine, where she would be literally the first person to bring a first hand account of the Holocaust to Jewish leaders. It was in these last terrifying days--with travel in Europe still unsafe for Jews and the extent of the Holocaust still not widely known--that the Avengers hatched their plan for revenge. Before it was over, the group would have smuggled enough poison into Nuremberg to kill ten thousand Nazis.The Avengersis the story of what happened to these rebels in the ghetto and in the forest, and how, fighting for the State of Israel, they moved beyond the violence of the Holocaust and made new lives. From Rich Cohen, one of the preeminent journalists of his generation and author of the highly praisedTough Jews, a powerful exploration of vindication and revenge, of dignity and rebellion, painstakingly recreated through his exclusive access to the Avengers themselves. Written with insight, sensitivity, and the moral force of one of the last great struggles of the Second World War, here is an unforgettable story for our time. From: hasafran-bounces+mommycat=bryskier....@lists.service.ohio-state.edu [mailto:hasafran-bounces+mommycat=bryskier....@lists.service.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Lisa Silverman Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 11:43 PM To: Rose Novil; Hasafran Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] Jewish Heroes Howard Fast's book, "My Glorious Brotthers", historical fiction about the lives of the Maccabees, might work for you. In 2011 it was reissued in paperback. And, there are many. many Holocaust books that highlight heroics of Jews, however I would not recommend the Book Thief for that purpose, although it is an excellent book. Lisa Silverman Library Director Sinai Temple Library Los Angeles, Ca _____ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Rose Novil [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 4:14 PM To: Hasafran Subject: [ha-Safran] Jewish Heroes Hello Dear Colleagues, Our college hopefully will be offering a Jewish literature series next spring focusing on the theme of Jewish Heroes/Heroines. Our audience is the larger community consisting of adults between the ages of 35 - 85. A couple of titles we are considering are: Megillat Esther Exodus - Leon Uris Book Thief - Marcus Zusak All Other Nights -- Dara Horn It would be wonderful to hear what titles you would recommend as worthwhile for reading and group discussion. Many thanks in advance, Rose
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