“Shards of War – Two Teens’ Flight to Uzbekistan”
By Michael G. Kesler
In Brief
On June 24, 1941, the third day of Hitler’s war against the Soviets, Michael, 16, and his sister Luba, 19, leave their home in Dubno, the Ukraine. In parting, the father hands his golden watch to Michael. The teens flee on foot and by train deep into the Ukraine and beyond, spending a brutal winter near Stalingrad, where they nearly perished from hunger and cold. In July 1942, they escape again ahead of the German’s onslaught on Stalingrad. A young thief thwarts their attempt to leave Stalingrad by ship, as he snatches the golden watch from Michael, waiting to obtain a permit to board the ship. Tragically, the ship the siblings were to take hits a mine and all of its 300 passengers perish.
The siblings leave Stalingrad a week later and travel to Uzbekistan, where Michael works as a veterinary assistant and Luba as a teacher. In the fall of 1943, both fall ill with typhoid and Luba nearly dies. In the spring of 1944, the siblings leave for Samarkand, where Michael becomes a weaver, and Luba, the business manager of their budding enterprise to prepare and sell cloth.
In the fall of 1945, Luba joined by her friend Moniek – soon to become her husband – return to their hometown and find all its 8,000 Jews, including their parents and relatives, in mass graves. They travel to Krakow and, joining Moniek’s surviving mother and several family members, leave for the U.S. Occupation Zone of West Germany and are admitted to the Landsberg displaced persons’ camp.
The personal saga of the siblings is interlaced with accounts of the raging War, such as: the Battle of Moscow in the winter of 1941, the heroic defense of Stalingrad the following winter, and the rout of the German armies near Smolensk. The introduction provides: a historical background of the Holocaust in the Ukraine. The appendices provide testimonies of the annihilation of the Jews in Dubno, and a brief review of the initial phase of the War, around Dubno, Rovno, and Lutsk.
The manuscript, approximately 230 pages long, has 60,000 words; it includes 16 black-and-white illustrations, 6 photographs, and several maps.
What is Unique about the Book?
The memoir brings to life experiences and feelings that have universal and timeless resonance, as it chronicles a personal fight of survival by two siblings, amidst a vicious War. It includes accounts of the Holocaust that only recently Father Patrick Desbois of France, Professor Omer Bartov of Brown University, and Joshua Rubenstein of Amnesty International, are unraveling. Namely, mass killings by the Germans, with the help of local people, of 2.5 million Jews – nearly one-half of Jewish victims of the Holocaust – in Eastern Poland, the Baltic States, and the Soviet Republics of the Ukraine and Belarus.
Target Audience
The book should be of interest to a wide readership, and particularly to young adults pursuing courses dealing with World War II and the Holocaust. In this connection, several academicians have reviewed the book and commented as follows:
“Michael seeks to memorialize the past in unforgettable ways…his book is a compelling tale of adventure which is almost impossible to put down.” – Professor Midlarsky, Rutgers University
“It’s very well-written and tells an extraordinary story with much passion, empathy and skill.” – Professor Bartov, Brown University
“This is an exciting story and it should be published.” – Professor Leviant, Rutgers University (retired).
“…I do have an assignment, in which I ask students to read an additional Holocaust memoir and write an essay on it in light of our class discussions. I would certainly draw students' attention to your book as one of the texts they could read for this assignment.” – Paul Hanebrink, Professor of History, Rutgers University.