Helpful Score: 3
What sets We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter apart from other books I have read about the Holocaust is its simultaneously narrow and expansive scope. Amazingly, this is the story of one family. Yet, it reaches across Poland, Siberia, France, Northern Africa, Italy, South America, and even the United States of America. This is a remarkable story of survival in war. It paints not only a horrific image of the war but also a beautiful picture of family, love, and hope.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/02/we-were-lucky-ones.html.
Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/02/we-were-lucky-ones.html.
Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.
Helpful Score: 3
This book was absolutely amazing! The facts and the research that was done, the descriptions, each character, the places.....Everything about it was fabulous. I can't remember the last time a book moved me to tears so many times in embarrassing places. SPOILER ALERT: In the authors blurb at the end of the book we find out each story was true and she researched and interviewed all her relatives, made it even more poignant. I highly recommend anyone having any interest in the Holocaust to read this book!
long (400 pages) but good book. It seems that most WWII HF I read focuses on England, France or Germany. The first book I recall about Poland in that era was The Lilac Girls about Polish women in the concentration camps who had medical experiments performed on them. This book is also about Poland - it was a true story of the author's family and portrays what it was like in Poland during the war. All of the immediate family manages to survive the war and all have distinct stories. From emigrating to Brazil to Siberian gulag camps to hiding out in Warsaw basements and attempting to pass as Aryan to the Underground and fake IDs. Since some of my family originated in Poland, the country and its history interests me. This book was good, well written and well researched. It read more like a story than a history text. My only criticism is that it was a little long.
Helpful Score: 1
This true account of the author's family during WW2 starts off in Poland before and after the Nazi occupation. They had a large very close family and their amazing story takes you literally all over the world.
I've read so many WW2 books and was reluctant to read another one however, I'm so glad I did. It was an incredible, unbelievable yet heartwarming story.
I've read so many WW2 books and was reluctant to read another one however, I'm so glad I did. It was an incredible, unbelievable yet heartwarming story.
Helpful Score: 1
Amazing account of a family who survived the Holocaust. It's hard to imagine what that must have been like, and the strength & determination needed to make it through WWII, but the Kurc family did just that. Some of them were on their own as they navigated their way to safety.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was written with such talent! Highly recommend it!
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While the numerous characters do keep you on your toes, the family tree illustration at the beginning helps sort it out as each chapter alternates between the characters' stories.
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The story is told with just the right amount of emotion and depth, peppered with actual news reports from the war.
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And the author's afterward was pretty mind-blowing to read!
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While the numerous characters do keep you on your toes, the family tree illustration at the beginning helps sort it out as each chapter alternates between the characters' stories.
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The story is told with just the right amount of emotion and depth, peppered with actual news reports from the war.
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And the author's afterward was pretty mind-blowing to read!
Helpful Score: 1
WE WERE the LUCKY ONES
This is the story of the Kurc family, the author's family, and what happened to them during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Jewish, they were living in Random, Poland, in March 1939. Five adult children live with the parents with the exception of Addy, a son living in Toulouse, but who would return for Rosh Hashanah and Passover. The tale covers a six year period beginning just before WWII. To survive, family members flee to different places in Europe with one sent to Siberia. Eventually, they are spread across five continents.
As the book opens, life seems normal and happy for this close knit family until the Nazis invade Poland. Worried, still they are certain that things will turn out well yet it soon becomes obvious they are trapped in the Nazi web of madness. A story of hope and love, the most difficult periods for them are those when they lose contact with one another, having no idea where or what is happening to loved ones. Each is followed and the experiences they encounter are reported with detail and emotion.
The author's grandfather shared his story which became the basis for this amazing tale of survival. It's a wonderful read with the author even sharing a photo of her and her grandfather and giving details of about the family now. An outstanding read, the title is explained along with the reason for its choice. That a family so sundered and scattered could survive and find each other is unbleivable. I thank the author for sharing this incredible story.
This is the story of the Kurc family, the author's family, and what happened to them during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Jewish, they were living in Random, Poland, in March 1939. Five adult children live with the parents with the exception of Addy, a son living in Toulouse, but who would return for Rosh Hashanah and Passover. The tale covers a six year period beginning just before WWII. To survive, family members flee to different places in Europe with one sent to Siberia. Eventually, they are spread across five continents.
As the book opens, life seems normal and happy for this close knit family until the Nazis invade Poland. Worried, still they are certain that things will turn out well yet it soon becomes obvious they are trapped in the Nazi web of madness. A story of hope and love, the most difficult periods for them are those when they lose contact with one another, having no idea where or what is happening to loved ones. Each is followed and the experiences they encounter are reported with detail and emotion.
The author's grandfather shared his story which became the basis for this amazing tale of survival. It's a wonderful read with the author even sharing a photo of her and her grandfather and giving details of about the family now. An outstanding read, the title is explained along with the reason for its choice. That a family so sundered and scattered could survive and find each other is unbleivable. I thank the author for sharing this incredible story.
Well written in such a way that you get the maco and micro version at the same time, each chapter 'just enough' to color the whole. Your mental involvement with the family connects right at the beginning and doesn't end until the last page.
One of the best books I've ever read!
