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Death Had Two Sons
A father is forced to choose between two sons, a decision that haunts the family decades later
Haim Kalinsky lies in an Israeli hospital, terminal lung cancer about to cut his life short. Across the street stands his son Daniel, unable to visit his dying father because of an excruciating decision Haim made during the Second World War.
When the Nazis marched into Warsaw, Haim awaited the inevitable. After his wife was deported, the German soldiers returned, sending Haim and his two sons, Daniel and Shmuel, to one of the extermination camps. It was there that Haim was confronted with the unanswerable question by one of the camp guards as they disembarked from the trains: Which son will you choose to live? With only a moment to decide, Haim instinctively pulled Shmuel to him, condemning Daniel to die.
Decades later, it is Daniel who has survived the brutality of the camps and Shmuel who has perished. Strangers to each other, Daniel faces tremendous internal conflict as he struggles to reconnect with his father in his dying days. In this haunting and powerful tale of a broken father-son relationship, we come to identify with Daniel's long and tortuous journey back to his father.
Haim Kalinsky lies in an Israeli hospital, terminal lung cancer about to cut his life short. Across the street stands his son Daniel, unable to visit his dying father because of an excruciating decision Haim made during the Second World War.
When the Nazis marched into Warsaw, Haim awaited the inevitable. After his wife was deported, the German soldiers returned, sending Haim and his two sons, Daniel and Shmuel, to one of the extermination camps. It was there that Haim was confronted with the unanswerable question by one of the camp guards as they disembarked from the trains: Which son will you choose to live? With only a moment to decide, Haim instinctively pulled Shmuel to him, condemning Daniel to die.
Decades later, it is Daniel who has survived the brutality of the camps and Shmuel who has perished. Strangers to each other, Daniel faces tremendous internal conflict as he struggles to reconnect with his father in his dying days. In this haunting and powerful tale of a broken father-son relationship, we come to identify with Daniel's long and tortuous journey back to his father.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
20 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Yael Dayan
20 books9 followersis an Israeli politician and author. She served as a member of the Knesset between 1992 and 2003, and from 2008 to 2013 was the chair of Tel Aviv city council.Her service on the city council ended with the 2013 election.She is the daughter of Moshe Dayan and sister of Assi Dayan.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 10, 2015
This is a deeply moving story, beautifully written, with empathy and insight, and one that leaves a lasting impression. Daniel, still a young man when the book opens, has survived the Holocaust in spite of the agonising decision his father had to make in a death camp in Poland. We follow him from his arrival as a refugee in Israel, his growing up on a Kibbutz, and his development into an adult, who still has to come to terms with what happened with his father back during the war. It’s an upsetting and haunting read. Daniel is a fascinating character, as he struggles with issues of identity and trust and forming new relationships after his wartime trauma, and a character whose trajectory draws the reader in from the very beginning. The descriptions of life in Israel are atmospheric and evocative, and it is obvious that the author has a deep understanding of the issues raised by the book. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
March 27, 2015
How can a father choose which son will die at the hands of the Natzi ? This heart retching decision had to be made by Haim Kalinsky, a Polish Jew who loved both his boys equally. The story moves back and forth from that horrible decision to current times when Haim is dying with cancer. Daniel is the son not chosen to live by his father and it turned out he was the only son to survive. Years later Daniel is now dealing with his reunion with his father a nd his feelings about not being the chosen one. I found the book moving and sad. It once again made me realize how horrible the Natzi's were. Daniel lived his entire life feeling rejected and alone. I received this book from Netgalley and was happy to write a review.
June 9, 2020
Death Had Two Sons: A Novel is by Yael Dayan. This is one unusual book. One must have plenty of time to go back and reread what was just said to try to understand the story. The narrator jumps between the past and present and way past as he tells the story. If you miss something important, you have to go back and reread. It is a post- WWII story that takes place in Israel.
Daniel Kalinsky had been brought to Israel when he was eleven. He was an orphan and the orphans were being taken to Israel. The guide for his group was Yarom who became his best friend and his family. Yaron was six years older than Daniel. Daniel was the second son of Haim Kalinsky, a Warsaw merchant. His older brother Shmuel played the piano and sang. He was eleven to Daniel’s nine when the Nazis came. They first took his Mother and then the Father and sons. As they were walking down the street to the ghetto, the soldiers gave Haim a choice. He had two very nice-looking sons, he could choose who would go with him and who would die. Such a choice. Almost unconsciously Haim chose Shmuel to go with him. No explanation was given, no goodbye said, they were just separated. However, the men lied to Haim, they didn’t kill Daniel, they kept him for three months until he managed to run away. Daniel never talked about his time during the war to anyone.
Now, his father, step-mother and step-sister had come to Israel at his invitation. They had been given a place to live and work in the southern part of Israel, while Daniel was on the Kibbutz in the north. He saw his father and family and tried to help them; but they never grew close nor ever talked about the past. Now, his Father was in the hospital dying and Daniel was the only one who had not gone to see him. He stayed in a friend’s apartment across the street from the hospital and thought of his Father and what he would say to him; but he never entered the hospital.
Would his Father die before Daniel took the first steps towards him or would he go over so they could talk and clear the air between them?
The book is really different. The second time reading it, it makes a little more sense.
Daniel Kalinsky had been brought to Israel when he was eleven. He was an orphan and the orphans were being taken to Israel. The guide for his group was Yarom who became his best friend and his family. Yaron was six years older than Daniel. Daniel was the second son of Haim Kalinsky, a Warsaw merchant. His older brother Shmuel played the piano and sang. He was eleven to Daniel’s nine when the Nazis came. They first took his Mother and then the Father and sons. As they were walking down the street to the ghetto, the soldiers gave Haim a choice. He had two very nice-looking sons, he could choose who would go with him and who would die. Such a choice. Almost unconsciously Haim chose Shmuel to go with him. No explanation was given, no goodbye said, they were just separated. However, the men lied to Haim, they didn’t kill Daniel, they kept him for three months until he managed to run away. Daniel never talked about his time during the war to anyone.
Now, his father, step-mother and step-sister had come to Israel at his invitation. They had been given a place to live and work in the southern part of Israel, while Daniel was on the Kibbutz in the north. He saw his father and family and tried to help them; but they never grew close nor ever talked about the past. Now, his Father was in the hospital dying and Daniel was the only one who had not gone to see him. He stayed in a friend’s apartment across the street from the hospital and thought of his Father and what he would say to him; but he never entered the hospital.
Would his Father die before Daniel took the first steps towards him or would he go over so they could talk and clear the air between them?
The book is really different. The second time reading it, it makes a little more sense.
November 21, 2025
Having long been interested in Yaël Dayan and admiring of her politics, I was glad to finally read one of her novels.
This is a challenging book, but a necessary one, and could be viewed as a foundational text of Israel, the way “Khirbet Khizah” by S Yizhar is. Reading “Death Had Two Sons” helps you understand Zionism and Israel - which is very necessary if you want to create a lasting and just peace in Israel/Palestine.
Perhaps most fascinating is the “Sophie’s Choice” that is the precipitating event of the book. Haim Kalinsky has two sons that he has to choose to save from the Nazis. By chance and fate, the son he chose to save died and the one he condemned to death survived. What makes this interesting is that Dayan wrote this about ten years before William Styron wrote his tale. What is the alternative universe where “Death Had Two Sons” reached the levels it deserved and we called it Haim’s Choice?
Finally - soooo much queer subtext. And only subtext - truly a product of its time in the conservative Israel of 1967. You can tell that Dayan wanted to do more here, but was limited if she wanted to be published. Makes me sad, especially knowing what an ally Dayan was.
For those who are unfamiliar with Yaël Dayan, please become familiar with her. I will share some lines from her Times of Israel Obituary: “Yaël Dayan was an activist who rejected her father’s fate and life’s choice and sought peace. She spent her life making the country a better place for women, queer folks, refugees, Palestinians, everyone. Yaël Dayan’s life describes a country growing more alive, with the passing of decades and generations, to human rights.”
This is a challenging book, but a necessary one, and could be viewed as a foundational text of Israel, the way “Khirbet Khizah” by S Yizhar is. Reading “Death Had Two Sons” helps you understand Zionism and Israel - which is very necessary if you want to create a lasting and just peace in Israel/Palestine.
Perhaps most fascinating is the “Sophie’s Choice” that is the precipitating event of the book. Haim Kalinsky has two sons that he has to choose to save from the Nazis. By chance and fate, the son he chose to save died and the one he condemned to death survived. What makes this interesting is that Dayan wrote this about ten years before William Styron wrote his tale. What is the alternative universe where “Death Had Two Sons” reached the levels it deserved and we called it Haim’s Choice?
Finally - soooo much queer subtext. And only subtext - truly a product of its time in the conservative Israel of 1967. You can tell that Dayan wanted to do more here, but was limited if she wanted to be published. Makes me sad, especially knowing what an ally Dayan was.
For those who are unfamiliar with Yaël Dayan, please become familiar with her. I will share some lines from her Times of Israel Obituary: “Yaël Dayan was an activist who rejected her father’s fate and life’s choice and sought peace. She spent her life making the country a better place for women, queer folks, refugees, Palestinians, everyone. Yaël Dayan’s life describes a country growing more alive, with the passing of decades and generations, to human rights.”
March 7, 2019
A character study of two damaged people and how they each try to build a life for themselves in Israel after surviving the Holocaust. How they try and fail to connect is the essence of this novel. I couldn't help but feel for Daniel as I read of the path his life took, both during the Holocaust and afterwards, from his arrival in Israel, his placement on a kibbutz, his friends, and his military service. The story alternates between past and present, providing the background on why he behaves the way he does. Daniel is a very damaged individual, as we see through his actions and choices. At times depressing but always believable.
December 27, 2020
This story was hard to read. It jumped from past to present without a clear transition. The character development was minimal. Daniel was angry, understandably so, but even to those he knew for years, never became anything more than indifferent. Except with Yoram. Daniel’s feelings for Yoram didn’t seem natural. He seemed obsessed with Yoram, beyond friendship or even love, just unnatural. Daniel was not a likable character, and none of the other characters were developed enough to fully understand. I really did not enjoy this book at all.
May 16, 2023
had higher hopes for this one such a cool concept.
July 28, 2025
This was a very interesting read about a Polish family during WWII and their lives afterwards.
October 5, 2017
Good book
I enjoyed this book, but I found it hard to follow. Times jumped to often, frequently in the same paragraph. The end was also unsatisfactory. The story itself was interesting though.
I enjoyed this book, but I found it hard to follow. Times jumped to often, frequently in the same paragraph. The end was also unsatisfactory. The story itself was interesting though.
May 2, 2025
In the darkest hour of his life, having already lost his wife, a man finds himself having to choose between the lives of one of his two sons: the demented Nazi soldiers who play with him in the concentration camp where he is imprisoned force him to make this horrific choice. And he chooses.
By a strange twist of fate, the rejected son, Daniel, survives and, at the end of the war, is taken to Israel, where he is raised in a kibbutz. When anyone asks him questions, Daniel replies that he remembers nothing of his past and that his whole family must have perished, but he remembers, he remembers the terrible moment when his father made his choice, and this memory poisons his life, his relationships with others, his love for women, everything, until the day when his father, who has since been found, dies for real, and then it is too late for regrets.
A beautiful book, well written, painful, a new piece of the puzzle of cruelty, the lesson of which we have apparently not learned well.
By a strange twist of fate, the rejected son, Daniel, survives and, at the end of the war, is taken to Israel, where he is raised in a kibbutz. When anyone asks him questions, Daniel replies that he remembers nothing of his past and that his whole family must have perished, but he remembers, he remembers the terrible moment when his father made his choice, and this memory poisons his life, his relationships with others, his love for women, everything, until the day when his father, who has since been found, dies for real, and then it is too late for regrets.
A beautiful book, well written, painful, a new piece of the puzzle of cruelty, the lesson of which we have apparently not learned well.
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March 1, 2014p>Questo libro me lo porto in giro per l'Italia, durante i miei traslochi, da oramai 30 anni. Eppure non ho ancora avuto il coraggio di ri-leggerlo. L'ho letto da piccolo (scuole medie o, forse, primi anni del liceo) e ne sono rimasto scioccato. E' devastante quanto possa essere tremenda la cattiveria degli uomini e delle guerre. Ricordo ancora il senso di impotenza che avevo di fronte alla scelta del protagonista. Vi è narrata una crudeltà inumana che solo i cattivi possono provocare.
E' un romanzo scritto, a soli 28 anni, da Yael Dayan. La figlia di Moshe Dayan era allora molto giovane ma aveva già partecipato come ufficiale a due campagne nel Sinai (1956 e 1967 rispettivamente a 17 e 28 anni) a aveva già scritto altri libri.
May 12, 2015
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Upon arriving at an extermination camp, Haim Kalinsky faces the awful choice between life and death for his two young sons, Daniel or Shmuel. Clinging to Shmuel, Haim makes his choice. But as he lays on his deathbed years later, it is Daniel that is struggling with the broken relationship with his father.
Insightful and compelling, Ms. Dayan has created a book with the memorable character of Daniel and his own life journey. The protective layers that Daniel has built up for himself over time are crumbling, and he must face the fact of his father's, and his own, existence. Highly recommended.
Upon arriving at an extermination camp, Haim Kalinsky faces the awful choice between life and death for his two young sons, Daniel or Shmuel. Clinging to Shmuel, Haim makes his choice. But as he lays on his deathbed years later, it is Daniel that is struggling with the broken relationship with his father.
Insightful and compelling, Ms. Dayan has created a book with the memorable character of Daniel and his own life journey. The protective layers that Daniel has built up for himself over time are crumbling, and he must face the fact of his father's, and his own, existence. Highly recommended.
February 13, 2010
What a powerful book about family relationships. The author's style is very Amos Oz (a favourite author), and this intense book has style, wit and a very good storyline.
Want to read
July 23, 2011I think this novle is something about family that may be a reflection to us as a family member. Especially to those to faces family problems.
March 13, 2016
Well, that was encouraging.
December 18, 2025
Nice concept. It was hard to follow the time jumps. Not sure I like the way the story was told, what the author focused on or rushed past. Didn't really pique my interest.
May 3, 2018
a very moving story which has the capability to stir the conscious of the readers. though the text moves back and forth, and is in matter of fact tone, it has a greater philosophical depth on questions such a identity, home, love and relations. amazing read.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews