The Avengers: A Jewish War Story

by Rich Cohen

Riveting, poignant and uplifting, The Avengers is a powerful exploration of resistance and revenge, of courage and dedication, and an inside look at some of the intrepid individuals who fought against the Holocaust and the nazi occupation of Europe.Rich Cohen, author of the acclaimed Tough Jews, again narrates a little-known episode of Jewish history, this time altering what we thought we knew about the Holocaust. Abba Kovner, Vitka Kempner, Ruzka Korczak-comrades, lovers, friends. In the Lithuanian ghetto of Vilna, they were the heart of a breathtakingly courageous underground movement, and when the ghetto was liquidated, they fled to the forests and joined other partisans in continued sabotage and resistance.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Holocaust, World War II, War, Jewish, Biography

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2000

About the author

RICH COHEN is the author of Sweet and Low (FSG, 2006), Tough Jews, The Avengers, The Record Men, and the memoir Lake Effect. His work has appeared in many major publications, and he is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone. He lives with his family in Connecticut.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Coh...

Reviews

[Lee Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

A+++ story of resistance, revenge, and reconsideration that everyone should read. Straightforward, super-dramatic, moving, vivid, semi-inspiring retelling of the Nazi occupation of Vilna (which I've always known as Vilnius, the largest city of Lithuania), establishment of the Jewish ghetto (80K Jews crammed into a tight medieval labyrinth, with houses often having three stories of cellars in part to hide from persecution throughout history), "relocation" of thousands to work camps to the east, discovery that families and friends are being relocated to a firing squad and mass-grave pit in Ponar, the conflict between the call to arms and other ideas for survival as the ghetto population drops to 15K, escape to the forests through the sewer system and teaming up with partisans undermining the Nazi war effort, the Soviet surge to the west that liberates the ghetto once it's down to a few thousand, the very interesting post-WWII after-life of our heroes (Abba, Vikta, Ruzka), particularly Abba's crusade to poison the drinking water of major German cities and anonymously and without warning take revenge and kill six million Germans (the plan didn't come off of course but they did manage to hospitalize a few thousand former SS prisoners of war), and then their relocation and participation in the nascent Jewish nation of Israel, including the 1948 war against Egypt and pretty much all surrounding Arab nations. Makes me wanna become one of those aging guys who only reads fat WWII histories. Audacity, oomph, and heft delivered by basic facts of the story; authority and execution delivered by the storyteller. But also it made me see how the perma-Israel/Palestine conflict emerges from the Holocaust and makes me want to read more about the history of Israel, especially more of an Arab take. Moral complexity up the wazoo when it comes to the surviving Jews ransacking Polish peasants for food and arms and often flat-out killing them and then these super-badass survivors escaping centuries of hatred in the Euro diaspora for an ancient island of their own in the middle of a roiling ocean of not-so-welcoming Arabs . . . Read this thanks to one of those "you may also like" recommendations on the side of the Goodreads screen -- good job, GR, I really did like this. Also read because my totally assimilated father's Jewish side of the family came from Lithuania and my mother's Catholic side from nearby Poland, so throughout I could imagine myself or relatives in similar circumstances (as Jewish partisans blowing up trains or anti-Semitic Polish peasants ratting them out) had relatives not had the good sense to move to New Jersey about fifty years before the Nazis came to power. Anyway, a great relevant read.

[Sherwood Smith]

This was one tough book to read--it took me months. Some of it was so horrific I could only read a page or two, then I had to put it down.

At the center are Abba Kovner, Vitka Kempner, Ruzka Korczak, three young Jews when the war broke out who ended up as fighting partisans. As their families, neighbors, and cities were systematically obliterated around them, they determined to fight back, not march passively to death as millions did.

After the war, Abba and Vitka bent their experience and skills toward revenge. Not satisfied with hunting down hiding SS officers and killing them one by one, they wanted to kill Germans indiscriminately, in massive numbers, the way the Jews had been killed. This horrific plan was actually carried out, not against German at large, but against the camp of SS officers and death camp guards kept at Auschwitz for judgment. After their bread was poisoned, 2300 of them were reported sick. The media kept silent on whether or not they survived or died. But after that, Abba decided to shift the effort to insuring the emerging nation of Israel's survival, and so the book describes out the core group of fighters in the 1948 war, when the Jews were totally outnumbered, came at the battle with all their PTSD-honed skills.

The book is vividly, I would even say shatteringly described. Cohen traveled to all the spots he depicts, and it shows in the narrative. He interviewed many survivors and their families. It is quite clear through this book that the shadow of that experience 1939-1945 stretched out for decades afterward.

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

A searing and poignant story about a group of Jewish partisans who fought against the Germans behind the lines on the Eastern Front during the Second World War.

[Calley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich Cohen did an excellent job of transcribing the story of other people in history in an unbiased, loving fashion. He presents a "different Holocaust story," without disparaging what happened before, during and after the war. He does a great job of making known his subject's opinions without forcing them down the reader's throat, showing positive and negative sides of each internal and external struggle.
WIth his simplistic writing style, he conveys the unobscured fighting and decisions that took place amongst each character. Many had very little "gray" area of worry in making the right choice, and new what was best for them and those around them. I think that when everything you know gets taken away, your line of sight must become much more clear; whether it is to fight or not, stay with family or fall in love.
I would recommend this book to just about anyone. The social history is astounding, and Cohen presents the landscape and backdrop in an understated fashion so as to not take away from the personal aspects of the story. I really admired the beginning and end of the book, where he shares his own part in the story.

Towards the end of this book, when the focus shifts to post-WWII dramas, I started thinking about how little Middle Eastern history was shared with us in K-12, and I wonder (, nay, HOPE, EXPECT) that there is more of it in newer textbooks. Hell, ours didn't even mention Japanese Internment WITHIN the US. anyway, that's not really part of the book review, just a thought.

[Castles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abba Kovner, what a man. What a legend.

In times like these, this book was a major uplifting read, at least for me. Not only because it talks about the holocaust, the jewish partisans and their struggle for revenge, but also because it talks about the war of independence of Israel. This link, from destruction to renewal, so deeply woven into Israel’s own story, makes the book a strong reminder of our will and strength as a people. A very important reminder.

This amazing story writes itself, and it’s fascinating, at times, regardless of the author. I had two problems with this book after all: The writing style here is easy and you can even say - a page turner (reminds me a bit of that HHhH one). But it also feels as if it’s written for young adults or something, taking for granted that the reader is an idiot or deeply lacks historical knowledge. Having said that, his audience are probably readers with poor knowledge of the holocaust after all, so…

My other criticism is that some historical points are skewed by political bias. Jabotinsky was certainly not a fascist, nor was Begin, nor is Beitar. This sentiment reflects a distinctly American Jewish left-wing view, far from accurate.

[Russell]

I know it’s going to take me a long time to read this book. Not because it’s not well-written, or because it’s not a gripping tale. It is both well-written and gripping.

It will take me a long time simply because I find reading (or watching) anything Holocaust-related draining and enervating. A few pages a day is as much as I can manage. I know these stories need to be told, particularly those about the few who were able to make the leap and find the courage and the means to fight back.

Why do I find it so emotionally draining? I guess because we all know how the story ends, at least the big picture. The numbers don’t change for the better. If anything, they get worse; our shorthand notation about “the six million” may be inaccurate. According to one Holocaust researcher I heard lecture, the real number is probably closer to seven million.

Anyway, I hope people like Rich Cohen carry on telling these stories about resistance and partisans; even if all it does is help us change the way we view the Holocaust.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book. As the grandchild of survivors (the only ones in their extended families), I grew up with stories of the Holocaust. But I had little knowledge of the heroic efforts in the Vilna ghetto and of the partisans. We hear so much about tragedy and inhumanity but rarely do we hear of out and out fighting, resistance, saying no in the face of no choices. This book really touched me and I loved how it carries the reader from the beginning of the atrocities, through the worst and then to the beginnings of Israel and the struggle once again for freedom. I seriously cannot believe this has not yet been made into a movie. It should be.
I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in the untold stories of history, certainly any Jewish person, but much wider than that. Anyone who loves heroes and stories of survival will love this book.

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Onvan : The Avengers: A Jewish War Story - Nevisande : Rich Cohen - ISBN : 375705295 - ISBN13 : 9780375705298 - Dar 276 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2000

[Jeeps (immovabletype) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's our duty to fight for our people," she said. "It does not mean we've forgotten about Israel. We do it because we love Israel. Every people has its stories of heroism. It is these stories that give you the strength to go on. But these stories cannot remain only in the past, a part of our ancient history. They must be a part of our real life as well. What will the coming generations learn from us? How good will they be if their entire history is one of slaughter and extermination? Our history must not contain only tragedy. We cannot allow that. It must also have heroic struggles, self-defense, war, even death with honor."

I used so many post-it tabs on this book. I used so many that I can run my hand over them like an instrument and make music. I tabbed the damn afterword more than once.

There's a pervasively singular narrative surrounding the Holocaust of Jews being led to their deaths by the Germans and of the Allies as their liberators. This is true — but as with most truth, it's more nuanced than that. Cohen writes in the afterword, "Yes. This is an important story; maybe the most important. It is what happened to the majority of Jews in the War. And yet: It is not the only story." The Avengers shifts the narrative onto the Jews who resisted. Since the back of the book isn't on Goodreads I'll quote it here, since I wouldn't be able to write a better synopsis:

This true story of World War II starts in the Lithuanian ghetto of Vilna, where a small band of underground Jews fight with unending cunning and courage. At the heart of this resistance are Abba Kovner, a fiery poet and leader, and two fearless teenage girls, Vitka Kempner and Ruzka Korczak. When the ghetto is liquidated, these three flee to the forest and fight alongside Russian and Polish partisan groups—dynamiting bridges, derailing trains, and destroying power plants and waterworks. Their actions eventually lead them down a winding path to Palestine, where a struggle for independence awaits the weary yet fiercely indomitable avengers. It is a side of the war not often seen—Jews fighting the Nazis on their own terms. It is also the story of three remarkable people able to call themselves comrades, lovers, friends.

Cohen was related to Ruzka, and much of this story was told to him firsthand since his childhood (the three of them, with their complicated personal history — though Cohen doesn't label it as such it's clear the three were involved in a poly relationship — remained close in relationship and proximity until their deaths), with clear due diligence when in pursuit of writing this book as an adult. As such his admiration for them is hard to miss, but he also doesn't shy away from telling and examining some of the complicated decisions they made. I'd go so far as to say this is a strength of the book: it's a fascinating and relevant look at the paths that war and persecution push people down. The fighters themselves didn't tell all of the history here until they reached old age and their stories — and their fight — were in danger of dying with them. It doesn't aim to be a comfortable narrative, just to reframe it, and it's incredibly effective at doing this. The author was born and raised in America, but the first time any American soldiers are mentioned in the book is not towards the end, and by then the story so thoroughly belongs in the hands of the fighting Jews at the center of the book that the soldiers' importance seems incidental. Their part exists outside of this narrative.

All three of them were remarkable, eloquent people, but Abba was the wordsmith. Cohen may not have been Abba's descendant, but he certainly inherited his talent for insight and poetry, which just makes this an incredibly smart, engaging, moving read. I'll leave you with one more quote to demonstrate this and then leave it at that, because hopefully if you have any interest in the history and relevance of World War II I've managed to impress upon you that this one is essential reading.

Some of the Jewish refugees . . . walked out to visit the camp. Abba never made the trip. Perhaps he did not have the strength to go, perhaps he did not need to. Though Abba had never seen Majdanek, he already understood it; he understood it the way Einstein understood the black hole—as a theory, as something the numbers suggested. His calculations, rhetoric and fears had long told him such a place must exist, that somewhere, on the edge of the universe, a hole must have opened, a void that swallowed up all energy, even light. The trains had to be going somewhere—right?

[Nrosenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad for many reasons. Mainly, well, the horrors of the Holocaust. But sad to see the Zionism we see early in the book - the hopeful Zionism of self-determination and freedom - come to a head in the final pages about the Israeli War of Independence / the Nakba.

Reading this book has reinforced several things for me, including:
- Zionism / Israel were inevitable after the Holocaust
- Zionism is not a colonial project/entity.

And, maybe most importantly, Never Again means Never Again. This book was written in the 90s, before the Second Intifada and, while after Netanyahu’s first stint as PM, before the Netanyahu Era of Israeli history. The horrors of the Holocaust do not justify the war in Gaza.

[Zettie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many true tales of survival from WW2. This book is one of Jewish youth who realize the ghettos are just the next step to extermination & decide not to follow the masses to slaughter but defy the Germans by escaping into the in the forest. There they join up with other resistant fighters & earn respect as fighters. However, they soon realize they will never be accepted as Jews. Facing betrayals & hatred this handful of fighters manage to bring the unwanted Jewish refugees to a place that becomes the state of Israel.

[Edward Champion · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've long been impressed by Rich Cohen's ability to find the unlikeliest stories and bring them to life with their eccentric synthesis. But while he has done some noble work here in exhuming the Jewish resistance against the Nazis in Lithuania, I felt that this particular volume didn't have the essential and gripping qualities of his excellent book, TOUGH JEWS, much less the evenhanded consideration of numerous Judaic views in ISRAEL IS REAL. Cohen is far better when he's quirky and candid. And by removing himself from the narrative (save the afterword), his book becomes far dryer than it should be. There are, of course, plentiful examples of Jewish heroism and Nazi cruelty. But it read to me as a disappointingly pedestrian effort

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

A closer look at history

An important part of Jewish history. I knew bits and pieces and recognized some of the names and places but this telling of the avengers gave me better insight into what people were struggling with and how they fought back. I was very moved by this piece of history and how even with the passage of time we really can never forget.

[Owen Neumayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Avengers tells the daring story of how Jewish partisans fought against racial and religious persecution in Europe and the Middle East. These brave Jews evaded death throughout World War Two and throughout the Jewish and Arab wars which followed the end of the global conflict. The story follows Ruzka Korczak, Abba Kvoner, and Vitka Kempner as they faced all kinds of persecution.

These three people were vital pieces of fighting Jewish partisan groups that eventually turned into ‘The Avengers’ after WWII and the Holocaust ended. Fighting in towns and forests of Lithuania, these partisans were able to derail Nazi trains and sabotage other types of Nazi transports. During the war, thousands of Nazis were killed at the hands of these Jewish partisans. These Jews felt as though they had a duty to reciprocate the carnage the Nazis inflicted upon them.

After the war, these Jews felt that Palestine would be their safe place. They knew that Europe would forever be a place where six million Jews were brutally murdered. This stained their perception of their former home and caused them to look for alternatives. All three of our main characters- Ruzka, Abba, and Vitka- made it to Palestine, where they started families. Abba became a successful commander for the Israeli Army (IDF), and led the Givati Brigade against Arab nations during the 1948 War of Independence.

This book told a tremendous story of courage and bravery in the face of evil and tyranny. No matter how you may feel about Nazis, Jews, Muslims, Europeans, Africans etc., this book holds tremendous value. The stories of these survivors can not be forgotten; these stories are testimonies of resilience and hope.

[Elizabeth R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well written, especially given the extensive amount of information available to the author. It’s very dense, and I didn’t want to miss a thing.

[Rachel Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, unsettling story of three young Jewish partisans-- two women and a man-- who escaped the destruction of the Vilna ghetto and fought the Nazis from their forest hiding place. (Vilna is where my family is from. Had my ancestors not fled earlier anti-Semitic persecution, that's where I would have been during WWII. About 40,000 Jews were forced into the Vilna ghetto; a couple hundred survived.)

The heroism of women and Jews is often ignored or disbelieved, so I particularly appreciated this extensive documentation of jaw-dropping acts of courage performed as a matter of course, over a course of years, by a gentle-looking Jewish scholar and two tiny teenage Jewish girls.

While much of what the partisans did during the war was completely justified, and more falls into the "who am I to judge" category," the book continues past the war, as Abba and his allies plot what I can only describe as a horrific act of terrorism. They come very close to a mass poisoning of the entire population of several German cities. According to the author, and this book seems well researched and documented, the only reason it didn't happen was that the Israeli government found out and squelched it. (They did not prevent some (or possibly lots) of actual Nazis getting poisoned in a separate plot, but those guys were in no way innocent.)

Who am I to judge, given what they went through and witnessed? Who am I to not judge, given their intent?

Abba, the man, and Vitka and Ruzka, the women, were extremely strongly implied to have been a romantic threesome during the war; afterward, Abba and Vitka married, and lived next door to Ruzka and her husband in Israel for the rest of their lives. I can't help being glad that they got their happily-enough ever after ending.

[Dario · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Avengers tells a vital story. The facts of the Jewish resistance born in the Vilna ghetto in Lithuania and led by Abba Kovner are grim, moving, inspiring.

While most of the Vilna Jewish community allowed itself to be both divided and subdued by the Nazis, with the SS-appointed Jewish police fostering denial (if we comply, some Jews will survive, the community must be preserved at all costs, etc.) Kovner understood from the beginning--even before the Nazis themselves made it official policy--that all Jews would be exterminated, and that the only choice was to arm themselves and fight back.

Together with two extraordinarily courageous women, Ruzka Korczak and Vitka Kempner, Kovner formed the UPO, the United Partisan Organization, which carried out clandestine attacks and acts of sabotage against German forces from within the Vilna ghetto and--after the ghetto was liquidated--from the nearby forest, where they endured cold, hunger, and malnutrition in order to continue their struggle.

The material itself, gathered by Cohen from many sources as well as extensive firsthand conversations, is riveting. Unfortunately--and despite the glowing praise for Cohen's "spare and muscular writing" from the NYT reviewer--the author's style is so spare it's flat. As a consequence, the story itself suffers, the topography of human feeling and emotion blunted in what I felt was a poorly-calibrated attempt at objectivity and detachment; because of this, many sections and chapters end with a sense of anticlimax and "is that it?".

I still highly recommend this book to anynone interested in the holocaust and the principle of fighting against tyranny and oppression, but what could have been a mesmerizing, unputdownable book was--for me--a rather turgid read; had the book been better written, I wouldn't have hesitated to give it five stars.

[Priscilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book! It's the story of Jews who fought back during World War 2, a perspective you normally don't hear about. When Germany invaded Vilna, Poland, they relocated all of the Jewish citizens into a small ghetto. Every so often, the Nazis would ask for a thousand or so volunteers to leave the ghetto for another work camp where they would have better living conditions with more food and better clothes. But in reality, they were taken to concentration camps for mass slaughter.

When the Vilna Jews became aware of the fate of their people, a small contingent formed The Avengers. The group was made up of young adults; the oldest member was 25. They swore revenage and operating by stealth, they successfully bombed trains, killed Nazi leaders and supporters, and halted the German army progress. By the end, they were responsible for almost 100,000 German deaths.

While interesting, this book was very fair. It doesn't completely paint The Avengers as The Good Guys and anyone who opposed them as The Bad Guys. The Avengers did what they thought was necessary. Other Jewish people did what they thought was right. They dealt with racism and a ruined Eurpoe the only way they knew how.

I liked how the book didn't stop when the Russians rolled into Vilna. There were battles even after WW2 was over, including the Jewish battle to migrate to Palestine and establish a Jewish nation. It told a complete story, as well as a unqiue story. Most WW2 Jewish literature deals with Jews in concentration camps. This is the story of those who were left behind.

I highly recommend this book! Very interesting, very inspiring.

[Marlee Pinsker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. It was difficult reading, but so compelling. Abba, Rouska and Vitka were so alive to me while I was reading that I found it hard to leave them and went onto You Tube to find instances of their giving interviews and describing their lives. I looked up Abba's poetry and Vitka's theories of color in the treatment of disturbed children and Rouska's historical work.

The central realization of this book is a brilliant one: it is not going to be the same this time around. One could not rely on the Nazis to behave like the Cossacks, to kill a few and leave the rest alone for a while. Their strategy would have been destructive and without merit if it wasn't that Abba was able to read the events of his day and interpret them correctly. When a girl named Sara came running back from an Aktion, naked and bloody, the head of the Jewish Police tried to silence her. Abba believed her and insisted that they needed to fight back. The Nazis didn't believe that their work would redeem them. They wanted all Jews dead, and they would not stop at anything that might help them achieve their goal. They might die anyways, but at least they would have expressed their spirit.

Then, they decided to forget their dream of avenging the horrible deaths of their people in Europe and just work to build Israel. It was another giant philosophical leap. I was so moved by the examples of these people's lives. I would like my life to be worthy of their sacrifices.

[Nikki Golden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not a well-written book, but the plotline was interesting enough to warrant a high star rating.

It is hard to read a book about WWII, especially as a Jew, and not wonder what I would have done in any and all situations. It's amazing to me the levels that people were able to rise under such circumstances.

This book centers on three people who ended up in Vilna who created the Jewish resistance from within the ghetto and then from joining with other partisians in the forests around Vilna once the ghetto was extinguished. The story is so powerful for many reasons, but to me, mainly because these people left their families, which is something I don't think I would ever be able to do.

The three then emigrated to Israel, after the war and partook in the fight for Israel, too. An amazing story.

[Ridgewalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fact based account of the Jewish resistance in WWII in the town of Vilnar Poland. The author pieced together the story from interviews in the 1990's in Israel. The story is told in the matter of fact manner that can only come from those who had lived through it. To them it was every day, something they had no choice except how to react. For me it was interesting to watch how human nature played out in the ghetto's. Some saw cooperating with the nazi's as the best way to safety, most did not believe the atrocities being carried out until it was too late. A few saw resisting as the only real option. As I was reading I couldn't help but wonder what my reaction would have been. I confess I am too far removed from the experience to be able to say for certain. Books like this need to have been written though and we need to read them.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of "the avengers', a group of Jewish partisans who lived in the Vilna ghetto, and escaped to the surrounding forest before the liquidation of Lithuania's Jews. Fascinating inside look at partisan life, its many fractured and conflicted groups (Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Jewish). Also a peek into the psyche of the collectively abused. The "avengers" went on to hatch plans to poison German and Polish towns following the war, and succeeded in poisoning an allied prison camp, killing many of their abusers. Then finding themselves in occupied Palestine, fighting first the British, and then the surrounding countries in the 1948 War, and battling Palestinian partisans ever after.

[Erastus Vaulk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, mind-blowing, and inspiring.

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that when you read it will definitely change your life and the way you see things!

[Robert Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good story, an important story of Jewish resistance, though it is not the most well written of books. It covers many specific atrocities that were witnessed by the main protagonists (Abba, Ruzka and Vitka) that will stay with me. Ruzka’s overhearing her mother prophetically say “this will be the last time I see her” as Ruzka left home. Abba witnessing a German soldier rip a baby from a mother’s arms and slam it repeatedly against a wall. A young girl surviving a mass execution in a pit in the Ponar forest and the disbelief from Jews in the ghetto when she told them what she witnessed. Prisoners forced to dig up those pits in the Nazi attempt to hide their atrocities and observing dead but pregnant women and how their bodies burned, different from the others. Abba, escaping the German war of extermination and massacre then listening to the Arab League proclaim “a war of extermination and a momentous massacre” in the Israeli fight for independence.

Here’s what I think could have been done better, other than some flat writing at times and places where the author could have given more details. First, we are introduced to many partisans and a few Nazis. On the partisans that survived, it would have been nice to have read what became of them too. Did they put it behind them and thrive (Abba was a well known artist and poet, Ruzka married and had several children, vitka became a psychiatrist). And if they didn’t thrive but were tormented by the holocaust, it would have been important for readers to know. On the Nazis that are discussed, i am sure readers are curious if they got their due and if not that would too is important. Second, some maps would have been helpful as a frame of reference.

All in all a good book. Not quite as powerful as Night by Ellie Wiesel but it was good to read a story that’s not about hiding or being a victim in the camps but one that focuses on those who fought back. Lastly, in this unusual political environment and pandemic crisis, there was a quote about leadership - “like the greatest of leaders, she had the Had the ability to get people to do the things voluntarily which must be done.”

[Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of Jews at war with Nazis in Vilna, Lithuania and its surrounding forests. It is also the story of a happy love triangle between three of these Jewish warriors, Aba Kovner, Ruzka, and Vitka. Together they led and fought against the Germans in the ghetto and in the forests, led and fought against their fellow Jewish prisoners and neighbors who thought the Nazis could be appeased by good behavior, and they initiated a plan of revenge to kill a large number of German officers after the war.

My father made a sculpture of Aba Kovner, and he never explained why. But I think I know. He admired Kovner's battle in the forests of Europe against the Nazis, where he too had fought in the American Army during the Battle of the Bulge. But he also admired Kovner's secular Jewish spirit and the famous love triangle between him and his two female partners, Ruzka and Vitka. He saw in Kovner a kindred Jewish spirit I think - free-thinking and hard-nosed.

Reading this book I can't help wonder if I will have his strength to fight against "the Nazis" when we ultimately face them in America. Kovner was a hard man. He was brave. But he was a killer. His view of the world was dark. He had seen the worst that humanity has to offer. But instead of bowing down to it, he took up arms to fight it. He did so in the ghetto, in the forests of Lithuania, in the cities of destroyed Europe, and when that was done, he did so again in the Land of Israel against the Egyptians in 1948. Yet, he also turned away from the revenge plan against Germans, to the outrage and dismay of some of his followers. They had unfinished killing business in Europe, but he turned his energies toward making life possible for the new state of Israel.

This story is a griping portrait of his life, and the lives of his two partners, Ruzka and Vitka. It is a very different kind of story of the Holocaust. It is a story of hard battles and hard choices. I recommend it highly.

[Brian Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. The author’s writing style flows very easily with the story telling. I learned a lot about this particular time and place during the tragic years of WWII. The story line focus on three characters, Abba, Vitka and Ruzka, which allowed the reader to walk in their shoes during the many experiences they had during their lives.

The discussion of life in the Villa Ghetto and the main characters efforts to resist the Nazis helped in better understanding just how difficult life was. Then following to their lives in the forrest (Rudnicki) outside the ghetto and then in the cities of Europe (Vilna, Lublin, Bucharest, etc…) the main characters were further developed and revealed. They had many interactions with the Red Army following liberation of the camps. The discussion of the chaos that was life in Europe immediately after the war was very interesting. Telling of the refugees and their migration to Palestine (Israel to be named in 1948). For Abba, the grave sense of revenge was understandable but at the same time, potentially self destructive. He organized revenge attacks against German prisoners held pending trial and was successful in poisoning many. When he arrived in Palestine, he was taken back by Jewish leaders who encouraged him to leave his revenge behind, as a more pressing fight was coming to Palestine with the declaration of statehood.

The story also covered their lives in Israel on a kibbutz, with Abba fighting against the Arabs in the Israeli War of Independence. The authors interviews with many of the people in the story really sores through in the story telling. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with many of them.

[Christopher Gerrib · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read and enjoyed Rich Cohen's "The Last Pirate of New York." I saw the description of this (earlier) book and decided to give it a try. I really enjoyed it.

The Avengers of the title were a trio of Lithuanian Jews, one of whom was his grandmother's niece. They were living in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, when WWII broke out, and the trio, teenagers, were caught up in events. They quickly signed up for the local resistance, and were among the last people to get clear of the Vilnius ghetto when the Germans liquidated it.

They spent a year in the forests of Lithuania killing Germans and Lithuanian collaborators, then migrated to Israel. In Israel, one of the trio, Abba Kovner, became a key staff officer in the 1947 Israeli Army. The author met the trio when he was 10, a story he tells in the book's prologue.

The Gerrib family, (not Jewish) is from Lithuania and a few years back I visited the country. I unknowingly traipsed over some of the sites mentioned in the book.

I found the book very interesting and emotional. One gets the story of the Jews of Europe dying nobly. Here one gets the other side of the story, of them fighting to the grave. Also here, one gets an understanding of the Jews who didn't fight and why. I have a couple of quibbles with the book; namely maps would have been helpful and I think the author by relying on oral history gets some military terminology wrong. However, I found the book highly readable and I recommend it greatly.

[Howard Lazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another outstanding Holocaust book. Written in 2000, the author is a relative one of the two women central to this book along with the legendary Abba Kovner. The first part of the book centers on the Vilna ghetto as the Nazis took over in 1941. Early on, Kovner could see what others could or would not - that Jews rounded up for resettlement or labor were in fact disappearing and being killed. Along with the two central women in the book, Kovner decided that if Jews were going to die anyways, they shouldn't go like 'sheep to the slaughter' but should resist. Resistance met with mixed results in the ghetto. Once the ghetto was liquidated, the three led the underground out of the ghetto to take a lead role with Jewish Partisans in the forest, forming a unit called The Avengers. The unit often brutally continued resistance of the Nazis until liberation in 1944. Following the war, with mixed success the group worked to take up revenge, vowing to kill 6 million Germans. Kovner ultimately ended up in Palestine where he led a brigade instrumental in defending the south during Israel's war of Independence. This is a page turner which could have been turned into a movie. Very much recommended!

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cohen sets out the to tell the lesser told side of WW2 and the Holocaust: the Jewish resistance and partisans who fought back against the Nazis. The focal point is on three main individuals: Abba, Vikta, and Ruzka, and mainly Vilna and the surrounding areas. The author tells us how they met, how they helped to form and lead the Jewish partisan group in Vilna. It follows these three through the war and then to Israel.

There are harrowing and fascinating aspects to this story. The details of life under the Nazis, in the ghetto, in the forests is worth the read. But the way the story is told was not as compelling as I would have liked. It is more journalistic and retrospective, and so harder to get inside the emotions of the characters. It’s not a novel, but I was expecting something more of a story. This jumped around a bunch, moved through events too quickly at times.

It is still worth reading for anything interested in this time period, the experiences of the Jews in the war, and after.