War tore them apart. Family brought them together.
September, 1939. The six Zaks siblings watch in silent horror as the Wehrmacht marches into their quiet hometown in southern Poland. Concerned for their survival, Yisrael Zaks leads his wife Haiya and his brothers Volf and Avraham toward the Russian border. But their escape does not go unhindered; and as they are captured by the invading German forces, they can hear their father’s last commandment still echoing behind “Never break the family apart. And whatever you never, ever leave any one of your siblings behind.”
Thus begins the Zaks family’s saga of survival under some of the worst conditions imaginable. Reunions and tragedies follow as the Zaks Yisrael and his wife Hayia, Volf, Yossef and Avraham, and their sisters Miriam and Batya witness firsthand the horrors of Auschwitz IV, Buchenwald, and Bergen-Belsen, with only each other to protect them from the greatest evils man has ever known.
The Zaks family story is a unique and gripping tale of the powers of sibling love, unflinching unity, and unwavering faith against the insurmountable odds of war. Readers of Eoin Dempsey and Roberta Kagan will find Siblings of War an irresistible, unputdownable gripping historical fiction novel.
I've been going down the list of all these Heroic Children of WW2 and this is the 3rd installment. I've read a lot of books about WW2 and the Holocaust but nothing from the perspective of this many individuals, let alone an entire family. All of these books could easily be turned into movies as riveting as this is hearing about life prior to the war, the family being ripped apart once it started, and the trials and tribulations of their journey throughout and the journey after. It's boggling to think that these types of atrocities happened within the last 100 years and that there were actual survivors. A tough one to get through towards the end but worth the journey.
A beautiful story of one family survival of the Holocaust during World War II. Six sibling that held tight to each other during the most heartbreaking times of their family. Alway seeking each other , and helping each other with love and warmth. They were all able to come together again forever in a land that was their land; Israel . A great humbling read. You can’t help but to laugh, cry and feel the utter devastation these sibling felt . The joy and the triumph they felt when they all survived.
Siblings of War is an inspiring tale of actual siblings who helped each other survive the Holocaust. The author is one of their children. This story is told with the love, faith, and devotion of his parents and aunts and uncles. This is a beautiful but distressing account of strength and family devotion in the darkest time in our world's history. These personal historical accounts remind us to do all we can to make sure nothing like the holocaust ever happens again.
Very interesting and I love reading about history and successes of family throughout hardship. It was slightly difficult to follow with who was who and giving them faces to their personalities and visualizing who they were throughout. Nonetheless, it was. Good read, interesting and happy to ready about another families survival story.
The strength of love, support, and commitment to each other was inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope the nightmares lessened and stopped. You are all an inspiration!
Wonderful historical literature! I came to love the Zaks family and the devotion they have to one another. I did find it odd that the Author omitted the “o” in God, but the story was still very much worth the read.