The Luck of The Jews: An Incredible Story of Loss, Love, and Survival in the Holocaust

by Michael Benanav

One December night in 1944, while sailing across the Black Sea on the deck of a refugee ship filled with Jews fleeing the Nazi genocide in Europe, Joshua Szereny met Isadora Rosen. He was twenty-two, from Czechoslovakia; she was twenty, from Romania. Both had lost nearly everything in the war – yet in their chance encounter at sea, they found a new beginning. Three days later, on a train rattling across the Turkish countryside en route to Palestine, with no common language between them, they were married…and spent the rest of their lives together.Isadora had emerged from the brutal, frozen ghettos of Transnistria – known as the ‘Forgotten Cemetery’ of the Holocaust. Joshua had escaped from the Hungarian Army’s slave labor corps as his unit was being marched toward a train to Auschwitz. That either survived is incredible; that, of all possible fates, the war would toss them onto the same deck of the same boat at the same time is simply unbelievable – except that it happened.

Here, their grandson, prize-winning author Michael Benanav, traces the improbable twists and turns that pulled Joshua and Isadora through the horrors of the Holocaust. As their families were destroyed and their own lives nearly lost, each element of their experiences – including a photograph of a Hungarian general; a mismatched pair of galoshes; a Romanian Orthodox priest; an SS officer’s wife; and maybe, on one occasion, an angel – proved crucial to getting them out of the war and onto that boat. Benanav vividly recounts the devastating events and astonishing coincidences that brought his grandparents together – while reckoning with the unsettling knowledge that without the Holocaust, his family would not exist.

In addition to unique accounts of Holocaust experiences in Transnistria and the Hungarian slave labor corps, this historical memoir presents a personal portrait of Eastern Europe between world wars, when Joshua and Isadora were growing up, and follows them into their post-war life in Palestine, where they joined the fight for Israeli independence from the British. Benanav also includes surprising vignettes from his own travels back to the Old Country, illuminating the past in reflections of the present.

This is an extraordinary true story, rooted in the terrible tragedies and stunning flashes of serendipity that together are The Luck of the Jews.

Praise for The Luck of The Jews (First published by Lyons Press as Joshua & A True Tale of Loss & Love in the Holocaust):

“Movingly written, Michael Benanav’s search for his grandparents’ tragic memories and experiences brings the reader closer to an ineffable truth that must not be forgotten.” – Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Winner, author of Night

“A harrowing wartime saga [and] an intriguing record of Holocaust survival written with passion and authority.”–Publishers Weekly

“A tale of suffering, romance and redemption in Israel… What stands out about this story is its ability to bring Southeastern Europe and Bessarabia, a southern Yiddish-speaking region in today’s Moldova, into focus. The narrative is highly imagistic, often relying on crisp depictions of Jews moving through the landscape to power a story of loss.” –The Jewish Daily Forward

“Important and gripping.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Memoir, Holocaust

237 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2014

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of how the paternal grandparents of the author survived the Holocaust and eventually made their way to Israel and then the United States. In addition to telling their stories, Michael Benanav tells how he tries to confirm parts of their stories by following in their footsteps to Romania, Russia, and Hungary. The stories of their survival and subsequent journeys to Israel and the U.S. are interesting, even fascinating in places. The trouble I had was that Michael didn't talk about being able to prove their stories in any kind of historical way. Maybe that's understandable for his grandmother because she was Romanian and her story generally didn't cross the Germans army. Her displacement, weeks-long march, and subsequent imprisonment was at the hands of the ruling despot of Romania, himself rabidly anti-Semitic. Perhaps there were few records of that period listing the names of those Jews who were removed from their homes, marched hundreds of miles into what is now Russia, and then left to fend for themselves if they could. Certainly Michael never relates that his grandmother was counted, tattooed, or added to the rolls by the Germans. His grandfather, however, was in the German army, albeit in a Jewish men's division. The Germans kept meticulous records of every person, and every train, where they went, what they were fed, what they did, etc. Why no discussion of those records of his grandfather? Without that kind of proof we are left with just the memories of two elderly people. Human memory is fluid and unreliable. At one point late in the book, Michael relates an argument between his grandparents about whether an incident late in their years in Israel happened before or after the birth of their first child. That was many, many years after the Holocaust, but they still couldn't remember for sure. So what of their memories of earlier incidences? Nonetheless, this is an interesting and sometimes riveting book.

[Carolyn Dickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Written

I picked up this book because of the book cover without so much thought about the title. I knew it to be another holocaust survival story but was looking more for a book that tells the story well into their rehabilitation back into society after their grisly experience in camps and war in general. This book was it. I couldn't put it down. I was immersed. I appreciate that the author, the grandson of Isadora Rosen and Joshua Szerney, shared his travels to the places where his grandparents used to live and experienced the gruesome brutality of their captors and aggressors.

The story is a real story of perseverance, love, and survival. It seems like fate played in a major role in Isadora and Joshua's lives. Taking a leap and chance by getting married the way they did. It's an amazing story. Despite their past experience in the war, they managed to provide for their children and a good family. Bela Szerney's last letter to his son was very moving, even at the very end he wasn't bitter of the circumstances and encourage his son to keep moving forward and he did and this is his and his wife's story.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, the story of the author's grandparents. The book starts with his grandparents meeting aboard a leaky ship heading for Palestine and it is late in WWII and both have them have survived when most of their families have not. They do not speak the same language and they get married before they really know each other but the marriage survives. Their grandson often thinks that if all the bad things hadn't happened to them, they never would have met and his parents and himself would never have existed. When he was a child this meant that even though bad things happen, in the end, good comes from it. He changed this perspective as he grew up but still it's an optimistic book. The chapters alternate between his grandfather's story, his grandmother's story and his own travels to find where they came from in the region of Europe which at one time was part of Hungary and then Czechoslovakia. Although other reviewers find this method of telling his story somewhat choppy, I did not.

[Bookreaderljh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every book I read about the Holocaust effects me so deeply. This book was no different. A man tells the story of his grandparents and also his attempt at retracing their steps as they were forced out of their Hungarian homes and lives solely for the fact of being Jews. His grandmother's story as a teenager is especially hard as she loses most of her family to starvation, disease or cold but manages to still watch out for her brother. The grandfather's story is slightly better though I learned how Jews in the army were basically human fodder or slaves. The two come together while finally escaping and the memories of their time in Palestine is illuminating. They never lost their character as Jews though they did lose their faith in God. This is a story of two survivors but so many others lost their lives in such horrendous ways. Makes one doubt the humanity of that time.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good recounting of the author's grandparents' stories during WWII. He came from Romania and her from Czechoslovakia. I have not read a lot of accounts from those specific countries, certainly not Romania. The story of her traveling with her family in the forced marches was especially gripping.

The only thing I really didn't care for was the author's attitude, it was quite often bad and there were several times where he acted like he almost didn't even believe the stories his grandparents had told him. At one point he flat out said that he didn't know if that specific event really happened or if his grandmother had put it together in her mind from other stories she'd heard. I found that to be incredibly disrespectful not only to his grandparents but to others that had to live through all of this.

But overall, it was worth the read.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best written thing I've ever read, but a pretty terrific story nonetheless. The author traces the improbable survival and meeting of his grandparents, one of whom was a Czech and the other a Romanian Jew. Pretty amazing story.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible story indeed.

Not only educational and inspirational, this book is very well written and was a page turner for me. The younger generations need to read books like this so no one will forget the Holocaust victims and survivors.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have read in a very long