Taking Risks: A Jewish Youth in the Soviet Partisans and His Unlikely Life in California

by Joseph Pell, Fred Rosenbaum

In this 2nd Edition Book, Pell recounts his early life in Poland, the invasion of the Nazis, his family's flight to the Soviet Union, and his eventual emigration to the United States after the war. A large section of his biography details the activities of the partisan resistance group, who attacked the Nazis from their hideout in an Eastern European forest.

Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unvarnished account of a young Jewish man's muscular fight to survive the Holocaust and take up arms to resist the Nazis following the betrayal of his family by a neighbor. The history of the partisan fighters is part of the Holocaust story which is complex, not easily digested, not (yet) widely known and one that certainly deserves more attention.

The second half of the book shows how the skills learned as a young trader and butcher's son, served the author in establishing himself in his new country (USA). His experience with a broad array of partisans allowed him to create partnerships across cultures, forging successful business relationships in the wider California community as it developed in the 1950s-80s.

While it is hard to imagine what it took for Joseph Pell to revisit so much loss and pain, it is clear that this story is told with an eye to the future, with a warning that tells how easily an apparently stable world can disintegrate into a stew of multiple hatreds.

Yet perhaps the most compelling part of the book are the ending photos of the American family growing and expanding across generations. After experiencing the loss of an entire world, one can sense the deep pride, joy and hope for the future that this family brings to Joseph Pell.

[Darius · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring story!