Survivor Biography

Jason Sommer's father, Jay, is ninety-eight years old and losing his memory. More than seventy years after arriving in New York from WWII-torn Europe, he is forgetting the stories that defined his life, the life of his family, and the lives of millions of Jews who were affected by Nazi terror. Observing this loss, Jason vividly recalls the trip to Eastern Europe the two took together in 2001.

A story ultimately without a time and ultimately without a place. It's a memoir of families across generations of peace and of war, of homes that become lost and hopes that are kept, and a belief in a future that's better than the present. In each family, a fundamental life event spawns ripples that sweep across time and generations that would fade forever without exploration and would otherwise shed all meaning. The key event in many lives is making the decision to leave home forever and to strike out, not knowing if it leads to disaster or to a future and a better place.

Vierzig Jahre danach erinnert sich ein in Polen aufgewachsener Jude an die Jahre der Verfolgung. Er beschreibt das Leben in Radzyn, einer typisch jüdischen Stetl-Gemeinschaft im damaligen polnischen Generalgouvernement, dem Vorhof von Treblinka, Majdanek und Auschwitz, und dann den Untergang dieser Welt, wie er ihn, gerade 17 geworden, erlebt hat: mit zunehmenden Schikanen, ständiger Bedrohung, Grausamkeiten und nackter Gewalt; mit der Verschleppung und Ermordung der Geschwister, Eltern, Freunde; mit der Ausrottung einer ganzen Volksgemeinschaft.