Crossing the River
312 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
16 illus
Paperback
Release Date:01 Mar 2009
ISBN:9780817357580
Crossing the River is a personal memoir—and more. Against the backdrop of Lithuania’s occupation—first by the Red Army, next by the Germans, and then again by the Russians—it is a story reflected through the prism of a sharp-eyed young child, Shalom Eilati. His story starts in the occupied Kovno Ghetto and ends with his flight across the Soviet border, through Poland and Germany and finally, his arrival in Palestine.
The adult survivor, while recalling the terrorized child that he was and how he then perceived the adult world, also takes stock of his present life. Throughout the memoir, Eilati attempts to reconcile his present life as a husband, father, scientist, and writer, with the images, feelings, and thoughts from the past that have left an indelible mark on his life and that continue to haunt him.
Against the backdrop of Lithuania’s occupation—first by the Red Army, next by the Germans, and then again by the Russians—this is a story reflected through the prism of a child, Shalom Eilati. His story starts in the occupied Kovno Ghetto and ends with his flight across the Soviet border, through Poland and Germany and finally, his arrival in Palestine. The adult survivor also takes stock of his present life. Throughout the memoir, Eilati attempts to reconcile his present life as a husband, father, scientist, and writer, with the images, feelings, and thoughts from the past.’ —Shofar
The book artfully weaves together the story of a young boy with the self-reflection of his older self, the writer. . . . Eilati ruminates on what it means to look back, even as he strives to go forward.’—Jewish News of Greater Phoenix
A special achievement has been attained . . . a complex artistic work has been wrought.’ —Avner Holzman
Shalom Eilati (Kaplan) was born in 1933 in Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania, a world center for Jewry both in religious and cultural terms. His mother was a nurse and a poet, and his father a teacher, historian and an author. In 1941, he and his family were imprisoned in a ghetto created by the occupying Germans. In 1944, at his mother’s initiative, he escaped from the ghetto alone. He emigrated to Palestine in 1946, where he became a member of a Kibbutz, an officer in the Israeli Defense Force, an agronomist with a Ph.D. in horticulture, a tour guide, and an editor. He has served as a lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University in Rehovot, and was one of the founders of and editor for the Israeli Environmental Protection Service. The Hebrew original of Crossing the River was published as Lahazot et Hanahar by Karmel/Yad Vashem in 1999.
Vern Lenz is a technical writer in Boise, Idaho, and is past director of the Ahavath Beth Israel choir. A student of languages, he lived in Israel with his wife for 15 years.
Preface ix
1 How It Began 1
2 Summer 19
3 Autumn 37
4 Winter 53
5 The Quiet Season/Childhood in the Ghetto 67
6 Another Fall and Winter 89
7 Spring 117
8 Escape 135
9 On Green Hill 149
10 In the Village 165
11 Liberation 177
12 A New Year 191
13 Second Year/Seven Journeys 221
Epilogue: Back to the River 265
Photographs follow page 138
1 How It Began 1
2 Summer 19
3 Autumn 37
4 Winter 53
5 The Quiet Season/Childhood in the Ghetto 67
6 Another Fall and Winter 89
7 Spring 117
8 Escape 135
9 On Green Hill 149
10 In the Village 165
11 Liberation 177
12 A New Year 191
13 Second Year/Seven Journeys 221
Epilogue: Back to the River 265
Photographs follow page 138
Related Titles
A Final Reckoning
A Hannover Family's Life and Death in the Shoah
By Ruth Gutmann; Foreword by Kenneth Waltzer
