Isaac

Fiction. Jewish Studies. On the night of November 6th 1941 the life of Isaac Gochman a 16 year old Polish Jew changes tragically and profoundly. Over 20000 Jews from Rovno Poland are marched into the Sosenki Forest by the Nazis stripped and shot to death then buried in an endless unmarked ravine. All of Isaacs family and friends die in the massacre. But Isaac miraculously survives the slaughter and so begins his incredible and harrowing journey through the Polish forest facing unimaginable hardships and the constant threat of death from the Nazis and their sympathizers.. To save himself he adopts a new identity Sergei a Russian Christian and joins the Russian Partisan Brigade to become a demolition miracle man. As a Partisan he falls passionately in love for the first time in his young life with Ducia a Russian Nurse. Near the end of the war with Ducia tragically gone forever he turns his back on his homeland heroically saves the lives of American soldiers and finds a new home in America.. Isaac is a true coming-of-age story of miraculous survival courage and love. Isaac based on a true story follows the epic journey of young boy from near-death to ultimate triumph as a man. It is as harrowing as The Revenant. In parable- like prose it captures Isaacs miraculous survival of the Nazi massacre of his family and his escape alone into a vast nightmarish European Forest. After being saved by his friend Pietka a gentile from near his village he joins the Russian Partisans and falls in love with Ducia a Russian Partisan Nurse. I was immediately drawn into the plight of this brave young man as he learns how love and friendship can overcome the memories of hatred discrimination and terrible loss. This is a masterful coming-of-age novel amid the horrors and passions of war.Dick Allen Isaac narrates the story of a young Jew from Rovno whose wartime survival among partisan fighters in the forests of eastern Europe is grippingly told from first page to last. For their sheer terror the descriptions of Isaacs ordeals match those in Jerzy Kosinskis The Painted Bird and some of Aharon Appelfelds fiction. Readers drawn to tales of human resiliency against all odds will find this a compelling novel.Alvin H. Rosenfeld