Taking Risks

<p>On the night the SS rounded up the Jews of his Ukrainian ghetto eighteen-year-old Yosel Epelbaum crawled on his hands and knees to a nearby forest. There he joined a diverse band of pro-Soviet partisans led by a kind of warlord in the wilderness who created a forest republic behind enemy lines. With his courageous comrades Epelbaum disrupted the German war effort for almost a year and a half and saved hundreds of civilans at the same time.</p><p><br></p><p>After the liberation. the young survivor became caught up in Europe's roaring black market. With little money or formal education an knowing no English he immigrated to San Francisco in 1947 and within a year opened an ice cream shop in the city's outlying foggy Sunset District. Only a decade later Joe Pell was well on his way to becoming one of the leading real estate developers in Northern California.</p><p><br></p><p>Taking Risks related in a taut and vivid style is his story--one of loss and torment but also daring ingenuity and uncommon resilience.</p>