Zev Birger
No Time for Patience My Road from Kaunas to Jerusalem : A Memoir of the Holocaust Translated from english by Marianne Vèron. Preface by Shimon Peres. Publication date : May 1, 2000
Until he was 14 years old, Zev Birger led a fairly sheltered life in a small, prosperous Lithuanian town inhabited by progressive Jews. His father was an engineer, and he had a warm, loving mother. Life seemed pleasant. Like many of his young friends influenced by Zionist thinkers, Birger believed that the creation of a Jewish homeland was necessary, while ignoring how close danger already was.
In 1940, the Russian marched into Lithuania. The following year, the Wehrmacht invaded the country, and Birgers family had to move into the Slobidka ghetto.
With great force and simplicity, Birger recounts his familys efforts to survive under the Nazis, their deportation to Dachau/Kaufering; the hardship of forced labour in an underground factory; the illness, hunger and humiliation they suffered; the glimmers of hope and the remnants of humanity encountered in the camp; and, finally, he tells of freedom and the move to Israel.
He was the survivor in his family.
Even in the Nazi hell, Zev never lost faith in humanity and culture, writes Shimon Peres in the preface.
Zev Birger was the director of the Jerusalem Book Fair for fifteen years. He was formerly secretary general of the Israeli Ministry of Commerce and Industry, director of the Economic Board for Publishing and president of the Israeli Film Centre.
In 1940, the Russian marched into Lithuania. The following year, the Wehrmacht invaded the country, and Birgers family had to move into the Slobidka ghetto.
With great force and simplicity, Birger recounts his familys efforts to survive under the Nazis, their deportation to Dachau/Kaufering; the hardship of forced labour in an underground factory; the illness, hunger and humiliation they suffered; the glimmers of hope and the remnants of humanity encountered in the camp; and, finally, he tells of freedom and the move to Israel.
He was the survivor in his family.
Even in the Nazi hell, Zev never lost faith in humanity and culture, writes Shimon Peres in the preface.
Zev Birger was the director of the Jerusalem Book Fair for fifteen years. He was formerly secretary general of the Israeli Ministry of Commerce and Industry, director of the Economic Board for Publishing and president of the Israeli Film Centre.