Long Journey Home: A Young Girl's Memoir of Surviving the Holocaust Paperback – February 7, 2013

A father decides to move his family during 1939 as he has heard rumors of the Nazi and killings of Jew. His family is Jewish and he talks with the entire family trying his best to get them all to move to another country. the whole family will not consent to leave so those who trust the father's advise gather in wagon and on foot to leave in the night. It is a horrendous journey...on the way the daughters see bombing of people traveling and never get over it. The father, mother and daughters along with aunts and uncles continue on...they go to many countries and barely survive starvation. The mother's spirit is crushed with all the hardships...the father's intelligence and strength carries them on. The two young daughters are slipped into another country by the help of strangers without the parents...they ride on a train (without parents)...the girls get to an orphanage where the see for the first time an inside bathroom with a huge tub for cleansing themselves, fresh clean clothes and a real bed with two sheets for the first time ever. the family is joined and now trying to get to America with the aid of an uncle. The author hits a road block when her chest x-ray shows possible infectious disease...her father buys her a chocolate Hershey bar..telling her it will block the sick part of her lung x-ray. The family is allowed to go to America finally...I cannot tell you the poignant parts of this story as you need to read them yourself...my book was downloaded onto my Kindle and I thoroughly enjoyed the World War II read. Order yours today from amazon and read this history first hand from a young girl's perspective.

A very interesting story of how this young girl & her immediate family survived the Holocaust due to her father’s foresight & circumstances that came together.

Good

1939, WWII. Lucy Lipiner (nee Mandelbaum, BA, MA) narrates her memoir of the horrors of surviving the Holocaust.6/25/1949, Welcome to America.Warning: This book contains extremely graphic adult content, violence, or expletive language &/or uncensored sexually explicit material which is only suitable for mature readers. It may be offensive or have potential adverse psychological effects on the reader.I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great movie, PP presentation, or better yet a mini TV series or even a documentary (A & E, History channel). It was just OK for me but I will still rate it at 5 stars.Thank you for the free author; InstaFreebie; Usher Publishing; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; bookTony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

This is a good book, but what I found to be particularly intriguing was the perspective of this Polish, Jewish family as they reacted to the arrival of the Nazi influence upon their homeland as it contrasted with much of my recent study of the East Prussian refugee flights. These folks ran east, toward the Russian army, rather than away from the red troops which was the path of survival for the German civilians throughout the conflict. Of course, this journey would eventually save the lives of the family, but at the time; they had no way of knowing this.Another very enjoyable aspect of this story are the descriptions given of life in the Soviet provinces into which they resided while hoping to return to Poland after the war. Siberia was their home for a while, but then they moved south to Tajikistan. Never have I been able to read about life in this region where Judaism, and Buddhism, are prevalent in a mixed society of people living almost hand to mouth. The Soviet Union encompassed a wide variety of cultures, and ethnic groups bearing their own unique ways of life. This book offers a rare glimpse of what existed in Tajikistan during WWII.

This memoir was written simply and clearly. The reader experiences the trauma endured as Lucy and her family escape first the approaching Germans and resulting Holocaust, then continue to endure unbelievable hardships in Russia, and being sent to Siberia. Everyday life is barely sustainable. When they are allowed to leave Siberia, believing conditions in the southern regions would be better, the travel with great difficulty to Tajikistan. There they suffer still in numerous ways until they finally receive permission to leave the USSR. Even when things were better, they remained traumatizing.Growing up under these horrible circumstances that led to losing her parents emotionally and losing her extended family, she still managed to overcome the life she had experienced and achieve amazing goals.The story of such remarkable perseverance and her ability to recall and understand details and overall situations was impressive. I did detect a certain distance between her telling that story and the person she is and found that a little disconcerting, although understandable. The book is well worth reading and gives the reader a helpful perspective to understanding the lives that were destroyed during the Holocaust, particularly the survivors.

Very informative and educational insight into the difficulties, pain and suffering of individuals and families before and during World War Two and the Holocaust. To a lot of people Holocaust is just a term for something that happened 'a long time ago' and does not mean very much today. It is very important that we never forget what happened to the millions of human beings who were murdered, some butchered 'in the name of medicine', men, women, children and babies, some still in the mother's womb. This must never be allowed to happen again, and we need to learn a lesson from history. Books such as this should be included in the curriculum in all of our schools so that our children understand the horror and stupidity of war.The author survived, many millions did not.This has been an excellent read.

well written true narrative from a child's perspective of surviving the holocaust .Her deep awe of her father emanates throughout story.Were it not for his courage, stoicism and determination to escape Poland ;the entire family would have died in Hitlers extermination camps. They were imprisoned by 'Nature' as Red Guards tauntingly advised this family when exiled by force to Siberia. No guards were required -the vast forests and wildnerness of Siberia was their prison for a number of years.The story spans 10 years of exile in most dire conditions.She was a sweet little girl but at times selfish as children are oft to be !!.In particular I resented her greed on two occasions.She asked for more soup when it was obvious it was all finished,and her poor Mama cried in despair.Mama gave Lusia her portion/ration of bread on another meal story and dearest Mama assuaged her youngest child's guilt by saying 'I m not hungry at all'!!!The tales of this Cohen Family was strikingly poignant at so many levels ; yet delightful because of their survival against all odds.They reached their dream destination- America at end of the war.A beautiful read.

This book was a free download, i would maybe read after my trip to Krakow and Auschwitz's birckinau poland. So touched by my trip i decided it was time to read the book. Lucy i am so glad your Papa took you towards Russia and in serbia i cant even imagine how hard it was. One mans view of another human changed and ended so many people's lives. Nothing like this should ever happen again. Your book touched my heart thank you xx

I shed tears of sadness, felt deep sorrow and fear for this child and her family. Now I have reached the end of her story I feel guilt and shame that throughout my life I have been sheltered from any hardship and the only real sorrow I have encountered was the loss of my parents. This child/woman represents the true meaning of overcoming life's adversaries and sheer determination to be all you can be. In the 'throw away' world we now live in everyone should read her story. Thank you.

I’ve only ever read books about the concentration camps and the devastating lives they lived. This was still devastating but I saw the other side of it, where they managed to get away from the Germans. I wonder if there’s a sequel?