The Defiant A True Story of Escape, Survival & Resistance Shalom Yoran

ISBN: 0-7570-0078-9 Length: 296 Pages Size: 6 X 9-inch Format: Quality Paperback Category: Biography / Holocaust Price: $15.95 Availability: In Print Click below for: Synopsis • Contents Introduction • Reviews

Synopsis

Fifty years ago, while recuperating in an Israeli hospital, a young Polish refugee wrote at length about his remarkable experiences in war-torn Europe. When done, his notes were set aside as he built a new life for himself, his wife, and their children. Then, in 1995, Shalom Yoran came across his own long-forgotten writings and, realizing their importance, completed his work. The Defiant is his extraordinary memoir.

The Defiant is a true story of survival and courage in the darkest days of Nazi-occupied Poland. It is the personal account of a young man who refused to yield to the German onslaught, and instead chose to become a Jewish resistance fighter. The book chronicles the bravery of a group of men and women who carried on a forest war, using antiquated guns and living on instinct. From the brutal behavior of Polish peasants to the constant bombardment of German air raids, from the questionable orders of anti-Semitic commanders to direct confrontations with storm troopers, the author sheds light on events that few know of in this country.

Yoran has written a unique holocaust account that is fresh, powerful, and rich in detail. Here is the amazing story of a handful of courageous men and women who fought against incredible odds--and triumphed.

Shalom Yoran was born in Raciaz, Poland in 1922. In 1939, his life changed forever when his father and mother were killed by the Nazis. For the next six years, he and his brother, Musio, fought as partisans against the German war machine. In 1946, Mr. Yoran moved to Israel (then called Palestine), to begin a new life. For seven years, he served as an officer in the Israeli Air Force. For the next thirty years, he worked in the aircraft industry as both a top executive and a highly sought-after consultant. Today, the author and his wife, Varda, live in the United States.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface

Introduction

1. The German-Polish War
2. The First German Occupation
3. Seeking Refuge Once More
4. In Soviet-Occupied Territory
5. Under the Germans Again
6. Unbridled Savagery
7. The End of Kurzeniec
8. In the Woods
9. Preparing for a Harsh Winter
10. Hibernating in the Zemlianka
11. Proving Ourselves to the Partisans
12. In the Jewish Otriad
13. The Oblava
14. The Partisans Gain Power
15. The Jewish Support Group
16. The Gvardia Mission Begins
17. Into the Swamps
18. Playing the Enemy
19. Boria’s Story
20. Disrupting the German War Machine
21. Becoming a Red Army Soldier
22. The Polish Army
23. Entering Germany
24. Escaping Through Europe
25. Under the British
26. In Palestine
Epilogue

Glossary
Index

Introduction

In 1990, my wife, Varda, and I were cleaning out our apartment in Israel. The last part of this tedious job was emptying the crawlspace. I finished handing everything down to my wife, and then we began to sort through the various items. In the midst of the boxes and cartons, there was a scruffy little suitcase. I opened it, and to my amazement, found myself looking at something I thought I had lost long ago. There inside the case were two notebooks and a pile of loose papers, all yellowed with age. The ink on the pages was faded, and the Polish words barely readable, but they held my past! Seven years of my life--from the day the Nazis occupied Poland in 1939 until the time I came to Israel (then called Palestine) in 1946--were contained in that 400-page batch of dog-eared paper.

Choked with emotion, I showed Varda the manuscript that I had been telling her about since we started dating in 1952. At the time, I told her that when the time was right, I was going to write a book based on my memoirs of that period. I planned to dedicate it to the memory of my parents. I had promised them that I would try to survive, and to let the world know. But life’s many twists and turns have a way of re-sorting priorities, and at the end of the war, my attention was focused on building a future--getting an education and starting a career. I survived three more wars in Israel, where I had a career with Israel Aircraft Industries. Through it, I personally had the opportunity to contribute to the security and economy of my country. I also married and raised a family.

Now, nearly a half a century later, the time was right for my book. Finding that suitcase was a sign. I would be able to keep the promise I had made to my parents. We brought the manuscript to America, where we now live. First, everything had to be translated into English and then polished, before it could be turned into a book. We set to work. I read the pages of my long-lost manuscript aloud to Varda in Polish, we discussed it in Hebrew, and then she translated it into English.

The Defiant is my story--the true story of a young Jewish man who experienced first-hand just how cruel people can be. I consider myself lucky, not only because I survived, but also because I had the opportunity to fight back. In my own way, I did whatever I could to help disrupt the German war machine. And I am grateful that I found the manuscript, which allowed me to base the book on facts as I lived through them, before the memories dimmed.

Reviews

"Compelling...gripping prose...haunting accounts."
--Publishers Weekly

"...a truly moving and important story. Seldom do we hear of Jewish people who courageously fought back against the Nazis."
--Michael Douglas, Actor and Producer

"A tale fifty years in the telling [that] yields timeless truths"
--The Exponent

"The Defiant, a thrilling and poignant account of life as a Jewish partisan, has an immediacy that sometimes lends itself the feeling of a frontline diary."
--Jewish Advocate

"This book The Defiant is very well done. It’s a great read...[Shalom Yoran] tells a great story of Jewish resistance, determination and survival. It’s a book that everybody should read."
--Robert Morgenthau, District Attorney, New York County

"A tale 50 years in the telling (that) yields timeless truths"
--The Exponent

"This story [of military action and Jewish tragedy] is different and one of the most worthwhile stories. This is a deep and personal story of a 14-year old boy, a Polish Jew...an amazing one.... Highly readable"
--Naples Daily News

"The Defiant, a thrilling and poignant account of life as a Jewish partisan, has an immediacy that sometimes lends itself the feeling of a frontline diary. Through courage, quick-wittedness and the whim of chance, the brothers managed to save themselves to take vengeance."
--Jewish Journal

"Yoran and the dozens of other partisans who resisted and fought the Nazis, those covert freedom fighters vexed - and sometimes frightened the Nazi war machine."
--Jewish Advocate

"In his chilling memoir, Yoran chronicles his story of armed resistance against Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich....The resistance fighters fought with antique guns and explosives, cunning and ingenuity....I realized how little we in America know about the courage and bravery of the Jewish resistance fighters"
--Torchlight Book Review

"The Defiant is a testament to survival and courage in the darkest days of Nazi-occupied Poland....Yoran describes his experiences in a graphic, lucid manner, which makes the horror all the more powerful."
--Jewish Chronicle

"...an amazing true adventure story. (This) early date for composition gives the book a certain freshness and a power that is not felt in other Holocaust memoirs."
Jewish Book World

BACK TO TOP OF PAGE