Escape Via Siberia: A Jewish Child's Odyssey of Survival

I bought this book after talking to Dorit Whiteman at her book signing at the Holocaust Museum and seeing her engrossing presentation at a library. She is an utterly charming and thoroughly knowledgeable individual! Her book expertly weaves together history with the true story of a how a resourceful, clever boy repeatedly gave the slip to German and Russian forces. I stayed up all night reading this book even though I already knew the end!

This is a extremely engaging and informative book about a long overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. And it's a real page-turner. Whiteman's background as a Holocaust survivor and psychologist shines through her astute observations. Whiteman also gives wonderful presentations on Holocaust-related issues.

Through the eyes of a boy battling history, Escape Via Siberia tells the long overlooked story of Eastern Europe during WW II. This willful and wile boy somehow manages to always give the slip to the Nazis and Stalin's forces, which both hunt him throughout Eastern Europe. This true story packs so much suspense and history that it should be made into a movie! It is a must-read for historians and lay audiences alike.

Escape Via Siberia: A Jewish Child's Odyssey Of Survival is the compelling story of Elliott "Lonek" Jaroslawicz and the dramatic escape of thousands of Polish Jews from the Nazi holocaust. A short-lived treaty between the Polish Government-in-Exile and the Soviet Governments allowed for the release of approximately one hundred thousand Polish citizens, including Lonek's family. They made their way from Siberia to Tashkent. Ten-year-old Lonek's father became ill and his distraught mother left him on the doorstep of an orphanage. Lonek became one of the more than 900 Jewish children (known as the "Teheran Children", who journeyed to Iran where they became stranded due to the vagaries of war and failed diplomacy. Henrietta Szold and the leadership of Hadassah relentlessly pressured the American and British governments to assure the children's safe passage. After eight months in Iran they left Tashkent on a route that took them through Indian and Egypt to final sanctuary in Palestine. In Escape Via Siberia, Dorit Bader Whiteman (herself having escaped from Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1939) has written a detailed account combining primary and secondary sources with information gathered through extensive interviews with Lonek. Escape Via Siberia is an invaluable contribution to 20th century Jewish history and an engaging account of tragedy and heroism.

"...'Escape via Siberia' tells the important and often overlooked story of the fate of the Polish Jews who fled to Russia....The triumph of the spirit dominates...Dorit Whiteman has filled in a gap in Holocaust literature with her moving and comprehensive book." -- Gerald Posner, author of 'Mengele-The Complete Story' and 'Hilter's Children: Sons and Daughters of Leaders of the Third Reich Talk about Their Fathers and Themselves'"Riveting reading and important because so little is known about the kindertransport from Russia."-- William B. Helmreich, Professor of Sociology and Judaic Studies, CUNY Graduate Center of City Collect of New York, and author of 'Against All Odds'"Whiteman enhances an individual recollection with meticulous research and other interviews to offer a compelling story of one man that is emblematic of his people and of his generation....A powerful glimpse into the world of Shoah."-- Michael Berenbaum, Professor of Theology, The University of Judaism, and author of The World Must Know and Witness to the Holocaust