"We Were The Lucky Ones"

"We Were The Lucky Ones" by Georgia Hunter is an incredible story.  Although it is a novel, it is based on her grandfather's family's true story of  surviving the Jewish genocide during World War 2.

Her great-grandparents, Sol and Nechuma, were 52 and 50 in March of 1939.  Their oldest son, Genek, was 31 and was married to Herta.  Their daughter, Mila was 29 and married to Selim and had a 4 month old daughter, Felicia.  Addy, their 25 year old son, was living and working in Paris and he is the author's grandfather.  Jakob, age 23, married Bella and the youngest daughter was Halina, age 21, who married Adam.  Not all of the children were married when the war began but did marry during the war.  Addy met and married an American he met in Brazil.

The family was from Radom, Poland, but some of them ended up in other cities or countries as a result of the war so it is pretty amazing that the whole family survived.  Unfortunately, for their spouses the same could not always be said of their families.

The story starts with Addy in Paris in early March 1939 and each chapter focuses on another family member then returns to the ones featured in early chapters so there is a progression of their separate journeys through the war years.  The author did her research as well as interviewed family members and it is a story that is hard to believe could be based in truth.  I highly recommend this book to everyone.

At the end of the book she tells where each family member eventually arrived after the war and where Nechuma and Sol's grandchildren and spouses and progeny now live as well as the wide range of careers among them.  (P. S.  The author's father is Thomas Hunter, the author of "Softly Walks The Beast.")  pazt