We Were the Lucky Ones

by Georgia Hunter
Dec 10-24, 2017

Lucky, indeed. What a shocking thing to say about a family surviving the Holocaust. But the Kurc family's survival is just that – hauntingly lucky. I admit I've been on a tear with WWII books of late, but the more I read, the more I want to learn. This book changes the narrative from what one would expect of the true story of Polish Jews and their fight for survival. The "lucky" part is because out of this rather large family – two parents, five children and their spouses, and a few grandchildren – every one of them survived. They consider themselves lucky even though they faced truly unbelievable hardships, from gulags to ghettos to imprisonment. The number of survivors versus those who perished in their home city of Radom is staggering. These are Hunter's ancestors and she did a beautiful job bringing their story to life.

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The Sound of Gravel

by Ruth Wariner
Nov 19-Dec 3, 2017

I try to be respectful of other religions, whether or not I agree or understand the point of view of different faiths. But I simply cannot wrap my mind around polygamy. I don't think that God would want children to suffer in poverty and malnutrition all in His name. And for men to have 20, 30, 40-plus children that he can't even begin to provide for ... I find it selfish, not holy.

Ruth Wariner is a brave woman for putting her horrific childhood on paper for us to read. There's no doubt that her mother loved her 10 children, but unfortunately she loved her disgusting predator of a husband more. Maybe that's simplifying the matter, but complicating it with religion somehow seems to condone his unholy actions.

“Mom couldn’t teach me that because she didn’t know herself. She couldn’t show me how to be happy, only how to barely survive.”

This book made me sad, angry and left me feeling helpless. The world already faces enough poverty and neglect; choosing a lifestyle where these things are a given is ludicrous. Unfortunately, stories like Ruth's will continue to be exposed and we'll still feel powerless.

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