Long Journey Home

Title: Long Journey Home
Author: Lucy Lipiner
Major Themes: Holocaust, Jews, Poland, Russia, Siberia
Synopsis: As a 6-year-old, the author fled Poland with her Jewish family, ahead of the German army.

I have always found books about the Jews in World War II quite interesting. When I had the chance to review Long Journey Home, Lucy Lipiner’s story of how she and her family survived the Holocaust, I knew this was a book I wanted to read. I was not disappointed; she told a story unlike any other I have read.

When Lusia was only six years old, Germany invaded her country of Poland. Her father immediately got his extended family together and led the group of 14 people on a strenuous trip to the east. Traveling by horse and wagon, they didn’t know where they were going. They just knew they wanted to get away from the Nazis. Eventually, they found themselves in Russia, and then were transported to Siberia. Life was an intense struggle there; would the entire family live?

As soon as they had the chance, they went south to a more hospitable climate—with a different set of challenges! After the war was finally over, they returned to Poland, but found themselves, as Jews, still in great danger. Where could they go now?

I hadn’t realized before that some of the Jews escaped into Russia. I found this family’s trek quite amazing. Some of the things they had to do to survive were incredible. I appreciated the family’s deep loyalty to each other and they way they sacrificed for each other’s good.

I received a free ecopy of this book from NetGalley and chose to write a review.

WARNING: In chapter 25, the author mentions her mother’s well-grounded fears of sexual abuse as they lived among the Muslims in Tajikistan. Chapter 29 mentions naked teenagers jumping up in the water hole to expose themselves to the girls.

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