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by Marcia Pruchno Lawrence (Author)
This book is a true Holocaust story, not a work of historical fiction. My Dad, Sam Pruchno, grew up in a well-to-do family in Shavl, Lithuania. In 1939, at twelve years of age, his life, and the lives of his family and friends, changed forever. His country was occupied by the Russians, and not long after, invaded by the Nazis. The Jews were placed into ghettos, forced to provide backbreaking physical labor, and nearly starved to death. Then the unbearable conditions became even worse when they were shipped to Stutthof and Dachau concentration camps. By the time the war finally ended, Dad had lost his entire family except for his brother and brother-in-law. He was an eighteen-year-old displaced person with no education and no means of support in the chaos of post-WWII Germany. However, Dad quickly bounced back to embrace life with his characteristic gusto, first in Germany as a fun-loving, creative entrepreneur, and ultimately in the United States as a hard-working and prosperous tradesman, businessman and family man. My Dad's story bears witness not only to the historical events of those times--the destruction of his community and man's inhumanity to man--but to his indomitable spirit, a truly inspirational message for everyone everywhere.
