About the Book:

This extraordinary and unflinchingly honest memoir takes us on a riveting journey into the hearts and souls of three enigmatic people whose destinies are forever changed by the events of World War II. The secrets of misguided love and passions are revealed as the author journeys between the past and the present to solve the mystery of a handsome Polish officer with piercing blue eyes and sun-colored hair. Maria Sutton takes us to the dark green hills and valleys of the ancient Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine, where the woody fragrance of birch trees and new-mown hay fills the fresh, crisp air after a heavy rain. Vicariously, we see a sunrise over Poland obscured by brightly colored swastikas on warplanes and then we will be taken into suffocating cattle cars, lice-infested stalags, and to the Dachau death camp. Further down a country road, the hearty laughter and beer steins clinking with each salute to the Fuhrer s astonishing victories can be heard.

As Maria takes us on this odyssey to solve a decades-long mystery, she learns the family secrets of untold heroism, quiet courage, and a mother s love and of tragedy, disillusionment, and heartbreak. At the end of her long journey, Maria uncovers a shattering and painful truth. But the secret, however heartbreaking, would also become the greatest gift she would receive.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

I have spent years reading about both World War II, as well as the Holocaust.  This is a subject that has always fascinated me — and I consider myself someone that is well read on the topic.  So, when I come across a book that has a new approach, and teaches me something new about this tragic, historic event — I am always fascinated.  When the author contacted me and requested to have me read this book, I was more than happy to take this one on.  I love the topic, and even the little she told me about it made me realize that this one was certainly a different story to be told.  This is a memoir that is well worth the read for more than one reason.

First off, this is not your traditional concentration camp story.  Rather it is the story of one woman’s search for her missing father.  A man that was believed to be both a Polish military officer, and a repatriated Prisoner of War.  What is different about this book is that while they were all put into the labor camp at Dachau, Jozef, and the rest of the individuals this story is about were christian civilians who were simply put into camps as a means of supporting the Nazi war machine.  They were young, strong, and capable of providing manual labor.  The author, Maria Sutton spent decades searching for her lost father, Jozef Kurak.  And the story she has to tell is both heart wrenching and inspiring.  Her commitment and tenacity managed to see her through the hardest times, and continue searching when she felt there was nowhere left to look.  Her story is one that the reader will be glad they read.

This story is also different because it isn’t the typical, sad, and even depressing subject material.  Along the way, Sutton manages to learn a great deal about the country her parents came from, as well as the war that proved to be the reason she was brought into being.  And while some of the things she may learn along the way did not turn out to be as she imagined and hoped they would — she never faltered in her belief of the importance of family — and the role that family plays in her life.  Her ability to share this belief is both uplifting, and refreshing — as well as contagious.  In a world that is rapidly seeing the decline of the family — this story is one of hope, and devotion that runs both deep, and strong.

Sutton also provides a different perspective on Naziism, and its overwhelming drive to subjugate other races and people.  And while it is well known that the Jewish people were the primary target of the Nazis — they were certainly, by no means, their only targets.  Sutton’s mother’s story of her time in forced labor, Dachau, and the Displaced Persons camps following the close of the war are insightful in presenting a broader scope of how vast the racial, and ethnic hatred the Nazis had towards people of other nationalities.  Combined with that is the picture on the challenges of immigration to the United States following this war, and the challenges that immigrants faced once they arrived in this country with nothing left but a very few, easily carried possessions.  We come away with a well developed history of this singular war from one of the more unique presentations I have come across.

This is a book that is not only worth the time to read — but it gives the reader much more food for thought in understanding the scope of the crimes the Nazi party committed against humanity.  Tags: Autobiography, Biography, Concentration Camps, Dachau, History, Holocaust, Loss, Love, Nazi, Non-Fiction, Survivor, World War II

Category: History, Non-Fiction, Promo Book Reviews, World War II