Jews in the Garden, Judy Rakowsky
Jews in the Garden, Judy Rakowsky
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Jews in the Garden
A Holocaust Survivor, the Fate of His Family, and the Secret History of Poland in World War II

Author: Judy Rakowsky

Narrator: Judy Rakowsky

Unabridged: 9 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/11/2023


Synopsis

Villages of Poland hide the lost secrets of World War II

1944: Heavy footfalls thud on the road on a rainy May night. A band of gunmen scour a hilltop farm, acting on rumors that it harbors a Jewish family. For 18 months, the Rozeneks have been hiding safely, but their luck is about to run out. Only one from the family of six will live to see the sunrise. Sixteen-year-old Hena Rozenek shelters in the woods until morning . . . and then she runs.

Forty years later: Holocaust survivor Sam Rakowski Ron has lived in the United States for decades, never thinking he could return to the Polish village he fled as a teenager. But now he's ready to talk about what he heard, what he saw, and what he knows about two separate families of cousins who were his neighbors, and presumably were killed during the war. The story Poland presents to the world is that Poles saved more Jews than citizens of any other nation, that any murders in Poland were committed by Nazis and Nazis alone. But Sam, while defending his countrymen, suspects a painful truth. The stories he shares with his younger cousin, Judy, an investigative journalist, send them off on a decades-long journey unlike any other to find out what happened to the Rozenek family and ultimately reveal the secrets the Polish government is still desperate to keep.


About Judy Rakowsky

Judy Rakowsky spent a three-decade journalism career at five metropolitan dailies as an enterprising reporter and breaking news editor focused on crime and legal affairs.

At the Boston Globe, the Providence Journal, and People Magazine, she broke stories on major issues of the day from organized crime to priest sex abuse, domestic violence, and online bullying. Along the way, she garnered awards for feature writing, sensitivity to crime victims, and enterprise reporting. She lives with her husband in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


Reviews

Jews in the Garden:A Holocaust Survivor, the Fate of His Family, and the Secret History of Poland in World War II by Judy Rakowsky was a true and very inspirational story. When Judy reconnected with Sam, her father’s cousin and Holocaust survivor, her life as an investigative journalist was about to......more

Goodreads review by Brendan on April 20, 2023

Sometimes grumpy uncles can be great travel companions. At least, when they aren't especially cranky. Or when they aren't actively trying to stop you from visiting Poland well after World War II. Judy Rakowsky can tell you all about it in her book, Jews in the Garden. World War II buffs will know tha......more

Goodreads review by Candace on June 28, 2023

"Jews in the Garden" joins the excellent trend of writers using modern knowledge and techniques to discover the fate of family lost in the Holocaust--Anne. Berest's "The Postcard" and Sarah Wildman's "Paper Love" would be two other books worth checking out. "Jews in the Garden" is different in that......more

Goodreads review by Leah on May 15, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. CONTENT WARNING: Holocaust imagery, genocide, blood, gun violence, antisemitism, violence, grief I couldn’t help but request this book, since the author’s cousin’s experience so closely r......more

Goodreads review by Michael on August 31, 2023

A revealing and riveting look into one of the most heinous times in human history and the coverup and denial by those who knew and would not tell the truth. Judy's details of her first trips to Poland describe her challenges with the language barrier and her journalistic way of uncovering informatio......more