This memoir traces the Holocaust through the eyes of young Nathan Poremba and examines the difficult emotional and physical choices he made to survive.
On September 12, 1939 when he was just nine years old, Nathan’s father was murdered by the Wehrmacht in his hometown, Wieliczka, located in Southern Poland. On this day, Nathan’s childhood ended and adulthood was involuntarily thrust upon him.
Alone and without help for most of the Holocaust, Nathan Poremba’s six-year survival necessitated avoiding detection while maintaining an unflinching will to live despite the threats that enveloped his every move. For three years, Nathan tested his boundaries, unwilling to wear the compulsory Star of David armband, blended into the population in order to buy food for the family. He later snuck in and out of three ghettos before coming across false papers bearing the name “Staszek Surdel”.
His unmatched resilience is a testament to his will to live. Throughout, Nathan never acquiesced to antisemitism and he consistently resisted his tormentors as his father had before the Holocaust.
Nonfiction
My Name is Staszek Surdel: The Improbable Holocaust Survival of Nathan Poremba, The Last Jew of Wieliczka
- From the Publisher
September 1, 2021
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