Vic Shayne has told Mar­tin Small’s sto­ry with clar­i­ty, sin­cer­i­ty, and bal­ance — begin­ning with the close­ness of his lov­ing fam­i­ly, the tra­di­tions of the shtetl, and wis­dom of one’s elders — and end­ing abrupt­ly and bru­tal­ly with the mad incur­sion of the Nazis and the shock­ing trans­for­ma­tion of local anti-Semi­tes and even neigh­bors, some of whom buried Small’s fam­i­ly alive. How could it hap­pen? It was as if they had become bewitched and trans­formed into pure evil. From work camps to the par­ti­sans of the Nowogrodek forests; from Mau­thausen to life as a dis­placed per­son in Italy; from fight­ing in Israel to ulti­mate­ly com­ing to Amer­i­ca, this is a must read account, with its twists and sur­pris­es, but pri­mar­i­ly because of the ethics and mantra of a remark­able man. An out­stand­ing mem­oir, with a star­tling end­ing. After­word, epi­logue, fam­i­ly pho­tos, notes.