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Surviving the Forest by Adiva Geffen

Five shots on Saturday morning changed their fate …

She was a beautiful and happy young woman who lived a fairytale life. Shurka, her beloved husband and their two small children lived in a pretty house in a village in Poland, surrounded by a little garden with lilies. This was their life and nothing could harm it, or so they thought…

WWII broke out and though the happy family thought the Germans would never reach their idyllic village, they quickly understood they were wrong and their happiness came to a brutal end. The family had to flee their house and find shelter in a neighboring Ghetto where they realized that the Gestapo was taking Jews away on trucks every night, and they were never seen again.

The family decided to escape into the deep dark forest. There, surrounded by animals, they knew that this was their only chance to get away from the real beasts. They had no idea what would await them, but they knew that doing nothing was not an option if they wanted to survive.

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About the Author

Adiva Geffen is a prolific writer and playwright. She lectures and leads many writing workshops, and she’s a board member of the Israeli writers Association. Adiva has published 21 books, including children’s stories, reference books and, most famously, suspense novels; most of which were best-sellers. In fact, Adiva is widely regarded as the best suspense writer in Israel. Her plays have appeared on major stages in Israel.

Drawing from rich life experience and pure imaginative force, Adiva Geffen creates compelling characters and captivating scenarios in which suspense, humor, passion and joy are woven into an almost addicting emotional thrill-ride. Her latest duo, detectives Sami and Dikla, have become staples in Israel’s literary community.

Geffen began her career as a special-ed teacher. After leaving the education field, she served as the spokesperson for the Habima National Theater for more than a decade. She founded and subsequently led the Israeli Theater Award for 10 years.

Born in Haifa and the mother of three sons, Geffen now lives in Tel Aviv, Israel, with her partner Aharon Meidan.

Her latest book “Klara’s Boys” is set to be published in 2017.

My Review

5 Stars

The small village of Wolka Zablocka had a mixture of religion and families. Everything worked together and got along. Then Hitler and his Nazis start trouble. Sarah “Shurka” Shidlovsky and her family thought that this little village was too small for the Nazis to worry about, but they were wrong. They still came and gathered the Jews. There were stories of families being taken in the night and never coming back.

Finally Sarah takes her family into the Parczew Forest. There they lived with others fighting against the elements and animals. Illness and raids killed many in the two to three years that Sarah lived in the forest until they were liberated by the Russians. Sarah lost almost all of her family and finds that even though the war is over she is still looked down on.

It is always hard to read the stories from the survivors of World War II. People that were prosecuted just because they were Jewish or were different did whatever they could to survive. This is a touching account of Sarah Shidlovsky’s life in this hard time. All she wanted was a simple life on her farm with her family but that was not to be.

If you like reading stories of those that lived through World War II, this is a great addition to your library. It’s touching, heartbreaking, raw, but a great look at what many had to do to live.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

I would like to thank Ari at Candid Book Reviews for the opportunity to read and share this book.