Yankele A Holocaust Survivor's Bittersweet Memoir

by Gross, Alex

• ISBN13: 9780761821380
• ISBN10: 0761821384
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-12-22
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

In Yankele: A Holocaust Survivor's Bittersweet Memoir, Alex (Yankele) Gross tells the tale of his life as a Hungarian boy amidst the turmoil of World War II Europe. Beginning with his childhood in the village of Palanok, Alex recalls happy memories nestled in the bosom of family and friends. His peaceful existence was shortly disrupted when his community is rounded up and placed in a ghetto and subsequently deported to Auschwitz. Here Alex vividly depicts the horror of his imprisonment at the camp, his forced march to Gleiwitz, and his ride on the flat car to Buchenwald - a journey that has been similarly immortalized by Elie Wiesel's Night. After he was liberated, Alex was free to reunite with his surviving siblings in Prague, but also had to face all of the difficulties inherent in beginning a new life. After moving to England, where he begins his practical education under the guidance of his adoptive family, Alex finally makes his way to America where he becomes successful business and family man. Tragedy soon follows, however, with the loss of his teenage son and the murder of his first wife. In spite of this, Yankele endures as a story of happiness, revealing the depths of faith, courage and honor of this modern-day Job.

Author Biography

Alex (Yankele) Gross was born in the Carpathian mountains which then belonged to Hungary. After losing his parents (among others) in the war. Alex went briefly to Prague and then to England, where he was adopted. Eventually, he immigrated to America where he and his family became builders in Ohio and then in Georgia. He now lives in Florida and has three children and four grandchildren

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
David R. Blumenthal
Life in the Valley of the Shadow of Death
My Life in Palanok	1	(12)
A Changing Village	13	(12)
Two Weeks in the Ghetto	25	(6)
The Cattle Ride to Hell	31	(4)
A9018: Surviving the Flames	35	(10)
Buna: Part I	45	(8)
Buna: Part II	53	(10)
The March from Buna	63	(4)
From Gleiwitz to Buchenwald	67	(4)
Buchenwald	71	(8)
Angels in Buchenwald	79	(8)
Picking Up the Pieces in Prague	87	(6)
Scotland	93	(6)
England	99	(8)
Images	107	(118)
Before the War
After the War
America
Family 2001
Life in The New World
The ``Goldene Medina''	145	(6)
The American Way	151	(10)
The U. S. Army	161	(10)
Growing Albee Homes	171	(10)
More to Life than Work, Work, Work	181	(4)
Linda	185	(6)
Albee Hits Bottom	191	(6)
Modulage Homes	197	(6)
Atlanta: The Greatest Tragedy	203	(10)
Pulling Together	213	(6)
Yet Another Tragedy	219	(4)
Farewell, Linda	223	(2)
Epilogue	225	(6)
Concluding Interview, David R. Blumenthal	231	(24)
Afterword	255	(4)
Deborah E. Lipstadt
Notes	259