Such a fascinating story of one family's escape from Poland into Soviet-occupied territory. The one time that being sent to Siberia actually ended up being a GOOD thing.

This was a completely different direction. I love that I can read a book and yet learn some information that is such an amazing part of human history. I had no idea that this happened.
Such a fabulous memoir.
Thanks to NetGalley, Lucy Lipiner and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this truly amazing book.

I have always found books about the Jews in World War II quite interesting. When I had the chance to review Long Journey Home, Lucy Lipiner’s story of how she and her family survived the Holocaust, I knew this was a book I wanted to read. I was not disappointed; she told a story unlike any other I have read.

When Lusia was only six years old, Germany invaded her country of Poland. Her father immediately got his extended family together and led the group of 14 people on a strenuous trip to the east. Traveling by horse and wagon, they didn’t know where they were going. They just knew they wanted to get away from the Nazis. Eventually, they found themselves in Russia, and then were transported to Siberia. Life was an intense struggle there; would the entire family live?

As soon as they had the chance, they went south to a more hospitable climate—with a different set of challenges! After the war was finally over, they returned to Poland, but found themselves, as Jews, still in great danger. Where could they go now?

I hadn’t realized before that some of the Jews escaped into Russia. I found this family’s trek quite amazing. Some of the things they had to do to survive were incredible. I appreciated the family’s deep loyalty to each other and they way they sacrificed for each other’s good.

I received a free ecopy of this book from NetGalley and chose to write a review.

WARNING: In chapter 25, the author mentions her mother’s well-grounded fears of sexual abuse as they lived among the Muslims in Tajikistan. Chapter 29 mentions naked teenagers jumping up in the water hole to expose themselves to the girls.

This book gives a different account of the plight of a Jewish family in WW2. The content was always going to be difficult but the author gives a child's innocent account and somehow that makes it much easier to read,. Whilst detailing what happened to the family, it was an eye opener for me. I did not appreciate the continued struggles of jewish survivors after the war ended. I was so pleased I read this book. It doesn't change what I have read before but it helps to understand more.

Long Journey Home

A Young Girl's Memoir of Surviving the Holocaust



by Lucy Lipiner

Concierge Marketing Inc.

Usher Publishing



Biographies & Memoirs , History

Pub Date 07 Feb 2013

I am reviewing a copy of Long Journey Home Through Usher Publishing and Netgalley:

The Summer Of 1939 was the last summer of Luisia’s childhood, the Holocaust would take much of her extended family, thought and Aunt and a cousin would make it through, having escaped to Switzerland. Luisia had lived her life in Sucha Poland.

On September 1st when Luisia was only six, her parents roused her and her older sisters from bed.

She talks about the difficulty of the winter of 1939/1940 under Soviet Occupation. She talks about the difficulty of having no friends

From a sheltered life in the Tatra mountains to her time as a barefoot and hungry little girl in Siberia and Tajikstan as central area to her families final arrival in the United States. She talks too about her time in an a home for Orphaned Holocaust Children, Until it was discovered her parents had miraculously survived.

Long Journey Home is a powerful memoir of survival.

I give Long Journey Home five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

An original account of the struggle of one Jewish family fleeing East from Poland to escape the Nazis. Well written and made all the more poignant seen through the eyes of a child.. This moving account offers much insight into the harrowing struggle and plight of displaced people. .A must read.

Lusia’s Long Journey Home is a story of the human spirit and of the emotional and physical struggles the author and her family endured in their 10-year effort to obtain freedom and safety.
All of the memories are filtered through the eyes of the author who grew up during WWII. She and her family watched the world, as they knew it, crumble before their eyes. This is their journey, one I believe, you should take with the author. It is a story of escape, hardships, sorrow, fear, and rescue. It is her unique perspective of being a Polish Jew living in Poland and her family’s story of resilience.

It is a walk through the nightmare world of the Third Reich. It wades deep through the viciousness of Anti-Semitism. Lusia’s mother and most especially her father's strength carried them through the cold, being hungry, and with loss and with fear that no human being should ever know let alone live through. There is always a strong undercurrent of hope. Her father's foresight and intelligence keeps the family together and one step ahead of death. He is a father to be emulated by other men in these difficult times. They held together as a family and because of that they endured, and now she has given you her family’s story of outrage, of courage and victory

While it may not be the most compelling memoir of its time, I believe that it is a memoir of a young girl and the life she endured simply by being born a Polish Jew. The author brings you with her during these ten years. You can see the world through her eyes. You feel her fears and worry along side of her. Of course as in any memoir of the Holocaust, there is always the story between the lines. The propaganda, lies, prejudice, avarice and power are the other main characters in this memoir.

I would like to thank the author, Usher Publishing and Net Gallery for the ARC.

This book tells the true story of a young Jewish family trying to stay one step ahead of the Nazis, and their ultimate survival. I loved this book, it was good story telling of leaving one's homeland as a child during WWII. The book had pictures, which you can see the people that the author was talking about. Overall a stand alone book on surviving the Holocaust by running East to Russia.

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like i have a whole new understanding of the Holocaust.