LEADER 04415nam 2200661Ia 450 001 9910966466303321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a9786613432018 010 $a9781283432016 010 $a1283432013 010 $a9780252093968 010 $a0252093968 035 $a(CKB)2670000000187649 035 $a(OCoLC)785782183 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10533477 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000646895 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11380986 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000646895 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10589355 035 $a(PQKB)10131634 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3413970 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse23634 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3413970 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10533477 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL343201 035 $a(OCoLC)923494329 035 $a(Perlego)2554205 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000187649 100 $a19990908d2000 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe narrow bridge $ebeyond the Holocaust /$fIsaac Neuman ; with Michael Palencia-Roth 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aUrbana $cUniversity of Illinois Press$dc2000 215 $a1 online resource (223 p.) 300 $aIncludes index. 311 08$a9780252025617 311 08$a025202561X 327 $aCheder years -- Reb Mendel -- The Gate of Tears -- Hanukkah in a monastery -- The pact -- Purim revenge -- Shlomo's last prayer -- The Judena?lteste of Zdunska Wola -- My brother's keeper, Part 1 -- Unleavened bread -- My brother's keeper, Part 2 -- Mottl's torah -- Rachel -- Yom Hashoah. 330 8 $aAs a boy studying Torah, Isaac Neuman learned to seek the spiritual lessons hidden in everyday life. Likewise, in this narrative of occupation and holocaust, he uncovers a core of human decency and spiritual strength that inhumanity, starvation, and even death failed to extinguish. Unlike many Holocaust memoirs that focus on physical suffering and endurance, The Narrow Bridge follows a spiritual journey. Neuman describes the world of Polish Jewry before and during the Holocaust, recreating the strong religious and secular personalities of his childhood and early youth in Zdunska Wola, Poland: the outcast butcher, Haskel Traskalawski; the savvy criminal-turned-entrepreneur Nochem Ellia; the trusted Dr. Lemberg, liaison to the German occupation government; and Neuman's beloved teacher, Reb Mendel. Through their stories, Neuman reveals the workings of a community tested to the limits of faith and human dignity. With his brother Yossel, Neuman was transported to the Poznan area, first to the Yunikowo work camp in May 1941, then on to St. Martin's Cemetery camp, where they removed gold jewelry and fillings from exhumed corpses. A string of concentration camps followed, each more oppressive than the last: Fu?rstenfelde, Auschwitz, Fu?nfteichen, Gross Rosen, Mauthausen, Wels, and Ebensee. In the midst of these horrors, the brothers kept their feet on the "narrow bridge" of life by holding to their faith, their memories, and each other. In the end, only Isaac survived. The Narrow Bridge celebrates symbolic victories of faith over brute force. The execution of Zdunska Wola's Jewish spiritual and intellectual leaders is trumped by an act of breathtaking courage and conviction. A secret Passover Seder is cobbled together from hoarded bits of wax, piecemeal prayers, and matzoh baked in delousing ovens. A dying fellow inmate gives Neuman his warm coat as they both lie freezing on the ground. Such rituals of faith and acts of kindness, combined with boyhood memories and a sense of spiritual responsibility, sustained Neuman through the Holocaust and helped him to reconstruct his life after the war. His story is a powerful testimony to an unquenchable faith and a spirit tried by fire. 606 $aJews$zPoland$zZdunska Wola$vBiography 606 $aHolocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)$zPoland$zZdunska Wola$vPersonal narratives 607 $aZdun?ska Wola (Poland)$vBiography 615 0$aJews 615 0$aHolocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) 676 $a940.53/18092 B 700 $aNeuman$b Isaac$f1922-$01807135 701 $aPalencia-Roth$b Michael$01807136 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910966466303321 996 $aThe narrow bridge$94356700 997 $aUNINA