Book tells of 10-year-old who eluded the Nazis

Running From Giants: The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child by Margareta Ackerman, Ph.D. Illustrations by Vivien Mildenberger. © 2013, ISBN: 9781492330967, 81 pages.

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO—This book retells the stories of author Ackerman’s grandfather Srulik, who against all odds survived the Holocaust as a child after running away in only his underpants from the Nazis who were murdering his parents and older brother.

In brief episodes, dramatized by Mildenberger’s drawings, Ackerman recounts not only the horror of the Nazis’ brutality, but also the kindness of Polish farmers and townspeople who provided him food and clothing when the Nazi soldiers and spies weren’t looking.

The brevity of this book was brought home to me by being able to read it in its entirety during the lulls in what otherwise would have been an interminable phone call with a technician helping me to rid my computer of some nuisance programs.

Ackerman marvels at her grandfather’s optimism and humor—qualities that he was able to retain even under the most trying conditions.

Recounting his story in 33 short vignettes was a three-year labor of love for Ackerman. It seems unfair, somehow, that experiences that dragged by so tortuously, and which later proved so difficult for a loving granddaughter to write, can be consumed by a reader in such a relatively short time period.

The author should take solace in the fact that Grandpa Srulik’s story is likely to stay in the memories of many readers – for years, perhaps even for lifetimes.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com