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A poignant account of the perils and fortunes of an indomitable survivor of violence in Eastern Europe during World War II.In 1939, to escape Nazi occupation, 14-year-old Adam Broner and his older brother Sam left their home and family in Lodz, Poland, and made their way to the Soviet Union. Adam enlisted in the Red Army to join the fight against the Nazis but was sent to work in a Siberian coal mine instead when his nationality was discovered. After a bold and daring escape from Siberia, Broner reached the Soviet Polish Kosciuszko Army, joined the struggle against the Nazis, participated in the liberation of Poland, and rode victorious into Berlin in 1945. He later learned that his parents, siblings (except Sam), and all other close relatives had perished during the war. Broner rebuilt his life, established a family, returned to Moscow for a degree in economics, and then went back to Poland, where he accepted a job in the Polish central planning agency. Eventually fed up with the growing anti-Semitism of the Communist government there, the author emigrated to the United States in 1969. He earned a doctorate from Princeton University and served as an economic adviser to New Jersey governors and the state legislature. In retirement, Broner learned portrait painting and reproduced the likenesses of his parents and siblings from memory, which are presented along with their biographies in this book. In recounting his struggle for survival during some of the most dramatic upheavals of the 20th century— the Great Depression, Nazism, World War II, and the spread of Communism in Central Europe— Broner reveals a life dedicated to the ultimate goal of freedom, which he achieved through a combination of arduous effort and fortunate circumstance.
E-Book Content
My War against the Nazis
My War against the Nazis A Jewish Soldier with the Red Army
ADAM BRONER Foreword by Antony Polonsky
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2007 The University of Alabama Press Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Typeface is Minion ∞ The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Broner, Adam, 1925– My war against the Nazis : a Jewish soldier with the Red Army / Adam Broner ; foreword by Antony Polonsky. p. cm. — (Fire ant books) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-5417-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8173-5417-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Broner, Adam, 1925– 2. World War, 1939–1945—Participation, Jewish. 3. World War, 1939–1945—Personal narratives, Jewish. 4. Soviet Union. Raboche-Krest’ianskaia Krasnaia Armiia—Biography. 5. Poland. Armia—Biography. 6. Jews—Poland—Biography. 7. Jews—Soviet Union—Biography. I. Title. D810.J4B75 2007 940.54′1247092—dc22 [B] 2006028617
To the memory of Barbara’s and my parents: Regina and Abram Holeman Ajdel Ita and Israel Broner
Contents
List of Illustrations
ix
Acknowledgments
xi
Foreword by Antony Polonsky Prologue I. FLEEING THE NAZIS TO THE “SOVIET PARADISE” 1. German Occupation and Terror
xiii xv
3
2. Escape from Occupied Poland
11
3. “So You Want to Go to the Soviet Paradise?”
14
4. From Bialystok to Novosibirsk
19
5. A Lavish Reception for the Liberated Belorussians
24
6. The Prosecutor’s Case
31
7. Ivanovo-Vozniesiensk: Where One Could Buy Flour and Sugar
35
II. MY WAR WITH THE NAZIS 8. The Working Battalions of the Red Army 9. In the Eighth Reserve Regiment of the Red Army
43 49