Chance: Escape from the Holocaust, written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz. Farrar Sraus Giroux, Macmillan. Raincoast. 2020. $26.99 ages 10 and up

 

"To be able to lie down and stretch out, we sometimes
had no choice but to go outside, hoping it wouldn't rain.
Lying on the cold, hard ground was far from comfortable, 
but we also had to sleep with one eye open, like wild animals, 
because of thieves and other criminals, who were looking for 
easy victims to rob and, if necessary, kill."

In an afterword, Uri Shulevitz credits his father with writing his own memories of the war years in his later life. Using that writing as guidance, Mr. Shulevitz sat to write his own memoir of the war years and how they affected him. He was only 4 when he and his parents were forced to flee Warsaw for a life in Bialystok, a Soviet-occupied city in northern Poland. The family had no standing there as they were denied citizenship. Three years later they moved to Turkestan, a new and harrowing experience for the 7-year-old. 

Always hungry and deprived of any kind of normal life, the family suffered from a lack of employment, debilitating illness, and even time spent without his father after his sudden disappearance. Uri found what comfort he could in his love of art, and his mother's storytelling which led him to his lifelong love of reading. His art offered a chance to forget his circumstance for small moments in time, and to let his imagination create a new existence. 

In his teens, the family lived in Paris where his father's brother and his family lived. His memory for the many events of that time offer a less bleak outlook. Still, he faced bullying and anti-Semitism from his classmates, who were only impressed when they recognized his artistic talents. 

The many illustrations are filled with memories that are both funny, and often scary. Such a life cannot be imagined by those who will read this absorbing memoir. Told with honesty, it will certainly make the experiences of war more personal and powerful. It is those stark images and compelling storytelling, mixed a modicum of good luck, that will carry every reader through the often dire circumstances that this family of three experienced as they persevered and survived.  It is a tribute to love of family and the power of creativity. 

Extraordinary!