Back before we all stayed home, I visited my aunt and grandparents to play cards. It’s one of our favorite things to do. Books came up as part of the conversation, as they usually do. My aunt told me I needed to read this book next. She even brought her copy to lend to me. Turns out, I already bought it on my latest trip to Half Price Books. After I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I bumped this one up to next on my list.

Book Read: We Were the Lucky Ones
Author: Georgia Hunter
2020 Book Count: 13

In 1939, the Kurc family is doing their best to stay positive and go about their normal lives as war knocks on their doorstep in Radom, Poland. They do their best to not talk about the threat that is coming for them and other Jewish people in their hometown. But they know it is inevitable, and each family member may have to fend from themselves.

Spanning over a decade of their lives and multiple continents, the story of the Kurc family is told through each family member - parents Sol and Nechuma, their five adult children, and their respective spouses.

• Sol & Nechuma: they have made a life in Radom, raising their family and running their success fabric shop. Their marriage and life has already survived one Great War, and now they find themselves in the middle of another.

  • Throughout the War, they will see their children go off in different directions, not hearing from several for long periods of time. Yet, they keep their faith that one day, they might all be reunited again.

• Genek: the oldest was a successful lawyer before the War.

  • After being taken into custody with his wife Herta, their journey will take them across countries and continents, through the birth of a child in the depths of Serbia, to Tel Aviv. Genek eventually makes his way into the Polish division of the Soviet Army, in the same unit that dares to take on the Germans at Monte Cassino in the fourth attempt to take the monastery.

• Mila: as the War begins, Mila is still trying to navigate being a new mother, feeling like a failure every minute.

  • After her husband is sent to join the Polish army, Mila decides that she must fend for herself, and her daughter Felicia, as best she can. She puts her daughter’s life before her own, taking any steps possible to save her daughter. Together, Mila and Felicia will experience and see the worst of the worst. (warning: Mila and Felicia’s story is the hardest to read.)

• Addy: before the War, Addy is living in Paris, getting ready to head home for the holiday. But his mother tells him not to come.

  • After forging his French army release papers, Addy’s life takes him to multiple continents, before he makes it to Brazil, after being issued a visa. Despite not seeing his family for almost a decade, Addy never loses hope that he will someday get in touch with his family. Without his family, he feels incomplete.

• Jakob: at the last Passover as a family, he brings hope to his family, as everyone is waiting for his engagement.

  • After initially being sent to join the Polish army, his girlfriend Bella makes the terrifying journey to join him in another city. Together, they will do what it takes to survive, escaping from jobs and from apartments together. But together, they will experience loss and heartache. But where one goes, the other will go as well.

• Halina: the youngest has a petite figure but a daring and bold personality.

  • Throughout the war, Halina and her husband Adam are active in the underground, helping other Jewish people create fake IDs, find safe houses, and escape. Halina will give anything for her family. She becomes their decision maker, their voice, and their keeper.

Based on the true story of Hunter’s family, We Were the Lucky Ones is a story of one family’s determination to see each other again, the hope that it will one day happen, and the horrifying events that took place in the meantime.

This book is in the running to be the top read of 2020. That’s saying something as it’s only April and it’s only my 13th read of the year. If I could tell you one thing about this book, it is that you should read it. It’s a story that should be read. There are a lot more events than what I describe above.

Some may find it difficult to keep up with some many main characters. I didn’t mind it at all. You could easily follow who was who, and which part of their story you were reading. Also, there’s always a chance to go back and reread the previous chapters about each person. But, because each family member was experiencing something different, keeping the stories and characters straight was much easier.

At the end of the book, Hunter describes how she found out about her family’s story in her teenage years. For years, she had no idea what her grandfather went through, as he never talked about it. After doing a high school project, she began to learn more about his and his family’s experience.

Embarking on a family’s history, especially one that involves World War II, could not have been easy. The fact checking alone must have been intense. Hunter did an excellent job of explaining her process to gather the stories and why she thought her family’s story needed to be told. Taking this on was a remarkable feat.

This book, despite the span of time and number of characters, moves quickly, sucks you in, keeps you on the edge of your seat, and makes you want to keep reading. We Were the Lucky Ones is a reminder that, in the darkest of the darkest of times, hope, determination, courage, and good people will endure.

Shoutout to Aunt MaryLynn for recommending this book!

Next Read: Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness