Crossing the River

Shalom Eilati (Author), Vern Lenz (Translated by)

9780817357580

Paperback / softback, published 1 March 2009

312 pages, 16 black & white illustrations
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.456 kg

Crossing the River is a personal memoir—and more. Against the backdrop of Lithuania’s occupation—first by the Red Army, next by the Germans, and then again by the Russians—it is a story reflected through the prism of a sharp-eyed young child, Shalom Eilati. His story starts in the occupied Kovno Ghetto and ends with his flight across the Soviet border, through Poland and Germany and finally, his arrival in Palestine.

The adult survivor, while recalling the terrorised child that he was and how he then perceived the adult world, also takes stock of his present life. Throughout the memoir, Eilati attempts to reconcile his present life as a husband, father, scientist, and writer, with the images, feelings, and thoughts from the past that have left an indelible mark on his life and that continue to haunt him.