Kuzmino Chronicles

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day here in the UK. A few weeks ago I was sent a book written by my good friend Dr Nathan Moskowitz. KUZMINO CHRONICLES: Memoirs of Teenage Holocaust Survival documents the turbulent Holocaust saga of Leib and Gittel Moskowitz, (Nathan's parents), in their own words.

Leib and Gittel Moskowitz were both born and raised in Kuzmino, a small town in Transcarpathia, in what was then Czechoslovakia. As children they hardly knew each other. In May 1944 when they were both 15 years old, they and their families were herded off to Auschwitz in cattle cars... Both miraculously survived their ordeals and after liberation spent many years waiting to go to the USA. Lieb spent this time in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany while Gittel spent these same years in the UK, (Manchester and Burnley!) Their separate life trajectories re-converged when they both settled in New York where they became reaquainted, married and raised a family.

The book contains many corroboratory historical documents and photos juxtaposed alongside their memoirs. It's an incredibly stirring account - I highly recommend it. I'm going to make sure that the Manchester Jewish Museum gets a copy!

"THIS POWERFUL MEMOIR WILL HELP ENSURE THAT THE HOLOCAUST IS NEVER FORGOTTEN."

Dr Bat Ami-Zucker, Department of History, Bar-Ilan University