We Were the Lucky Ones

Maybe I wasnt paying enough attention up front, but when I embarked upon this book I was expecting to read a story that would have fallen into the genre of historical fiction, i.e. a fictional account of a fictional family told against the backdrop of the all-too-real canvas of World War II. What I got instead was the astounding, near unbelievable, TRUE account of a Polish-Jewish familys miraculous survival during this darkest time in human history. It is not until the epilogue/Authors Note that we learn that the authors Grandfather was in fact one of the main characters in her remarkable story.

The author acknowledges that her family elders, quite understandably so, were not eager to discuss the horrors of their past. Given the sparsity of details that were handed down to her, I imagine that a good amount of this epic tale can be chalked up to poetic license, so to speak, and that the writing of this tome entailed a good deal of fleshing out of a very skeletal handed-down (and oftentimes not first-hand) account. Nevertheless, the essence of this tale is true, and nothing short of miraculous, awe-inspiring and, indeed, life-affirming.

The protagonists here are Sol and Nechuma Kurc, their five young-adult children and their respective spouses. The story unfolds all over the far-flung corners of the globe during and after the Second World War: Poland, France, Siberia, Palestine, Argentina and, lastly, the United States. (Keeping track of the many main characters may have been a bit unwieldy, but the author handily provides a family tree at the books beginning, which I found myself consulting time after time.)

The aspects of this story that moved me most deeply were:

First, one cannot read this book without being struck by the perseverance and determination of the family members to provide for one another and simply to survive at the most elemental level during times of starvation, extreme weather, persecution and all the other privations of war-torn Europe. To say that We Were the Lucky Ones is a testament to the human spirit is to state the obvious.

Second, the love this family held for one another and the cohesiveness of the family unit especially when all else was lost was something that really touched me. There is a not-so-very subtle message here about what matters most in life. The instances of self-sacrifice (Halina for her parents and Mila for her daughter, to name just a couple) are particularly noteworthy.

Third, the family, having immigrated to the Unites States immediately post-war, made the utmost of their lives here, all going on to become successful in their chosen spheres. It strikes me that, as clichd as it may sound, America is truly the land of opportunity for those who are willing to make it happen. As an American whose own Grandparents came here from Europe, I have to say that the authors choice to bring this out brought a lump to my throat.

I dont know if its even possible to describe a Holocaust story as having a happy ending, but if it is at all possible considering the devastating losses to the world and to humanity at large – this familys story had one. In fact, the book lightly touches upon the concept of survivors guilt: Toward the end of the book one of the characters muses about how none of them should have survived, and yet (against the odds) all of them did. They were the lucky ones.

A word about the unspeakably brave souls who harbored the hunted: people like Halinas boss who was willing to vouch for her (on more than one occasion), or like the peasant family who hid Sol and Nachuma behind a false wall in their home, or the Mother Superior who ran an orphanage and who was willing to accept the falsehood that little Felicia was Aryan in order to spare her life. To paraphrase a sentiment of Anne Franks: despite everything, there truly are good people in this world. In a world gone mad, these courageous individuals are true heroes.

The sanctity of life and the belief that life is something worth fighting for are not new concepts to Holocaust literature. This book ranks right up there with the best in the lessons it has to impart.

All in all, edge-of-your-seat story-telling, with an extremely poignant ending. Definitely recommended.

I absolutely loved this book. I have read many stories detailing the horrors Jews faced throughout Europe before, during, and after World War II….and expected this story to be similar. It was different…I connected with it far more that other stories of the same genre. Perhaps knowing it was based on the author’s family made it all the more moving. It is a book that I finished a few weeks ago, but cannot stop talking about to friends and family. It is a story that has stayed with me. I highly recommend!

I’ve already posted my review on Goodreads, but I’ll post it on Amazon too.

First off, thank you Penguin-Viking for allowing me to read this beautiful ARC. I’ve been given this ARC for my honest feedback.

The following review is my mere opinion. I will start with the dislikes, move on to the likes, and my own personal thoughts.

What did I dislike about this novel?
Absolutely NOTHING.

What did I like about this novel?

1. The characters. Even though I know it’s based on a true story, I enjoyed the characters.
2. It made me cry, laugh, and cry a ton.
3. Finding out more about what the Jewish community really went through in order to survive.
4. Well-written. Hats off to Mrs. Hunter. I’m an instant fan.
5. The careful research that went into making this a novel.
6. The patience Mrs. Hunter must have had. Not many writers want to talk about their family’s history. It takes so much time to research and fact-check. Kudos to Mrs. Hunter.
7. The ending and the acknowledgement. For the first time, I feel completely satisfied and that’s hard to achieve.

Now for my personal thoughts.

What are you waiting for? Go buy this book already! It will make you laugh, cry, cry some more and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I won’t give anything away. You have to be willing to have a box of tissues nearby. It also makes me thing of my ancestors. What they went through to make it this far. Would I ever write about my family’s history? No. I don’t have the patience. We cannot deny the painful part of our prior history. We need to learn from it and do better as each generation passes. I cried, I honestly did. It made my stomach churn and drop. But this is a book about sacrifice and love. I know as a mother, I would do anything to save my children. But this family is simply remarkable. Yeah, maybe some parts were dramatized but Mrs. Hunter took me there. I could imagine the horrors her family went through. If this book doesn’t make you feel something, I don’t know what else to tell you. I plan on buying this book on hardcover and it will remain a treasure for the rest of my life. What we need is a whole lot more love in this world and a lot less hate. Thank you, Mrs. Hunter. Bless you and your beautiful family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your story. I’m sure it was painful for her to write this. I could only imagine.

I would normally avoid a book written about this dark period of history. But I absolutely loved We Were The Lucky Ones. Beautifully written and fast paced. Each chapter is filled with hope and the amazing strength of spirit of each character. I finished it last night and I found myself thinking about the Kurc family several times today. Terrific read!!

I loved this book. I heard an interview with the author and thought it was worth a read, although I was reluctant at first as I feel like I have read so much WWII fiction and non-fiction – what more could I learn? It does start out a bit slow but picks up and is a wonderful read. I found myself crying tears of joy at the end. If it were fiction, it would have been unbelievable to have all these siblings survive the tragedies and circumstances.

As some of the negative reviews pointed out – there are a lot of characters. A family tree at the beginning would have been helpful. I found myself losing track of who was married to whom, who was a sibling of the Kurc family (vs. a spouse), etc. I finally just decided it didn’t really matter to understanding the story, but it would help to have that in the introductory pages to help keep track.

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