Alicia Jurman

Born in a mountainous region of Poland, Alicia enjoyed an idyllic childhood, even after moving to the city of Buczacz, where her father was the co-owner of a fabric factory. Once the Germans invaded Poland, however, Alicia's life was permanently altered. In a period of two years, her father and four brothers were all murdered and she and her mother were forced to hide in underground bunkers, forests, wheat fields, and barn lofts throughout Eastern Poland, often with no idea from where the next piece of bread or small potato might come. Through malnutrition, disease, dangerous escapes from Nazi captures, and the witnessing of her mother's murder, Alicia determined to survive. She demonstrated amazing ingenuity, changing languages and dialects to fool others, locating variety of places to hide, learning who to trust, and consistently helping others do the same. Along the way, she encountered compassionate Poles, Ukrainians...