Dream or reality - Blas, Amos (Contento de Semrik, 2011)
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Sept. 7, 2012)
Amos Blas was three years old when Nazi German forces occupied Poland. In his book, the author returns to the horror of those days, to his experiences in the infamous Warsaw ghetto, and later hidden with a fake identity as a Christian boy in a remote Polish village. The author moves beyond the war years, and relates the influences of the Holocaust on the course of his life, including the crushing effects on his professional life, intimate relationship, and religious faith. It is the story of how an illiterate boy of twelve, suffering post-traumatic stress, battled his demons, worked diligently in his studies, received a doctorate in engineering, and became a professor. By chance, the author meets a family member who, like him, also managed to survive the Holocaust and built his life in a distant land. The book delves into this special union that only took place when they were both already pensioners, and grandfathers to numerous grandchildren. Dream or Reality is built on the line between reality and imagination, between truth and hallucination. It also stands as a metaphor to the natural human tendency to disbelieve that such horrific acts could possibly happen. Yet World War II proves to humanity that even the seemingly impossible can turn into reality. Contributors