front cover of The Jewish War and The Victory
The Jewish War and The Victory
Henryk Grynberg
Northwestern University Press, 2001
This epic tells the story of a Polish Jewish family struggling against nearly insurmountable odds. In The Jewish War, the family of a young Jewish boy hides throughout the countryside until the father is murdered. To escape, the mother and boy use forged papers and adopt a false life as the Catholic family of an officer captured by the Germans. The Victory picks up the story as the Red Army advances and the boy fights to reclaim his Jewishness amidst the horrors of the past and the choices of an agonizing present.
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front cover of The Jews in Polish Culture
The Jews in Polish Culture
Aleksander Hertz
Northwestern University Press, 1988
Jews in Polish Culture was and in large measure remains an essentially pioneering work. Despite the passage of many years, the book's thrust has retained its initial, original freshness. 
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front cover of The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin
The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin
Vladimir Voinovich
Northwestern University Press, 1995
Ivan Chonkin is a simple, bumbling peasant who has been drafted into the Red Army. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he is sent to an obscure village with one week's ration of canned meat and orders to guard a downed plane. Apparently forgotten by his unit, Chonkin resumes his life as a peasant and passes the war tending the village postmistress's garden. Just after the German invasion, the secret police discover this mysterious soldier lurking behind the front line. Their pursuit of Chonkin and his determined resistance lead to wild skirmishes and slapstick encounters.
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front cover of Pretender to the Throne
Pretender to the Throne
Further Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin
Vladimir Voinovich
Northwestern University Press, 1995
This hilarious novel following the continuing adventures of Ivan Chonkin, a simple peasant who has been arrested as a traitor after spending World War II happily tending a garden. In this sequel to The Extraordinary Life and Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, Vladimir Voinovich ridicules everything sacred to the Soviet Union—the army, the justice system, the press, and Stalin himself—in a refreshing combination of dissident conscience and universal humor.
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