"The Boy Who Refused to Die - Sevek and The Holocaust"
Written by Sidney Finkel
Edited by Sue Kelly

Click Here to View an Excerpt.

Chapter 1: A Reminder of the Past
Sidney, now in the US and in his sixties, goes to see his daughter. She is pregnant wants to know the story of her father’s experience during the holocaust so she can pass it on to her children. This event leads to Sidney and his family going to the Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C. Sidney now feels a responsibility to let others know about his past.

Chapter 2: Telling My Story
Through a series of unpredictable events and with the support of friends and family, Sidney begins telling others about his experience during and after the Holocaust, particularly students in middle and high schools. He is deeply moved as students respond positively to his story.

Chapter 3: An Idyllic Beginning
The story he tells begins with Sevek (Sidney) being born into a prosperous, well-to-do Jewish family in Poland. He was the youngest son and his father cherished him more than the other children. There were few demands on Sevek during his early years; life was easy and fun for Sevek.

Chapter 4: The Beginning of the Change for Sevek
For the first time, Sevek experiences the hatred others have for Jews.

Chapter 5: The Beginning of War
When the German bombers come, Sevek’s family and all the other families experience terror and do what they can to stay alive. For the first time, Sevek is lost and alone. But he is reunited with his family.

Chapter 6: The Ghetto
Sevek, his family and all other Jews are forced into a restricted area and made to stay there. Life becomes more and more uncomfortable; there are food shortages; and terror is a constant in their lives.

Chapter 7: Isaac’s Experiences
Sevek’s older brother returns to tell about his experiences and how he was able to survive his encounter with the Germans.

Chapter 8: Deportation
Sevek sees his mother and his sister for the last time as they are loaded on to cattle cars and sent to the death camps. His mother tells him as she leaves, “You must be brave, Sevek and not make a fuss. You are young and I want you to promise me that you will not do anything foolish. You will do everything you can to survive. You are our future.” Sevek’s father and brother Isaac protect him and he avoids being sent to the death camps too.

Chapter 9: The Lucky Ones and What Happened to Them
Sevek, his sister Lola, his brother Isaac, and his father survive. Sevek is assigned to a slave labor camp where life is hard and where he is frequently humiliated by the Germans because he is Jewish.

Chapter 10: Living through Czestochowa Camp
The Germans decide to send workers in the slave labor camp to other camps. Sevek finds himself on a cattle car not knowing where he is going and ends up at Czestochowa where he manages to survive by relying on his wits and the help of some good men.

Chapter 11: Surviving Buchenwald
Buchenwald was yet another camp where he spent time. Here he meets his father but wants nothing to do with him. More and more his survival depends on his following his animal instincts. There is severe over crowding, disease and malnutrition. And there is the dreaded killer typhoid which, luckily, Sevek does not catch.

Chapter 12: The final Days of Buchenwald
As the war is coming to the end, conditions in Buchenwald become even more disastrous for Sevek. He barely escapes with his life—and only because of help from others.

Chapter 13: Out of Buchenwald
Sevek and the other prisoners are ordered to move out of Buchenwald. It is not clear where they are going. He witnesses fathers dying and leaving their sons.

Chapter 14: The Train to Nowhere
Sevek and other boys are put on a train. They have no water; they have no food. They survive by getting whatever they can find when the train stops. There is humiliation at the hands of the Germans and then the Russians. Sevek’s will to survive is about all he has as his stomach aches from starvation; he even tries eating grass for food.

Chapter 15: Finishing My Education
After the war ends, Sevek spends time looking for his family and recovering from his ordeal in the camps. Eventually, he along with about 800 other Jewish children are taken to England. Here Sidney resumes his schooling. He has not been in school for several years, but in an amazing display of intention and hard work, he becomes a voracious reader and dedicated student. In the short space of a few years has mastered enough knowledge and skills to come within a few points of passing the test required to enter the university.

But it is not all about books and studying. He also has to re-learn how to live with others. His experiences have taught him to think only about himself and he is filled with anger. So he begins to become a good member of society.

Chapter 16: Coming to America
After a few years in England, Sevek (now Sidney) is able to emigrate to America like many of his fellow Jews did after the war. He continues to be enterprising and to have a will to survive and be successful. He eventually marries and raises a family and becomes a successful business man.

Click Here to View an Excerpt.