The Vengeance Of Samuel Val
by
Elyse Hoffman
110 Pages, Project 613 Publishing
Khruvina is a tiny, backwater village in Belarus, Soviet Union. Young Samuel Val lives there with his parents and sisters and hopes to become the Rabbi of Khruvina when he grows up. Instead he finds himself the only survivor as his village is burned to the ground by Germans headed by Viktor Naden aka the beast of Belarus, under orders from Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich was described by Hitler as the "Man with the iron heart." Sam is shot and left for dead but survives and joins the Black Fox underground network which frees Jews and puts them up in safe houses. When Sam is on a mission to bring back a fellow Jew namely Amos, they accidentally end up in a safe house run by Naden's wife and daughter. Will he have his revenge or will he spare them because the German wife and daughter of Naden are helping the Jews escape?
From Belarus to Germany, Hoffman spins a tale of horror, inhumanity with flickers of humanity and extreme sadness thrown in between. One cannot think it is just a fiction based on the Holocaust of the past as you see this is being repeated again and again in the genocides across the world making you wonder what is wrong with human nature that fascism is taking such a strong hold on mankind nowadays. Is ignorance or love an excuse to forgive a barbarian? There is a wonderful debate in the story about redemption and repentance.
The writing style is crisp and the pace is fast. This book reminded me of the recent horror in Manipur, India and we do not know yet all of the stories as it is still ongoing and everyone is aware of the ethnic cleansing. While synagogues and churches have been destroyed, numerous villages have been burnt leaving many homeless and as internal refugees in India. That Hoffman's story is still valid as genocide is still happening in Asia, makes this book all the more important.
If you wish to buy it, go here Amazon - available from Sept 1, 2023 but you can pre-order it now.
