Carry the Torch/A Lasting Legacy
The turmoil of war and persecution pulls both Sam and Johnny to the Plaszow forced labour camp in Poland. In 1943, Johnny and Sam, only teenagers, quickly learn of the brutality of the new camp commandant, Amon Göth. By sheer luck, Sam becomes the commandant’s houseboy, a privileged, yet risky, position, and Johnny gets a job in the carpentry workshop, “useful” yet still living in constant fear. The young men both feel like they are walking a tightrope, where one wrong move can make them the target of Göth’s unpredictable volatility. Ultimately deported and on different trajectories, their experiences in Plaszow become an ever-present reminder that their fates can change in an instant. Carry the Torch and A Lasting Legacy are the different yet parallel stories of two men who, as the sole survivors of their immediate families, must find their own way after the war and decide whether to keep their histories in the past.
Introduction by Joanna Sliwa
- At a Glance
- Sam Weisberg:
- Poland
- Plaszow forced labour camp; concentration camps
- Death march
- Postwar Germany, displaced persons camp
- Arrived in Canada in 1959
- Johnny Jablon:
- Poland
- Plaszow forced labour camp
- Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp
- Death march
- Postwar Austria, displaced persons camp
- War Orphans Project
- Arrived in Canada in 1948
- Educational materials available: Johnny Jablon Activity
256 pages, including index
- Recommended Ages
- 16+ More Information
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