I had the honor of hearing Mr. Salsitz speak recently. I was amazed by his story and I wanted to know more so I bought this book. He has a keen memory, and he paints a clear picture of life during his childhood in the backwards town of Kolbuszowa. The book is always interesting and the story it tells is fascinating. I encourage everyone to read this first-hand account of this little slice of life as it existed before the Holocaust.

I really enjoyed this book! It is an intriguing story and vivid depiction of a place that no longer exists except in memory.

Overall it was highly readable, with a minor exception being that too many anecdotes took place in footnotes, which perhaps could have been included in the body of the text. There is a small amount of repetition; this is much more than made up for by the wealth of interesting details and insights about life in that town, how it changed over time, and then when invaded.

I think this book would be highly interesting to the general public and especially those who want to know more about: life in towns that were later destroyed by the Nazi's; life in provincial Polish towns/or Galicia before WWII; issues of rememberance and WWII; relations between peasants, Jews, Othodox, ultra-Orthodox, Zionists, and Christians/Catholics, Poles, Germans.

If you have any relatives that lived in or near Kolbuszowa, than it is an absolute, must-buy. I found it particularly intriguing and a valuable resource regarding family history and issues of memory of WWII, because I had relatives who died in that town and some who were able to leave before its occupation. Feel free to email me if you have questions.

• Twelve Pillars
• Fiction: A Pocket Anthology, (Penguin Academics Series) (4th Edition) (Penguin Academics S.)
• Rhetorical Women: Roles and Representations
• The Aviator (Score)
• House of Bamboo