To No Man's Glory - Children of the Holocaust

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The Forgotten Victims...

It is written that only 10% of the Jewish children in Europe survived the Holocaust.  Latvia and Lithuania, two small Baltic countries north of Poland, suffered even higher casualties.  Only 1 - 2 % of their Jewish children survived, and nearly all of them were sent away and in hiding. 

I dedicate this lens to one little boy, Arturs Lejnieks, who was 3 years old when Germany invaded Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.  A Jewish orphan, he was forced to flee into the woods and roam the land in the care of strangers for nearly 4 years until Germany surrendered. About half of that time, he was in Nazi captivity.  By the grace of God, he survived.  Possibly the youngest survivor of the Holocaust in Latvia, he was the only child to survive his prison camp.  And he is my husband.

Brief Political History of Latvia

German Teutonic Knights conquered Latvia in the late thirteenth century. For the next five hundred years, she existed under foreign domination by Poland and Sweden.

In 1795 Peter the Great of Russia subjugated Latvia and much of what became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Only after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 did the three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia regain their freedom and joyously declare their first independence in more than six hundred years.

On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union entered into a non-aggression pact with Germany in an effort to avoid mutual war, but it was in secret codicils to the controversial Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that Stalin and Hitler mapped their division of Poland and the world. Stalin selected the Baltics.

One week later, Germany invaded Poland; by agreement, Russia looked the other way. France and Great Britain allied with Poland and declared war on Germany the next day.

Latvia immediately claimed a position of neutrality. She had enjoyed independence since 1920 and was loath to risk losing it in a political gamble.

In June 1940, after accusing Latvia of joining Estonia in a secret, anti-Soviet military alliance, the USSR invaded Lithuania and Latvia.

Soviet occupying forces established headquarters for their new Communist regime in Riga, Latvia.

Immediately, they rounded up almost twenty thousand prominent citizens and sent them to Siberia.

Soviet brutality focused on the Jewish community, and soon our own people joined in the frenzy. Beatings, rapes and murders occurred daily.

Germany double-crossed Soviet Russia on June 22, 1941, when Hitler's army advanced from Poland into Lithuania.

The Baltic people placed desperate and naïve hopes for rescue from Russian oppression on the arrival of German forces, but instead of bringing liberation, the Germans' initial act of aggression was the execution of Jewish children in Lithuanian orphanages and summer camps.

Arturs Lejnieks was a three-year-old Jewish orphan when Hitler's army advanced into Latvia.

They Came for the Communists

Attributed to Martin Niemoller

"They came for the communists, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a communist;
They came for the socialists, and I did not speak up because I was not a socialist;
They came for the union leaders, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a union leader;
They came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one was left to speak up for me."

Martin Niemoller, 1892-1984

To No Man's Glory: A Child's Journey From Holocaust To Healing

A Personal Memoir of the Power of Faith

How does a three-year-old boy distinguish between a war of the masses and one that is meant for him? "Why do they want to shoot me? I don't even know them."

As German tanks approach, Arturs Lejnieks and his "Auntie" flee into the woods of Latvia, where they endure four terrifying years of hunger, illness and betrayal. Eighteen months in a secluded children's prison lead them to Nazi death pits. Only a miracle can save them.

Sent to America at eleven, he is faced with the struggle to overcome the emotional backlash of those traumatic years.

Initially a story of desperation, To No Man's Glory is ultimately an inspiring message of hope and faith.

The eBook version of our original book in print - with updates and larger graphics: www.tonomansglory.com

Exciting update! Now available on iBooks for download to iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/to-no-mans-glory/id444730460?mt=11

Reviews for To No Man's Glory

"So much has been written about surviving the Holocaust, that it takes a remarkable voice and a remarkable story to present fresh insight into growing up during the Holocaust years. However, Vincent (Arturs Lejnieks) Benson's story has been captured by his wife's words in a haunting, vivid memoir. Together, the Bensons have created a tale that blends memory with recorded history into a novel that is a must read.

"Written with self-honesty and revealing the pain of a child who was never able to be a child, TO NO MAN'S GLORY will not only touch the heart, but also enlighten the mind. The novel demonstrates the strength of human spirit and the will to survive in powerful, vivid language yet does not dwell on the horror to the point that the novel becomes painful to read. A difficult balance, indeed, to find and maintain. This reviewer was profoundly touched by TO NO MAN'S GLORY, and heartily recommends it." Cindy Penn, Senior Editor/Web Wizard

Books on WWII

Audio eBooks - For the busy person with no time to sit and read a book in print...

Band of Brothers
By Stephen E. Ambrose
Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world.
5 hours $15.95 (normally $32.00)
Eyewitness 1930-1939
By Joanna Bourke.
Authentic voices from the past illustrate this unique history of the twentieth century.
4 hours 55 minutes $24.49
Hitler's Scientists - Science, War and the Devil's Pact
By John Cornwell
A gripping, in-depth account of Germany's horrific abuse of science and its consequences.
5 hours $12.99 (normally $19.95)
War: Stories of Life and Death from World War II
Unforgettable memoirs from soldiers, citizens and historians. Includes tales of bravery, courage, sadness and reflection.
6 hours $16.25 (normally $24.95)

Holocaust Books at Amazon

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vbenson

Victoria Benson is a columnist, author and screenwriter, with writing credits in Chicken Soup for the Volunteer Soul and The Best of Novel Advice. Her... more »

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