Italian Renaissance: Choosing Life in Canada


By Robert Eli Rubenstein
November 2010
Urim Publications
Distributed by Coronet Books
ISBN: 9789655240443
178 pages, Illustrated
$24.95 Hardcover


Recent decades have seen an outpouring of literature about the tragic destruction of European Jewry during the Second World War. Yet virtually nothing has been published about the astounding process of healing and recovery undergone by many survivors of the Holocaust, who had to overcome unspeakable personal trauma to build successful new lives. The present book, written with sensitivity and eloquence by the loving son of two such people, breaks important new ground in describing and shedding light on this remarkable phenomenon.

The story follows Bela and Judit Rubinstein as they return from the camps at the end of the War, their families having been murdered by the Nazis. Seeing no future in the land of their birth, they flee Hungary and end up trapped in a refugee camp in northern Italy, because homeless Jews are welcome nowhere in the world. Finally, an unforeseen opportunity arises to immigrate to Canada. The Rubinsteins establish a new home, raise a family, and integrate into the Toronto community. Achieving unimagined material success, they remain warm, decent, unassuming people. Along the way, they reclaim their ravaged ancestral faith, and this imbues their lives with meaning and purpose.

The book's universal message of hope is sure to inspire a broad range of readers.

 

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