In The Lion’s Den
One of the most difficult things about Holocaust literature is that the experiences are so brutal as to convey a sense of disbelief. Oswald Rufeisen was a Jewish boy who was able to pass as a Christian and to survive through a combination of luck and smarts. Because he could speak fluent German, he ended up working as an interpreter for the German police and the Belorussian collaborators in 1942 in the city of Mir.
He used his position to help notify nearby villages that they were targeted for liquidation. When he helped orchestrate the escape of over 300 people from the Mir ghetto, his cover was blown. He managed to escape and ended up hiding in the monastery that was right next to the police station. He was then forced to flee into the forests where he was almost executed by the partisans, until people he saved came forward to vouch for him.
By this time he had converted to Christianity. After the war, he became a monk, moved to Haifa and met with the pope. Really interesting discussions on how his conversion was received by others in his family and on his thoughts regarding the evolution of Christianity and its alignment with the Roman Empire.
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