Ever since the horrors of the Holocaust, when 6 million Jews were murdered by Adolph Hitler's Nazi regime, many books have been written on the inhumane acts, but one Five Towns couple has written a book from a different perspective.

Reha and Al Sokolow's book, Defying the Tide: An account of Authentic Compassion During the Holocaust, published last September by Devora Publishing ISBN: 1-930143-71-0, Cloth $21.95, relates the true story of a German-Christian woman who put her life on the line to save Mrs. Sokolow's family.

The Sokolows, who both teach at Be'er Hagolah Institute in Brooklyn and live in Cedarhurst, said they wanted to write this book to educate people about what occurred.

[Reha's Mother] always felt it was a story that should be told," said Al Sokolow. "We decided she was right, so we hired someone to interview her, and from her notes and from her putting into order a series of events, Reha wrote the book."

The book, which took three years to finish, has the perspective of both a family trying to escape the Nazis and a woman saving a family from the Holocaust.

"When we started to write the book, we felt that it would be a wonderful thing seeing it from two pairs of eyes, my mother-in-law, a Jewish fugitive from the Holocaust and the events that happened to her… and then seeing them from the point of view of Maria," Mr. Sokolow said, referring to the woman who helped the family. "It's also unique to have the point of view of a German citizen not persecuted because of her religion, but what they lived through in the last few years of the war and what happened to them when the Russians came in."

Mrs. Sokolow, who in the past served as acting and associate director of the Department of Education of the Jewish National Fund, made a great effort to meet with the woman who saved her parents. "I knew that Maria played a pivotal role in saving us, but I never really knew Maria as a person so I decided when my mother and I went to Berlin that I would interview her," Mrs. Sokolow said. "It was really gut-wrenching to see what this woman did, the incredible kindness and courage that she displayed."

The Sokolows hope that the story will help bring to life some of the hardships that European Jews faced during World War II. "It personalizes an aspect of the Holocaust that people might not even know about," said Mrs. Sokolow. "My mother had a tremendously strong desire to live even during the worst of times."

As a sign that the story was meant to be told, the Sokolows' son, Mark, raced down 38 flights of stairs in the World Trade Center's south tower during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and survived.

He then survived another terrorism attack when a female suicide bomber let loose at a store in Israel that he and two of his daughters had just exited. Just before the blast, an Israeli journalist and a cousin of the family, Barbara Sofer, was on her way to meet Mark and his family to give them a manuscript to take back to Reha and Al for the book, but Sofer never got to him as a result of the bombing, which left Mark and his daughters hospitalized. Several weeks later, however, Sofer was able to give the manuscript to Mark just before he and his two daughters returned to the US.

"It's a sign that the book was meant to be written," said Mrs. Sokolow.

The book falls under the New York State Textbook Law, which means that any school in the state can order it at a fraction of the price and the state will pick up the rest of the cost. "It's a book for adults, but we had junior high and high school students in mind when we prepared the book," said Mrs. Sokolow. "It's a simple, straightforward read. It's an easy read."

Since the book came out in September, the Sokolows have spoken at Queensborough College and to groups in Brooklyn. "We find it very, very important to speak, particularly to students and young people," Mrs. Sokolow said.

The couple plans to speak about the book at Long Beach Public Library on March 8, Borders Book Store in Westbury on March 18, Judaica Plus Bookstore in Cedarhurst on March 24, Peninsula Public Library in Lawrence on April 19 and Barnes and Noble in Carle Place on April 21.

Mrs. Sokolow's birth certificate and story are currently on display as part of the "Life in the Shadows" exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. "There are very strong lessons to be learned in this, with one of them being if you see injustice around you, you have to respond to it or that injustice will be at your doorstop," she said. I'm hoping that people will be inspired that when faced with adversity, people can withstand it, and that you have to do whatever it takes. It's a lesson in faith and decency."

Andrew Coen
Nassau Herald
February 26, 2004