Summary of Zvi Wiesenfeld's The Man Across the River

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I wrote a book about my grandfather, who was the kindest, gentlest man I ever met. I traced his life from the Yiddish-speaking Jewish Quarter of Czernowitz to the killing fields of Transnistria and the concentration camps.

#2 Yankel Wiesenfeld-Reiner, a Jewish man living in Czernowitz, Ukraine, was trying to sneak home before morning prayers. He was caught by his friend Zushe, who was against him attending Zionist meetings.

#3 In 1926, a young Romanian man named Nicolae Totu pulled a revolver on a Jewish student named David Falik, killing him. The killer was paraded through town by his friends, adorned with ribbons and the flag of Romania.

#4 Yankel and his friends attended Betar meetings, where they learned about the Zionist dream of returning to their ancestral homeland. They planned their escape from under the fascist jackboot and lived as free Jews in a new, revitalized Israel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822535893

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Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I wrote a book about my grandfather, who was the kindest, gentlest man I ever met. I traced his life from the Yiddish-speaking Jewish Quarter of Czernowitz to the killing fields of Transnistria and the concentration camps.

#2

Yankel Wiesenfeld-Reiner, a Jewish man living in Czernowitz, Ukraine, was trying to sneak home before morning prayers. He was caught by his friend Zushe, who was against him attending Zionist meetings.

#3

In 1926, a young Romanian man named Nicolae Totu pulled a revolver on a Jewish student named David Falik, killing him. The killer was paraded through town by his friends, adorned with ribbons and the flag of Romania.

#4

Yankel and his friends attended Betar meetings, where they learned about the Zionist dream of returning to their ancestral homeland. They planned their escape from under the fascist jackboot and lived as free Jews in a new, revitalized Israel.

#5

When prayers were finished, Yankel and his family headed to the Judenplatz, the Jewish market at the intersection of Judengasse and Springbrunnengasse. They bought some stale rolls for breakfast. Yankel’s parents were gentle people known for their