Once the great conflagration of the holocaust burst into full flame, raging through hundreds of Jewish communities all across Europe, only a pitiful few managed to escape to safety. Borne aloft by the conflagration's hot gusts, blown and buffeted from country to country, fleeing from one haven to the next, always just one step ahead of the blaze, guided by the unseen hand of divine providence, they were like errant seeds torn from the forest, precariously fluttering above the tips of the flames. Wings above the Flames tells the stories of seven of these people, a minority among the minority, who survived, ordinary people who were sensitive to spiritual issues beyond the physical concerns of the persecuted. It is a collection of true stories spanning a geographic range from France in the West to Siberia in the East, stories that took place in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Russia, stories of wandering refugees and ghetto dwellers, persecuted civilians and labor camp inmates. The stories are augmented by a thorough historical essay that expertly combines the facts and figures of the holocaust with a critical examination from a thoroughly Jewish perspective. It begins with the Enlightenment in 1770 and ends with the repercussions of the holocaust on present day society. With the publication of "Wings Above the Flames", Rachel Pomerantz, the author of the popular novel "Wildflower", turns her considerable literary talents to non-fiction in a presentation of outstanding depth and profundity.
by Rachel Pomerantz