No One Awaiting Me
Two Brothers Defy Death
during the Holocaust in Romania

Joil Alpern

Legacies Shared Series, No. 5
ISSN 1498-2358

Published in the US by the Jewish Heritage Project, New York.

About the Book

Here is the riveting account of two orphaned brothers whose unshakeable courage enabled them to survive the still rarely told horrors of the Holocaust in Romania. As Jews expelled from Bukovina and Bessarabia to Transnistria, young Joil and Avrum witnessed the cruel destruction of their own parents and many others. But underlying the author's unflinching account of the unthinkable brutality of the Holocaust is the inspiration and passion Joil and his little brother had to live.

No One Awaiting Me is a story both triumphant and poignant. Readers will never forget the powerful and loving bond which existed between these two brothers. Their fight to endure this nightmare was waged with unmistakable optimism. Joil Alpern's indefatigable will to survive, and to protect his younger brother, enabled the boys to live through the most oppressive existence mankind has ever devised.

Progressively, the memoir becomes a remarkably inspiring and thoughtful experience for any reader who is willing to consider the never-ending conflict between the finest and most constructive drives of humankind, and the murderously destructive capacities of our species.

About the Author

Joil Alpern was born in Bukovina, Romania. He and his family were force-marched to Transnistria in1941. He and his brother were orphaned the following year. After two years in Displaced Persons camps across Europe, Joil came to Canada, where he worked in the garment industry and eventually became a cattle dealer. He lives with his wife Ida in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Alan Adelson and Heather Coleman
  
  
• The Beginning
• Leaving Home, June 1941
• Forced March to Otaci
• Arrival at Stepanki
• Stepanki, Spring 1942
• Summer 1942
• The Orphanage in Mogilev
• Winter 1942-43
• Spring 1943
• The Work Camp at Tulchin
• Destination Unknown
• Return to Stepanki
• Spring 1944
• At Work in the Minefields
• Spring 1946
• Journey to "Freedom"
• Milan, October 1946
• Canada, March 1948
• Epilogue
  
  
• Notes
• Index
  
  

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