Miriam’s Way

In September of 1941 German armies marched through eastern Poland into Russia, and a Polish Jew, Miriam Kornitsky, only thirteen years old, was sent by her parents into the dark forests of White Russia to hide from the invaders. This book is not about the events of World War II; Miriam did not know the history that forced her parents to send their child into the forest and isolate her from them and her brothers. This book is about a young girl’s will to survive, and her ability to live with loneliness and the constant threat of death. Miriam’s father taught her that the forest could protect her. Miriam’s Way is based upon true life experiences of Miriam Kenisberg from 1941 through 1946. Few people who escaped to the forests survived until the end of the War. Young Miriam Kornitsky, (the character based upon Miriam Kenisberg) was one of them. After the War, life in Europe was tumultuous and disorienting, all the more so for a seventeen year old refugee without family or friends. Her emotional struggle to adjust in a confusing European society after the War was almost as difficult as her struggle to survive in the forests. Miriam’s survival was not a miracle. Her endurance and the will to live helped, but childhood training was her ultimate survival kit. She used the skills her father taught her and proved she learned the lessons well. Miriam’s Way tells a personal history of World War II and the Holocaust in a way not often shared. The book is about authentic heroes, individual achievement and relationships with nature. It is a moving account of an important story, a wonderful read for teenagers and adults.