The Last Watch

Seven-year-old Haimek was living in Warsaw in 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland. The story tells of Haimek’s family during the war. They manage to escape across the Russian border, but Haimek’s father develops tuberculosis. Then they are sent to a work camp in Siberia. When the USSR joins the war, the camp’s inmates are released and the family make their way to Uzbekistan.

In Uzbekistan, Haimek and his father seek a hospital to treat the tuberculosis. En route, Haimek wakes up and finds that his father has died. It is now up to him to tell his mother. At the end of the war, Haimek finds himself in an orphanage. While many children are reunited with their families, Haimek begins his journey to pre-state Israel.

The power of the novel is rooted in the poignant portrait of the family – encouraging each other and carrying the joint burden.