Surviving in Silence: A Deaf Boy in the Holocaust, The Harry I. Dunai Story

by Eleanor C. Dunai, Harry I. Dunai, John S. Schuchman (Foreword)

Izrael Zachariah Deutsch was born on March 15, 1934, in Komjata, Czechoslovakia. The second youngest child, Izrael lived a bucolic existence with nine brothers and sisters on a farm, differing from them only in that he was deaf. When he was six, his mother took him to Budapest, Hungary, and enrolled him in a Jewish school for deaf children, where he thrived. Soon, however, the Nazi regime in Germany and the Arrow Cross fascists in Hungary destroyed Izrael's world forever. Izrael realized that by being both Jewish and deaf, he faced a double threat of being exported to the gas chambers in Poland. But at every lethal junction, he found a way to survive, first by buying and reselling pastries for extra money that later saved his life in the Budapest ghetto. Still, Izrael was close to death from starvation when he was liberated by Russian soldiers on January 18, 1945. Izrael survived the war only to learn that his parents and two brothers had been murdered by the Nazis. The rest of his brothers and sisters scattered to distant parts of the world. Forced to remain in Budapest, Izrael finished school and became an accomplished machinist. He avoided any part in the Hungarian uprising in 1956 so that he could secure a visa to leave for Sweden. From Sweden he traveled throughout Europe and Israel, using an amazing network of Holocaust survivors, relatives, and deaf friends to ease his journey. He finally settled in Los Angeles, where he married a deaf Jewish woman he had met years before. Along the way, he changed his name from Izrael Deutsch to Harry Dunai.

Genres: History

192 pages, Hardcover

First published July 26, 2002

Reviews

[Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story line- this book goes into detail regarding one Deaf man's encounters throughout the Holocuast, his survival and his later attempts to become successful in life. The writing style was very simple and was very blunt and at times left you asking questions about certain circumstances that remained unanswered.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surviving in Silence was definitely a very interesting book. It showed the Holocaust through the eyes of a deaf, Jewish boy. Many stories have been written about the Holocaust and its horrific effects on Jewish people, but Harry I. Dunai’s story was very different. Harry survived the Holocaust with the additional target on his back of being deaf. He used his intelligence to survive in a ghetto but he lost part of his family along the way. This book is worth a read to view a new side of deaf culture. Harry suffered in a time of horrible tragedy with the added detriment of being alone. His story showed the prejudice deaf people have suffered through in the past. When people think about the Holocaust, they typically think about Jewish people, but Harry’s being deaf was just as effective in his fate as his religion. This book helps to gain a greater understanding of the deaf community’s past.

[Stacey]

I am currently reading this book... a student of mine went to Washington DC for Judo competition. While he was there he visited the Holocaust museum. He learned about the Deaf people in that specific section in the museum. He was inspired to buy this book. School started and we have DEAR time in homeroom and after lunch.. D- drop, E-everything, A-and, R-read. He kindly explained his experience visiting Washington DC and let me borrow this book to read for our DEAR time.

The boy in the book started this book by working with his son. He didnt finish it. He died and his son finished the book and had it published. He did the best he could without his father's present.

Very heavy reading... must be up for it.