Worlds Apart : The Journeys of My Jewish Family in Twentieth-Century Europe

by Nadia Ragozhina

Kindle Edition

Published November 20, 2020

Reviews

[Lahnabii · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two Jewish boys in Warsaw, one who heads to Switzerland and becomes a successful watch factory owner, the other who ends up exiled in Moscow and under arrest. This is the story of Marcus and Adolphe. A century of history and missing family members which the author, a journalist for the BBC, has painstakingly researched after finding long lost family online some years back. I recently watched a short interactive trailer tracing Jews who fled Europe for Australia; this generation is sadly dying out, and Nadias memoir does an incredible service in finding them and piecing together people whose lives were torn apart by fascism, the Russian revolution, and more. She places a specific highlight on the generations of women who descended from those two men, one of whom is her grandmother, still living.

[Christine Silbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nadia's family story is part of my family story of the Silbert's as we are related through Marcus' wife Zelda Silbert (known as Nina). Our family moved to Australia before the pogroms, the Russian Revolution and World Wars 1 and 2, fortunately.

Worlds Apart is so well told. It is very personal and engaging, bringing the people and their stories to real life. Through the eyes of Nadia's living relatives, the life of those times is real to me, especially the delays in decision -making because it was hard to believe something so evil could happen in your familiar neighbourhood and city. The blows that fate dealt.

It is a lesson for everyone in the world.

[Britt Aune · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worlds apart is a true story about two brothers and their families in four generations. It is very well written, I really felt I was together with the family members in their stories. The author describes the persons an the placees vivedly. The book contents strong stories, so I had to read just one chapter at a time. I loved the book.

[Oliver Berlau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tale both touching and gripping - how two brothers end up in very different circumstances, drawn apart by fate and the upheavals of the twentieth century. An important story that needed to be told.

[Ira Go · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating story, hard to put down, what a fantastic read!

[Rebecca Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me on a real life journey through history from the perspective of every day people. The sliding door moments of one decision that changes the course of one families life is intriguing. The story is a personal one but I went along the ride through history that I hadn't really read about before; and as a consequence want to find out more about.