No Time to Mourn [Paperback]

Leon Kahn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

Leon Kahn, a Polish Jew and Canadian philanthropist, gives us a different kind of Holocaust memoir. He shares the little known story of the family groups of Jews and partisan fighters, composed of Poles and Russians from Siberia, who roamed the forests outside the towns in search of food and weapons. As a partisan fighter, Kahn was given professional guerilla training and soon became an expert in blowing up German trains. The story of the partisan struggles is as engrossing as it is terrible, for Kahn describes in detail those uncertain times when one never knew who was friend, and who was enemy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Leon Kahn's story is poignant and its message eloquent." -- Elie Wiesel

About the Author

Leon Kahn was born Leon Kaganowicz in 1925 in Eisiskes, Poland, near present-day Vilnius, Lithuania. During the war he fought in Eastern Europe with partisans against the Nazis. In 1948, lone survivor of his family, he immigrated to Vancouver, where he made a living in various small business enterprises until he became a successful real estate developer, first with Block Brothers and then with his own company. He was noted for his humility, his contributions to the Jewish community and his work as an anonymous philanthropist. He died in 2003, leaving behind his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Ronsdale Press (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553800117
• ISBN-13: 978-1553800118
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,105,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very moving, September 25, 2007

By 

T. Kunikov (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Time to Mourn (Paperback)

In truth this is quite an obscure topic. Partisans in general do not get the recognition they deserve and even less so do Jewish partisans, who as it will become apparent for those reading this book, did not only have to fight against the Germans but also other partisan and 'bandit' groups around them. In this instance it was the Polish AK that gave the author such trouble and would eventually kill quite a few of his friends and family members. Aside from the Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and others also participated in various ways in working against Jews and helping the Germans in tracking them down.

The author was the only one of his immediate family to escape the Holocaust, his accounts are moving and more than once did I find myself having to reread a paragraph or two to realize that what I'm reading is actually written there. Details of life under German occupation and in a German ghetto, running away from a ghetto and stumbling into the forests in seek of rumored Partisans. Finding them and other groups of entire families as they try to make the best of the situation as they struggle to survive in the forests and wilderness of Eastern Europe while the Germans and their collaborators keep an ever watchful eye out for them. Joining a Partisan group and giving battle to the Germans and those who are helping them by betraying their former friends and neighbors, all of this is recounted with the utmost feeling and, in my opinion, honesty.

What I found extremely interesting were the activities of the author after he had left the Partisans and joined the police force in some local towns around where he had operated as a Partisan. How they hunted down collaborators, what they did with them, what they could and couldn't due according to Soviet rules and regulations, how the NKVD acted toward them, etc. All of this was quite interesting, not surprising on the other hand was the fact that after the war had come to a close Jews were still dying in Poland.

An emotional read to say the least. Highly recommended, the author lead an amazing life and this tragic period of history understandably haunted him for the majority of it. I'm glad he put these words on paper and was strong enough to share his stories and experiences with his children and the world.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Time to Mourn, September 8, 2005

By 

John A. Koetsier (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Time to Mourn (Paperback)

This is an extremely worthwhile personal history of surving the holocaust, fighting back against both the German invaders and the local thugs (both of whom targeted Jews for abuse, torture, and death).

[...].

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "No TIme To Mourn: The True Story of a Jewish Partisan Fighter, November 1, 2009

By 

Kathleen L. Grab "JeffinMNUSA" (Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Time to Mourn (Paperback)

I just took this day to finish "No Time to Mourn The True Story of a Jewish Partisan Fighter" by Leon Kahn; No Time To Mourn: The True Story of a Jewish Partisan Fighter .: Knowledge Base
And what a wondrous read about the most horrendous-and poorly understood-war behind the Axis lines in Eastern Europe. The book is a slender piece of work but quite well written. Some interesting items about the Red Partisans; Kahn reiterates the observation that the Red Partisans became a much more efficient force after 1942 with the massive influx of air dropped arms, expertise and guidance from Moscow. Kahn worked in a railroad demolitions unit which were small and equipped with the latest in railroad mining technology. Kahn also recruited railroad employees who planted mines on railcars as well as poisoning Wehrmacht foodtuffs. Kahn's demolition unit was also were given some English railroad mines that must have come from lend/lease. ALSO dropped by airplane into the Partisan camp were perfect counterfeits of Reichmarks which the Partisans put to good use. The parent unit was of mixed nationalities and there didn't seem to be many ethnic tensions in the camp. The author has nothing good to say about the Nationalist guerrillas-some of whom after all, killed his father and sister before his eyes. The Frontline Red Army Soldiers LOVED the Red Partisans and gave them the most rousing of welcomes when they linked up. The Establishment of Red rule in this part of the world was quite a bloody process; and the author had first hand knowledge of mass executions of Armij Krajowa, collaborator and it seems Lithuanian fighters. The author seemed bothered that the Red Army shot an entire contingent of Ukrainian prisoners in Wehrmact uniforms-but not bothered much by the shootings of Nationalist Poles, Lithuanians and especially not the executions of Axis collaborators-many of which he carried out himself.
In all a great read and certainly worthy of a movie!
JeffinMNUSA
PS. Some related films; [...]
PSS. Kahn relates the story of a group of 40 insurgent doctors and other medical types who were at one time forced to fight. He claims that they wiped out an enemy battalion-something I can almost believe from the medicals I have known (Who are the toughest and smartest players in the world? A. American DELTA soldiers. B. Russian SPETZNAZ C. Emergency Room medical teams...the answer is "C").
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