Strangers in a Stranger Land

How One Country's Jews Fought an Unwinnable War alongside Nazi Troops… and Survived

John B. Simon

• Publisher: Hamilton Books
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780761871507
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Holocaust History
• Index: Literature

What did it feel like to be an openly Jewish soldier fighting alongside German troops in WWII? Could a Jewish nurse work safely in a field hospital operating theater under the supervision of German army doctors? Several hundred members of Finland's tiny Jewish community found themselves in absurd situations like this, yet not a single one was harmed by the Germans or deported to concentration or extermination camps. In fact, Finland was the only European country fighting on either side in WWII that lost not a single Jewish citizen to the Nazi's "Final Solution."

Strangers in a Stranger Land explores the unique dilemma of Finland's Jews in the form of a meticulously researched novel. Where did these immigrant Jews—the last in Europe to achieve citizenship status—come from? What was life like from their arrival in Finland in the early nineteenth century to the time when their grandchildren perversely found themselves on "the wrong side" of WWII? And how could young lovers plan for the future when not only their enemies but also their country's allies threatened their very existence?

Seven years researching Finland's National Archives plus numerous in-depth interviews with surviving Finnish Jewish war veterans provide the background for a narrative exploration of love, friendship, and commitment but also uncertainty and terror under circumstances that were unique in the annals of "The Good War." The novel's protagonists—Benjamin, David and Rachel—adopt varying survival strategies as they struggle with involvement in a brutal conflict and questions posed by their dual loyalty as Finnish citizens and Zionists committed to the creation of a Jewish homeland. Tensions mount as the three young adults painfully work through a relationship love triangle and try to fulfill their commitments as both Jews and Finns while their country desperately seeks to extricate itself from an unwinnable war.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1 Iron Cross for a Jew?
• Chapter 2 Benjamin Reminisces about his Childhood
• Chapter 3 Vidablick
• Chapter 4 Peisach Loses Everything
• Chapter 5 Benjamin Remembers His Grandfather
• Chapter 6 Finland Becomes Part of the Russian Empire
• Chapter 7 Annus Mirabilis
• Chapter 8 Peisach Gets a Life
• Chapter 9 Correspondence after Camp
• Chapter 10 Benjamin Recalls His Family’s Return to Viipuri
• Chapter 11 Mendel’s Childhood
• Chapter 12 A Little Bird
• Chapter 13 Upheaval
• Chapter 14 Civil War
• Chapter 15 Finland Lurches Right
• Chapter 16 Benjamin Thinks Back on Hard Times
• Chapter 17 Mendel Becomes a Citizen
• Chapter 18 Finland Recovers
• Chapter 19 Benjamin Reflects on the Rise of Zionism
• Chapter 20 Loyalty Parallax
• Chapter 21 Rachel Makes a Decision
• Chapter 22 David and the Refugee Situation
• Chapter 23 Benjamin Becomes the Man of the House
• Chapter 24 Benjamin Recalls His Adolescent Years
• Chapter 25 Europe in Turmoil
• Chapter 26 Lotta Training and Civil Guard Youth Camp
• Chapter 27 A Night on the Town
• Chapter 28 The Magical Summer of ’39
• Chapter 29 Benjamin Recalls the Start of the Winter War
• Chapter 30 The Winter War Begins
• Chapter 31 Finland’s Survival at Risk
• Chapter 32 Benjamin Remembers the Winter War
• Chapter 33 Finland is Forced to Accept a Bitter Peace
• Chapter 34 Finland’s Fragile Truce
• Chapter 35 Benjamin Reflects on His Altered Status
• Chapter 36 Hitler Changes His Mind
• Chapter 37 Pressure Mounts
• Chapter 38 A Night at the Theater
• Chapter 39 Afraid of Being Eaten by the Bear, the Lamb Lies Down with the Wolf
• Chapter 40 Miracles Sometimes Happen
• Chapter 41 Benjamin on Heroism and Fear
• Chapter 42 Benjamin Goes to War
• Chapter 43 Rachel Crosses the Border
• Chapter 44 David’s Battlefront Diary
• Chapter 45 Finland Walks a Tightrope
• Chapter 46 Tent Synagogue on the German Front
• Chapter 47 “Those Eight”
• Chapter 48 Benjamin’s Recollections of the Trench War
• Chapter 49 Rachel Meets the Steinbocks
• Chapter 50 The Worm Turns
• Chapter 51 The Beginning of the End
• Chapter 52 Waiting
• Chapter 53 Against Overwhelming Odds
• Chapter 54 All Hell Breaks Loose
• Chapter 55 What Price Peace?
• Chapter 56 And Then?
• Chapter 57 Aftermath
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author