JEWS IN THE GARDEN

Part memoir, part detective story, part family history, Jews in the Garden is the lively, heartfelt story of Sam and Judy's quest for answers in Poland.

In 2018 Poland's right-wing government passed a law mandating that any history of Polish involvement with the Nazis be obscured. It didn't take long (2021) for two scholars to be brought to trial for documenting the death of Jews at the hands of Poles in a small portion of a 1,200-page scholarly work. It seems Poland is more determined than ever to keep its hidden history hidden. Free speech defenders worldwide were outraged.

But investigative journalist Judy Rakowsky and her elderly cousin Sam, a Holocaust survivor, are no strangers to this reluctance to unlock history in Poland. Over the course of two decades, the pair traveled back to Sam's hometown in Poland again and again in search of clues to what became of their relatives who were lost during the Holocaust. Sam was greeted as the "prince of the city" at first, hugs, reunions, smiles. But as soon as Sam and Judy began to ask questions about what happened to family members who were hidden away from the Nazis by neighbors, doors were shut, lips were locked.

Part memoir, part detective story, part family history, Jews in the Garden is the lively, heartfelt story of Sam and Judy's quest for answers. As Judy trains her investigative eyes and ears toward the task, she sees a cover up. And so, this unlikely pair knocks on doors, petitions court documents, gets run off properties, seeks clandestine meetings, and ultimately finds Poles who do want to remember that their relatives hid Jews in an effort to save them. They were the Jews in the garden next door. And Judy and Sam want to tell their story once and for all.

To have a living Holocaust survivor (Sam is 97, living in Florida) guide us back through this hidden history is a remarkable asset when other books tend to rely on documents, photographs, and other archival material. Further, Jews in the Garden flies in the face of the 2018 law that seeks to suppress this very history. This is an important contribution and should garner significant media attention.

Judy Rakowsky is an award-winning reporter and editor for outlets including The Boston Globe, People Magazine, The Providence Journal, The Columbus Citizen-Journal, and The Plain Dealer. She has covered the major stories of our time, from organized crime and bank fraud litigation in Rhode Island in the 1980s to terrorism and security issues after 9/11 to online bullying in the 2000s. She is currently the Managing Director for Crisis and Strategic Communications at Liberty Square Group.