Star Crossed

By Ted Mieszczanski

This story begins soon after, "The War to End All Wars," has ended. It takes place in the Jewish quarter of the city of Vilna, or Vilnius as it is known of in today's Lithuania. For several centuries Vilna has also been widely renown as, "the Jerusalem of Europe." It is here that we find Leib, the barely literate thirteen-year old son of a horse drawn delivery wagoner. Here also is Raizle, the eight-year old grand-daughter of a beloved rebbe. Surrounded entirely by Torah and Jewish culture, Raizle barely notices the people in Leib's way of life. They are no more substantial to her than vague shadows shifting quietly along in her life. But Leib has more than just noticed Raizle. As they've both become older Raizle has become his unobtainable butterfly to be wondered about only in secret dreams. However the world they know is about to change in more extreme ways, and not for the better. Leib and Raizle, along with their families and neighbors are about to be swept away into the Holocaust's deadly maelstrom. Each of them will experience the utmost suffering, loss and degradation on their terrible journeys. Leib ultimately discovers that he lusts after only one thing. He seeks bloody vengeance, as a member of Abba Kovner's deadly Nekamah partisans. This continues on while Raizle struggles desperately to find a way to simply survive the loss of both her family and betrothed in the distant Ukraine. When Raizle and Leib eventually find their separate ways back to a decimated Vilna they soon discover that as surviving Jews their challenges have only begun. In the time that follows each one will be forced to decide what their life's direction is to be. Will it be defined by revenge or love? Now the people who have been forged in the crucible of pain and suffering must make decisions that will not only impact their own lives, but the survival of the innocent, as well as the guilty people surrounding them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1546476814
• ISBN13: 9781546476818
• Release Date: May 2017
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"