Alfred Feldman

Alfred Feldman (b. 1923) had just turned 16 when the war began in 1939. During the next six formative years he and his family moved "one step ahead" of the fascists from their home in Germany, to Belgium, northern France, southern France, the French Alps and finally the Italian Alps. Despite numerous close calls he was never taken captive and even managed to fight alongside the resistance. He sounds like a commando but Feldman was rather mild mannered, charming and somewhat innocent Jewish son who wanted to be a science inventor. He survived by the good will of gentiles who helped him every step of the way, his family, good luck, a natural sense of how to keep out of danger and staying on the run even when all seemed hopeless. It's a good history lesson not only of the events of the war, but witness to the kind of "grey" sliding scale nature of French and Italian Collaboration vs Resistance with the Nazis.

This is an extraordinary story that is gripping like a novel as it increases in tempo and danger to the very last days of the war high in the Alps. Feldman's writing is often understated and to the point, certain sentence are devastating in their brevity and honesty. When Feldman's memory is unsure, even on a minor point, he will say so, giving it a great deal of veracity. Ultimately it is a hopeful book and not too dark. One Step Head was published in 2001 by Southern Illinois University Press and seems to be fairly obscure. However the book, and Feldman himself, were used by Mary Doria Russell as a source for her popular novel A Thread of Grace (2005) which was nominated for a Pulitzer - her story is thus much more widely known; but Feldman's book is the original, real - and just a really good book. Recommended highly.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd… (mais)