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His first encounter with the Nazi war machine took place in 1940. Yakov Bulka was fleeing west in a column of refugees when they were spotted and attacked by the German air force. He survived the aerial bombing but was later caught and arrested by the Gestapo. He spent years in concentration and labor camps. He survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. He survived the Death March. In May 1945, while the Nazis where rushing to eradicate all evidence, he was forced onto the last train out of camp and...
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His first encounter with the Nazi war machine took place in 1940. Yakov Bulka was fleeing west in a column of refugees when they were spotted and attacked by the German air force. He survived the aerial bombing but was later caught and arrested by the Gestapo. He spent years in concentration and labor camps. He survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. He survived the Death March. In May 1945, while the Nazis where rushing to eradicate all evidence, he was forced onto the last train out of camp and headed to a certain death in an unknown location. The train was intercepted and bombed by the Allied air force. He survived that, too. At 24 years of age, weighing only 64 lbs (29 Kg) he staggered off the train to face a new world in total chaos. This is his story, intertwined with that underlying theme of the strength of the human spirit.