Journey Out of Darkness: The Real Story of American Heroes in Hitler's POW Camps--An Oral History

by Hal LaCroix, Jorg Meyer

Overview

Jourbaney Out of Darkness is a poignant collection of portraits, in words and photographs, of 19 former prisoners of war who bravely endured captivity in Nazi Germany in World War II. Through these men, one can learn essential truths about the POW experience during that war—truths that counter many popular myths and misconceptions. The men featured here gather every week in offices of the Veterans Administration in Boston and Brockton, Mass. to talk about their experiences and find comfort in each other. In their eighties and nineties, they are unique individuals with unique wartime experiences, but also representative of the more than 120,000 American POWs held in Nazi Germany. They are men who fought a double war, in combat and then as POWs. Using both oral histories and photographs to tell their stories, LaCroix and Meyer humanize a terrifying aspect of war, redefining how we think about these men as POWs, survivors, patriots, and members of the Greatest Generation.

Jourbaney Out of Darkness is a poignant collection of portraits, in words and photographs, of 19 former prisoners of war who bravely endured captivity in Nazi Germany during World War II. Through these men, one can learn essential truths about the POW experience during that war—truths that counter many popular myths and misconceptions.
The 19 men featured here gather every week in offices of the Veterans Administration in Boston and Brockton, Mass., to talk about their experiences and find comfort in each other. In their eighties and nineties, they are unique individuals with unique wartime experiences, but also representative of the more than 120,000 American POWs held in Nazi Germany. They are men who fought a double war, in combat and then as POWs. Together, their photos and their stories go beyond typical first-person accounts.

Until the men in this book began meeting in VA support groups, few had spoken of their POW experiences. Some were told by the military not to talk; others were coerced by military intelligence into signing non-disclosure papers called security certificates. With little exception, they received no recognition for enduring as POWs, even as they struggled with traumatic memories and shame for having been held captive, for losing power over their fate, and for surviving combat when friends died. These portraits also illuminate another little-known story: the plight of Jewish-American POWs. Two of the men featured in the book were Jews who concealed their religious identities from the SS.
LaCroix and Meyer have crafted a powerful exploration of the struggles of these brave veterans. Using both oral histories and photographs, Jourbaney Out of Darkness humanizes a terrifying aspect of war, redefining how we think about these men as POWs, survivors, patriots, and members of the Greatest Generation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275997441
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/30/2007
Series:	Praeger Security International
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	792,978
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Hal LaCroix edits a science magazine, Apex, and various publications for The CBR Institute for Biomedical Research at Harvard Medical School. Previously, LaCroix wrote for the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Nature Conservancy.

Jorg Meyer has photographed for clients including Citizen's Bank, TJ Maxx, the Whitehead Institute, Northeastern University, Boston Neighborhood Health Plan, The CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, New York University, Emerson College, Boston Magazine, and Italian Vogue Bambini.

Table of Contents

Introduction     1
The Pull of the Past     7
I Am Not a Killer: Marcel Boisvert's Story     7
Perspective: Joe Ciccarello's Story     15
The Two Eisenhowers: Joe Canavan's Story     22
Acceptance and Adaptation     29
Perpetual Motion: Cosmo Fabrizio's Story     29
In the Baron's Bowling Alley: John Lupone's Story     35
Count Your Blessings: Roger Hughes's Story     42
Kindness Endures, Love Redeems     53
Clinkers: Bob Cournoyer's Story     53
Near and Far: Don Simpson's Story     61
Unknown Consequences: Bob Noble's Story     69
The Good German: Louis Tarantino's Story     75
You Are Not Forgotten: American POWs and the Search for Healing     85
Our Bound Histories: The Photographer's Quest     93
The Art of Survival: Gabe Paiva's Story     99
Tests of Faith: Where Is God?     113
Juden: Sam Palter's Story     113
Holy Ghost Soup: Anthony Dears's Story     120
Flier: Emanuel Rempelakis's Story     128
Dark Passages     137
Manna from Heaven: Bernard Travers's Story     137
Staring at the Sky: Vit Krushas's Story     143
TheWise Guy: Frank Molinari's Story     152
What Is a Hero?     161
Crossing Over: Chesley Russell's Story     161
We Were Americans: Hyman Fine's Story     168
Epilogue     177
Bibliography     181
Index     183

Editorial Reviews

Jourbanalist La Croix and photographer Meyer provide the contexts but let the 19 soldiers, who now make weekly visits to a Veterans' Administration support group, talk for themselves about how it was in German prisoner-of-war camps. Their unique double experience of war, in combat and in the camps, their efforts to survive, the coincidences that saved them, the friends they lost, and their homecomings are compelling reading, particularly as some served as naturalized US citizens and two were Jewish.” —American Libraries

From the Publisher