December 2023
Out of the Shadows: Survival in Nazi-Occupied France and Making a Life in America, 2nd Edition
by Michel Jeruchim
Out of the Shadows: Survival in Nazi-Occupied France and Making a Life in America, 2nd Edition
by Michel Jeruchim
ISBN: 9798986618869
In this newly revised second edition, author Michel Jeruchim expands and enhances his story with additional never-before-seen primary source research about the Nazi occupation of France.
In 1940, when Michel Jeruchim was three, Nazi Germany invaded France. Two years later, a roundup of Jews living in the Paris metropolitan area was staged, to deport them to concentration camps. The Jeruchim family, Michel's parents, and his brother and sister, avoided arrest, but could no longer remain at home. Arrangements were made for Michel to hide in Normandy with a French Catholic family. His parents
attempted to cross into the unoccupied zone of France, were caught, and sent to Auschwitz where they were murdered. Michel formed a loving bond with his protective family, and after the war, with no word from his parents, they sought to adopt him. But an uncle who survived came to "reclaim" him and his siblings. Michel was placed in an orphanage. Later, in 1949, Michel and his siblings immigrated to the United States where Michel became an aerospace engineer and was among those at the forefront of the communication age. But he never fully came to terms with the loss he suffered early in life. Years later, his wife, Joan, a psychologist, urged him to attend the first gathering of Jewish children who had been hidden in WWII. There, Michel found kindred spirits, who like him kept their traumatic childhoods inside. His journey to healing and bearing witness, unfolds in his compelling memoir.
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About the Author
After surviving the Nazi invasion of France as a Hidden Child and emigrating to the United States in 1949, Michel Jeruchim embraced American life and put his past behind him. He quickly became fluent in English and eventually earned a master’s degree and a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. Michel, a scientist, was among those at the onset of the communication age, publishing numerous scholarly works. Later in life, Michel finally began to come to terms with the loss he had suffered early in his life, attending his first gathering of Hidden Children. This helped him begin his process of recovery and led him to write his memoir, as well as to begin speaking out against antisemitism and sharing his family’s story to help educate others about Jewish history and the Holocaust.
