This book
reveals the struggle of these youngsters to
maintain their Judaism against impossible odds.
Many failed. But some succeeded in reclaiming
their heritage and reconnecting the chain of
Jewish tradition. Today, thousands of Jews are
descendants of those stalwart Cantonists.
Here, for the first time, are dozens of
previously untold accounts gleaned from the
recently revealed records of that tragic era. They
include true stories of parents who had their
sons' maimed to avoid the draft, of families
betrayed by people they trusted, and of sons lost
to their
families and their communities, forever.
In a short appendix at the end of the
book, the author has included a number of
important documents of that tragic period,
including "The Imperial Command for Baptism,"
"Penalties for the Family and Community of a
Self-Mutilator," and "The Inductee's Oath."
Larry Domnitch
has degrees in both political science and Jewish
history. He writes extensively for newspapers and
journals throughout the United States and Israel,
especially about this unique period of history.
 The Cantonist by
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg "The
Cantonist" opens a door into tragic and
very significant era in Jewish history
which most people know little about.
I searched thought various libraries for
original sources in Russian, Yiddish and
Hebrew, about the Cantonist. After
seeing these remarkable accounts, I
decided that I had to make them accessible
to every reader interested in the history
of the Jews. |
