For Hannah They Prayed

The Trilogy sets out to explore the many sides of conflict and asks you to put yourself in the shoes of the characters, to make the choices they had to make. The story follows the life and trials of Hannah Blechman a Jewish girl of sixteen living in the rural countryside of Poland. She considers herself to be Polish above that of her religion and faith. The first book begins at the start of the occupation of Poland. Eventually the fight for survival takes her to Warsaw. Here she joins a resistance group and learns to smuggle the goods that will keep her and her fellow comrades alive, as well as provide arms for the right to fight for freedom and the choice taken to die on their own terms. Hannah and her friends build the resistance and resilience needed to undertake the supreme effort and sacrifice made in the ghetto rising. In doing so she is set up to continue the fight by both the A.K and her friends long after the ashes of the ghetto rising have faded into memory.

In the second book her fight continues into the forests of Poland where she learns to fight back. Building on her contacts she develops the skills to survive., Illness, cold winters, and the fight against the German occupation. In doing so she faces tyranny, betrayal and the loss of her family and many of her friends. Here she meets Bolak.  who encourages her to stand on her own two feet and to be strong both against Germans and the conflicts of hate, power and deceit. Eventually her trail leads to a Russian frontline transit camp where she nurses a Soviet war hero in his final months. On his death she is left to the mercy of Russian soldiers who are caught in a conflict between their leader and a Soviet Political Officer. Hannah is left devastated and faces a brutal and savage personal humiliation resulting in herself being close to death. In the final book Hannah is rescued by Bolak, she begins to rebuild her life finding purpose and meaning.

In the final book of the trilogy the Path of consciousness she discovers herself and emerges into the flowering of womanhood. She is stronger, resilient, discovers faith, love and truth. Hannah learns to understand the Politics at play and her place within the changes happening around her. She falls in love, she begins to see her future, a luxury that until now was dangerous to even consider. Through her trials and her fight for survival, she questions her morality and invites the reader to try and put themselves in the position of others. It asks what would you do in their place? How would you cope? What choices would you make? It looks at conflict from all sides, reflects on German, Polish, Soviet, Catholic and Jewish positions and concludes that nothing is ever straightforward there is no black and white answers. No yes or no decisions, life at this time relied on trust and instinct and the deep desire to survive, and one by one the characters in the book face their morality and answer the consequences of the decisions they have made and the price they have paid to survive. In the end life itself is questionable and Hannah is left with the ultimate choice. Will she stand up and defend her beliefs of what she believes is right and true. For Hannah They Prayed If you are brave enough then let it, take you there.