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‘The Wanderers’ tells the story of Poland’s Holocaust survivors who fled to the Soviet Union

JL;DR SUMMARY Daniela Gerson's book, "The Wanderers," uncovers the largely overlooked narrative of Polish Jews who survived World War II by fleeing to the Soviet Union. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

IdentityJewish HistoryHolocaust SurvivorsSoviet UnionPolandMigrationSurvivalThe WanderersCentral AsiaDaniela Gerson

Places mentioned

Zamo, Lublin, Poland
"They took less interest in commemorating their own story of survival by leaving their beloved Zamo, Poland."
Russian Federation
"escaped to the Soviet Union a route that turned into a decade of wandering exile, from Siberian labor camps to Central Asia and displaced persons camps in Austria and Germany."
Sverdlovsk, Russian Federation
"In 1940, they were deported in cattle cars to the Ural Mountains, where both families found themselves in forced labor camps in the Sverdlovsk province."
Lviv, Lvivshchyna, Ukraine
"Both families became refugees at the same time in current-day Lviv in western Ukraine."
Uzbekistan
"Thus began years of trekking for the Gersons and the Inlenders through the Soviet Unions Central Asian republics. Thousands of Jews migrated through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan."
Austria
"displaced persons camps in Austria and Germany."
Germany
"displaced persons camps in Austria and Germany."
Washington DC, United States
"Gerson, an immigration reporter and professor of journalism at California State University, grew up in Washington, D.C."
California, United States
"Gerson, an immigration reporter and professor of journalism at California State University, grew up in Washington, D.C."
Siberia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Federation
"I knew that my grandparents had survived in Siberia in forced labor, Gerson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency."
Zhytomyrshchyna, Ukraine
"Gerson chronicles her familys not-so-unique journey in her new book, The Wanderers. This blend of memoir, history and journalism took her to Zamo, Ukraine and Uzbekistan."
West Pomerania, Poland
"Finally, 10 years after leaving their homes in the Zamo town square, the two families paths moved far apart. The Inlenders immigrated to Israel in 1949 and the Gersons to the United States in 1950."
Kazakhstan
"Thousands of Jews migrated through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan."
Turkmenistan
"Thousands of Jews migrated through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan."
Israel
"The Inlenders immigrated to Israel in 1949 and the Gersons to the United States in 1950."

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Cairo Item ID 82340
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Retrieved 2026-05-15 18:00:34 UTC
Curated 2026-05-15 19:01:25 UTC