English 🇺🇸 — Roman Dziarski

The Book

How We Outwitted and Survived the Nazis:

The True Story of the Holocaust Rescuers, Zofia Sterner and Her Family

Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2023

“Dziarski debuts with a dynamic narrative … [and] renders in palpably urgent, first-person, present tense writing the remarkable story of a woman who was driven by her belief that ‘every life was precious’ to save strangers. … It’s a worthy tribute to the extraordinary bravery of a remarkable woman.”

— Publishers Weekly

“The book reads like a fast-paced thriller with stories about … escapes, participation in the Warsaw Uprising and subsequent arrests…

VERDICT Extraordinary storytelling about unfathomable horror. At the core of it is a remarkable woman and her family who not only refused to allow the Nazis to exterminate them, but they also saved others. For readers who enjoy history, Judaic studies, and human-interest stories.”

— Library Journal (starred review)

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About the Book

“This is an incredibly personal book, filled with sincerity. It reveals the hardships of human life and the complexity of choices made during the German and Soviet occupations of Poland. It describes true but unbelievable stories, and it’s hard to put the book down once you start reading it. It’s astonishing how much diversity one life story can encompass.

This is the only book on the Polish market that sheds light on the activities of the German company Schmidt und Münstermann, which was involved in the construction of the German extermination camp in Treblinka, the forced labor camp in Poniatowa, and the wall of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Undoubtedly, in addition to a wealth of fascinating historical information (1939–1945), readers will find much content prompting metaphysical reflections. While reading, I experienced many emotional moments, as I discovered information about my hometown within its pages. Look for it, and you too are sure to find something that resonates with you...”

— Dr. Artur Podgórski, Ars Vivendi Foundation (The Art of Life)

“A poignant story about the saviors of our humanity. In times when words like "death, destruction, annihilation, the pain of agony" were all too familiar to each of them.”

— Marek Kozubal, journalist for “Rzeczpospolita”, writer

“The tragedy of the Nazi occupation did not bring Poles and Jews closer together. After the war, it even triggered a competition in suffering and martyrdom. The two nations will not reconcile until we Poles recognize the Holocaust of Polish Jews as part of our history. I do not know if this will ever happen, but Roman Dziarski's profoundly Polish-Jewish book is an important step toward such reconciliation. Without whitewashing or embellishment.”

— Jarosław Kurski, journalist for “Gazeta Wyborcza”, writer

“’History – of a state, nation, society – is made up of microhistories – the lives of individuals who had a significant impact on events or the fate of other people.’ The book is based on Zofia Sterner's notes, her memories, letters, and conversations the author had with her. It takes us back to the times of World War II – to a dark, gray, and bombed-out Warsaw. To an era in which one's origins carried great significance and could serve as a bargaining chip. Zofia and Wacław formed a successful Polish-Jewish marriage. During the war, they were active in the resistance movement, rescuing people from the Warsaw Ghetto and helping others find shelter.

Written in the form of a diary, the book is both moving and suspenseful, but above all, it serves as a powerful testimony – of truth, faith, and resilience. It reveals the resourcefulness and deep morality of people in those times, for whom every life was precious, regardless of origin. Zofia and her entire family never considered their actions extraordinary, yet they sacrificed their own safety and peace to save others. With careful consideration, accuracy, and, most importantly, adherence to historical facts, the author brings us valuable insights into the Holocaust and many wartime efforts during World War II. The book also contains numerous photographs from that period.

Highly recommended. If you enjoy historical books, you simply cannot overlook this title!”

— bookietksiazek

https://www.instagram.com/p/DG3vwq-Ob2m/

"[This] deeply personal story is rightly described as 'a tale of hope amid horrifying tragedy.' It is a story of resilience, self-sacrifice, and, above all, a lesson in humanity. Within the pages of this book, we encounter many events that raise justified moral dilemmas – occupation was rife with acts of indifference and even criminal opportunism, often at the expense of the Jewish population. This remains a source of legitimate controversy today, sparking heated (and highly politicized!) debates. Zofia and those like her are our flicker of hope – that even in times of absolute dehumanization and barbarism, loyalty to universal values can triumph. […]

Dziarski presents the story in the form of Zofia’s diary, recounting her efforts to aid successive Jewish fugitives. Along the way, she examines human attitudes and relationships. There are no loud accusations here, only humility and faith in the power of humanity – a force that, in the end, may overcome evil. […] Dziarski handles the subject matter skillfully, presenting multiple perspectives, arguing his points thoughtfully, and maintaining the highest level of impartiality. […]

For me, perhaps the best summation of this discussion comes from Joseph Lichten, a Holocaust survivor, who wrote: ‘We know how difficult it is to turn ordinary people into heroes. We are inclined to think rationally […] but our hearts object.’ This makes the actions of people like Zofia Sterner all the more valuable. I am glad that her memoirs have been published in Poland, contributing to the ongoing construction of historical awareness. This is a compelling book, whose strength lies first and foremost in the story it tells.”

— Warhist.pl

“This is a story worth knowing. Roman Dziarski's book is, above all, an intimate and deeply personal work... it recreates a dramatic image of a reality in which black and white stood out more sharply than ever against a sea of gray.

We will not find here fictional heroes, nor will we find stylistic and narrative devices that artificially enhance the tragedy of World War II or the stories of people risking their lives to save Jews. And yet, saving even a single person often meant the sacrifice of many others. Any form of help provided to Jews by Poles could result in death at the hands of the German occupiers. ...

We see here well-known images, but also those previously unpublished. One particularly moving photograph shows Zofia and Edward Kosman in their old age. In the photo, they are both seventy-eight years old, standing in front of a house in Vaucluse, Australia. This innocent and unassuming photograph cannot fully convey the drama they carried within themselves for over half a century, yet it shows so much: they survived. They survived, among other reasons, thanks to Zofia Sterner.

Roman Dziarski is probably the only person who could tell this story, piecing it together from documents and his own memory. The latter is especially important here – the author was able to reconstruct the character and sensitivity of Zofia Sterner, something difficult for researchers or even literary writers to capture... Thanks to this, the entire book feels more authentic and moving. It is as if we are peeking into notebooks stored in a box in the attic or hidden deep in a closet. …”

— Adam Wiśniewski, Histmag.pl

BookEdit Interview with the Author, Roman Dziarski

What inspired you to write this book?

I had both personal and general reasons to write this book, which is historical nonfiction. History – the history of a state, nation, or society – is made up of microhistories, the stories of individuals who had a significant impact on events or the fate of others. I discovered such a microhistory within my own family. This book not only describes how my family survived World War II but also how they fought against the Germans and saved Jews from extermination.

My family was humble and never considered their actions extraordinary. In an interview with Marek Halter, described in his book La force du Bien, my aunt Zofia Sterner, the main protagonist of my book, spoke about the aid my family provided to Jews: “I thought it was something completely natural. We knew we had to help... it was normal, that’s all.”

Growing up after World War II, the collective memory of the war’s atrocities was so strong that I believed there would never be another war. But unfortunately, I was wrong – tragically, many wars and genocides have taken place and continue to unfold worldwide, including in Vietnam, Rwanda, Congo, Yugoslavia, Chechnya, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine, and Gaza.

On one hand, I wanted this book to serve as a grim reminder of the most brutal war and the Holocaust, as well as a warning that the conditions that led to them could arise again. On the other hand, I wanted it to be a story of hope, resilience, and self-sacrifice, showing how one can remain human even in the most inhumane circumstances.

I hoped that readers would reflect on why we have not learned from history that wars do not solve problems and that, in the end, there are no clear winners – only suffering and hatred.

How long did it take from the initial idea to the publication of the book?

I first wrote the book in English for American readers. Almost three years passed from the beginning of writing to its publication in the US. It was not just the writing itself. Because the book accurately presents historical facts, the process of its creation also included searching for and collecting original source materials, including visits to Poland, and searching through family archives, museums, and institutes, and studying historical sources related to the events described in the book.

After writing the book, I searched for the right person to write the Foreword and hit the jackpot – Eva Fogelman, author of a Pulitzer Prize-nominated book on the rescues of Jews from the Holocaust and founding director of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous in the USA, immediately accepted my proposal. Next, I found a suitable publisher – Academic Studies Press in Boston, which specializes in historical publications and has an interest in Polish-Jewish relations. These steps took over two years. Then, a few months were spent editing the text and preparing the final version. Another few months were needed to obtain reviews for the book cover and complete the printing process.

The Polish version was published much more quickly. In a few months, I translated the American version into Polish, while enriching it with additional details important for the Polish reader. Then I spent a few months getting to know the Polish publishing market. After signing a contract with BookEdit, the editing, design, obtaining blurbs for the cover, and printing took only five months.

What was the process of creating this story like – did you have a detailed plan beforehand, or did the narrative develop spontaneously?

Since I am a scientist by profession and the book is a work of nonfiction, I approached writing it in a systematic way, much like writing a scientific paper. I divided the book into two parts – the main part, which is my aunt’s diary describing my family’s story during the occupation, and a second part that explains the social and historical context of the events described in the diary.

As this is a nonfiction book, there was, of course, no room for spontaneous plot development – I did not add any fictional characters, events, dialogues, or dramatization, and I maintained complete historical accuracy.

What were the biggest challenges you faced while writing this book?

As a scientist – an immunologist and microbiologist – I am experienced in writing scientific papers intended for a narrow audience of researchers. However, I am not a historian by profession – history is just my hobby. Nor am I a novelist. So the biggest challenge was writing a book that maintained historical accuracy while being accessible to a broad audience.

Writing a family memoir required arranging and unifying information from many sources into the correct chronological sequence and finding the right narrative style.

To write a historically accurate Postface on the historical background of the events described in the memoir, I had to study many objective historical studies, because the history taught during my education in the Polish People's Republic was largely distorted by one-sided political propaganda.

While working on the book, did you discover anything new about yourself or your writing style?

As I mentioned before, I am not a novelist. However, I wanted the book to remain entirely faithful to my family's records – without fictionalization – while still being as engaging as a novel.

So, first, I decided to write the book in the simplest and most direct style possible. Second, I chose to structure the book as my aunt Zofia Sterner’s memoir, because most of the information came from her diary and personal recollections. Third, I experimented with the narrative style.

Initially, I wrote the story in the third person and past tense, but I found it too detached and not immersive enough. So I switched to first-person past tense, and then to first-person present tense, as if the events were unfolding before her eyes. This final style felt the most immediate and engaging, especially for younger readers.

Was there a particular theme or scene that was especially difficult to write? Why?

The book includes an extensive Postface that examines Polish-Jewish relations and their positive and negative aspects. Writing this section with complete objectivity and without whitewashing was my most challenging task because Polish-Jewish relations, Polish aid, Polish indifference, and Polish atrocities against Jews during World War II remain controversial, sensitive, and highly emotional topics. They are the subject of extensive and ongoing historical research and often fierce and politicized debates. And the views of Poles and Jews on these issues are often diametrically opposed.

So I aimed to present various viewpoints and explore possibilities for reconciliation between these opposing perspectives. I believe that reading many sources and spending 48 years living and working in America helped me approach these issues with greater distance and objectivity.

What emotions did you want to evoke in readers?

I wanted to evoke feelings of humanity, tolerance, empathy, compassion for others, reconciliation, and a desire for coexistence. I quote from the Warhist.pl review about the book’s protagonists: they “are our flicker of hope – that even in times of absolute dehumanization and barbarism, loyalty to universal values can triumph.”

However, the most important message of the book is the desire for peace and an end to conflicts and genocide. I believe this is closely tied to the emotions I aimed to evoke, and I fully agree with Albert Einstein, who said: “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”

Are there any books or authors that have influenced your writing style?

I have read many wartime memoirs, and the ones that left the greatest impression on me were those written in the heat of the moment – during the war or shortly after its end. These accounts faithfully and directly depict the realities of the time, as well as the experiences of their authors – what they saw, what they did, and what they felt. Some examples are: Władysław Szpilman, The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939–1945; Bernard Goldstein, Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto; Leokadia Schmidt, Rescued from the Ashes; Michael Zylberberg, A Warsaw Diary; Janina Bauman, Zima o poranku (Winter in the Morning); Noemi and Henryk Makowerowie, Pamiętniki z Miłosnej (Diaries from Miłosna).

When writing the Postface, I benefited greatly from numerous valuable historical studies. Some examples are: Peter Hayes, Why? Explaining the Holocaust; Timothy Snyder, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning; Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin; Gunnar S. Paulsson, Secret City: The Hidden Jews of Warsaw, 1940–1945; Barbara Engelking, Jan Grabowski (eds.), Dalej jest noc. Losy Żydów w wybranych powiatach okupowanej Polski (Night Without End: The Fate of Jews in German-Occupied Poland).

If you could transport yourself into the world of your book, what role would you play?

This is the most difficult question, because it is nearly impossible to predict, considering my current comfortable and safe life, what I would have done in the face of such horrific tragedy and unimaginable terror. Everyone likes to think they would be a hero, saving others from certain death. But what would I have actually done if the axe had also been hanging over my own head? I cannot answer this honestly because I have never been in such a situation. I can only hope that I would have risen to the occasion.

The undeniable hero, Władysław Bartoszewski – a former Auschwitz prisoner, Home Army fighter and an extremely active member of the Żegota leadership, an organization that helped save Jews – during a lecture in Israel on saving Jews from the Holocaust was asked by a skeptical listener whether he had done everything he could to rescue Jews at that time. Bartoszewski humbly replied that he certainly had not, because if he had done everything he could, he surely would not have survived.

During WWII in Poland, the narrator, a young Polish woman (my aunt Zofia Sterner) and her Jewish husband defy the Nazis and refuse to be classified as Jews destined for extermination. Instead, they evade the Nazis and the Soviets in a series of dramatic escapes and often live in hiding, and selflessly rescue many Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto and a labor camp. They participate in the Warsaw Uprising, are taken prisoner, and eventually escape and survive.

This is a true story of hope amid horrifying tragedy. It reveals how war and its struggles bring out the worst and the best in people; and how true humanity and heroism of ordinary people are revealed by their willingness to risk everything and help others. This story is about being human under the most inhumane conditions.

The heroic rescues and selfless help in this story are especially remarkable because these rescuers and helpers had to oppose not only the cruel Nazi occupiers, but also the norms of the surrounding Polish society, which was usually indifferent or even hostile to those who were helping Jews.

Thus, these rescues and help must be put in the historical context of antisemitism and atrocities against Jews that were also present, which I explain in an extensive Postface without whitewashing or exaggerating.

My commentary and an excerpt from How We Outwitted and Survived the Nazis and my article commemorating the 81st Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and commenting on the relevance of the Holocaust today are available on the Academic Studies Press Inktellect Blog website. A podcast with an interview about my book is on the New Books Network website. The Table of Contents is posted below.

Reviews of the Polish Translation of the Book

How to pronounce my name:

Roman Dziarski

About the author

I am a biomedical scientist, specializing in immunology and microbiology, a university professor, and an author. I devoted fifty years to researching how the immune system functions and how it protects against infections—a body of work that I hope will lead to improvements in the prevention and treatment of diseases. My scientific endeavors, my professional career, my numerous scientific publications, and my place among the top 0.5% to 0.7% of world’s scientists are comprehensively documented in my Wikipedia biography.

However, I am also deeply passionate about the humanities, arts, history, social causes, and, particularly, assisting persecuted people. This inclination may have originated from my family's history of rescuing Jews from the Holocaust in Poland.

I was born after World War II in Warsaw, Poland, and the war still cast a significant shadow over every aspect of our lives during my childhood. Large portions of the city remained in ruins. Moreover, at school, in the media, and at home, children were constantly reminded of how horrible the war was and that it could happen again at any time.

My family had several Jewish friends, but they seldom discussed how they were rescued and survived the Holocaust. However, sometimes, rescues and help were mentioned when the conversation turned to family members or friends who perished, or someone who had survived. Nevertheless, these acts of rescue and help were considered a normal part of their everyday life, and nobody boasted about them. Children typically did not participate in these conversations, but I understood that they were discussing saving people from the death camps

It was only later that I realized the enormity of the Holocaust tragedy. Practically, almost all Jews, along with their vibrant Jewish culture and substantial contributions to Polish culture, were completely wiped out. When I looked at pictures of bustling pre-war streets with many Jews, then the incredibly crowded Warsaw Ghetto, and finally, inmates in death and concentration camps, it was beyond comprehension how thousands or millions of people, women, men, and children, could have been suddenly killed and just ceased to exist without any trace.

That's when I grasped the importance of my family's rescue operation, saving one person at a time. But I also understood that in the face of the entire Holocaust, no single person or family could have saved millions.

Although my family did everything they could, they never considered it anything extraordinary; they saw it as their moral duty. But I believe it was extraordinary, and that's why I wanted to preserve their story. I also find it shameful and tragic that only a few had enough goodwill and courage to help, while many turned against the persecuted.

Could this happen again? The closing sentence in my book is, "I still hope history stops repeating itself. If only we could learn from it..."