New book: The Strange Ways of Providence in My Life

The book provides insight into the life of the Jewish community in Obertyn, Ukraine. It covers both the period just before the Second World War and the dark years of the Shoah, seen through the eyes of a young child. Krystyna Carmi bears witness to the history of her family and her happy childhood, the time of horror and finally she recalls how God looks after orphans and rescued her.

Obertyn was a town where Ukrainians and Poles lived side by side and among them were many Jews. The town was first occupied by the Communists, who guaranteed equality for Jews, and then by the Nazis, supported by Ukrainian nationalists. This was the beginning of the long, dark night of the Shoah for the Jews of Obertyn. Krystyna recalls the persecution, violence and murder at the beginning of this period and then the deportation to the ghetto in Kolomyja. The terrible conditions in the ghetto, where Krystyna’s grandmother died of starvation, provoked the family to flee back to Obertyn, where they lived in dire poverty, all their belongings having been confiscated. After a short time in Obertyn, the family moved to a farm, where they were hidden by Ukrainian farmers, who received money for this act. There, Krystyna began to pray as a Christian, imitating the daughter of the family who protected them. Krystyna’s sisters were separated from the rest of the family because their hiding place was too crowded. The woman who provided them and their uncle with a hiding place, took their money and then reported them to the Nazis. The two sisters were shot by the Nazis together with their uncle. One sister was not killed by the bullets and was buried alive.

The farmer’s family was terrified that the Nazis would discover the Jews on their farm and so asked them to leave. It was during their flight that the family was arrested. Krystyna was able to get away because a policeman convinced her to get out of the cart that transported her parents but her parents were taken and murdered.

In the last part of her book, Krystyna recounts how she was miraculously saved by God, over and over again. Good people appeared to protect her and hide her. Finally, when the war ended, Krystyna, orphaned and left alone in the world, was baptized. She later came to Israel, married and has children and grandchildren.

The book can be acquired here

We have published her poems on this website and some of them appear in the book:

See here

And here

And here