Strangers in a Stranger Land: How One Country's Jews Fought an Unwinnable War Alongside Nazi Troops… and Survived

What did it feel like to be an openly Jewish soldier fighting alongside German troops in WWII? Could a Jewish nurse work safely in a field hospital operating theater under the supervision of German army doctors? Several hundred members of Finland’s tiny Jewish community found themselves in absurd situations like this, yet not a single one was harmed by the Germans or deported to concentration or extermination camps. In fact, Finland was the only European country fighting on either side in WWII that lost not a single Jewish citizen to the Nazi’s “Final Solution.” Strangers in a Stranger Land explores the unique dilemma of Finland’s Jews in the form of a meticulously researched novel. Where did these immigrant Jews—the last in Europe to achieve citizenship status—come from? What was life like from their arrival in Finland in the early nineteenth century to the time when their grandchildren perversely found themselves on “the wrong side” of WWII? And how could young lovers plan for the future when not only their enemies but also their country’s allies threatened their very existence? Seven years researching Finland’s National Archives plus numerous in-depth interviews with surviving Finnish Jewish war veterans provide the background for a narrative exploration of love, friendship, and commitment but also uncertainty and terror under circumstances that were unique in the annals of “The Good War.” The novel’s protagonists—Benjamin, David and Rachel—adopt varying survival strategies as they struggle with involvement in a brutal conflict and questions posed by their dual loyalty as Finnish citizens and Zionists committed to the creation of a Jewish homeland. Tensions mount as the three young adults painfully work through a relationship love triangle and try to fulfill their commitments as both Jews and Finns while their country desperately seeks to extricate itself from an unwinnable war.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures Preface 1. Iron Cross for a Jew? 2. Benjamin Reminisces about his Childhood 3. Vidablick 4. Peisach Loses Everything 5. Benjamin Remembers His Grandfather 6. Finland Becomes Part of the Russian Empire 7. Annus Mirabilis 8. Peisach Gets a Life 9. Correspondence after Camp 10. Benjamin Recalls His Family’s Return to Viipuri 11. Mendel’s Childhood 12. A Little Bird 13. Upheaval 14. Civil War 15. Finland Lurches Right 16. Benjamin Thinks Back on Hard Times 17. Mendel Becomes a Finn 18. Finland Recovers 19. Benjamin Reflects on the Rise of Zionism 20. Loyalty Parallax 21. Rachel Makes a Decision 22. David and the Refugee Situation 23. Benjamin Becomes the Man of the House 24. Benjamin Recalls His Adolescence 25. Europe in Turmoil 26. Lotta Training and Civil Guard Youth Camp 27. A Night on the Town 28. The Magical Summer of ‘39 29. Benjamin Recalls the Start of the Winter War 30. The Winter War Begins 31. Finland’s Survival at Risk 32. Benjamin Remembers Wartime Viipuri 33. A Bitter Peace 34. Finland’s Fragile Truce 35. Benjamin Reflects on His Altered Status 36. Hitler Changes His Mind 37. Pressure Mounts 38. A Night at the Theater 39. Afraid of Being Eaten by the Bear, the Lamb Lies Down with the Wolf 40. Miracles Sometimes Happen 41. Benjamin on Heroism and Fear 42. Benjamin Goes to War 43. Rachel Crosses the Border 44. David’s Battlefront Diary 45. Finland Walks a Tightrope 46. Tent Synagogue on the German Front 47. “Those Eight” 48. Benjamin’s Recollections of the Trench War 49. Rachel Meets the Steinbocks 50. The Worm Turns 51. The Beginning of the End 52. Waiting 53. Against Overwhelming Odds 54. All Hell Breaks Loose 55. What Price Peace? 56. Aftermath About the Author

About the Author :
John B. Simon is the author of To Become Somebody: Growing up against the Grain of Society and Kone’s Prince.

Review :
I began reading John B. Simon’s non-fiction Strangers in a Stranger Land, which recounts the singular history of Finland’s Jews as the fictional story of three generations, published in time for Christmas 2017, with the intention of making my way through it by the end of the month. What happened? I finished the book in a twenty-four-hour marathon read. I simply couldn’t put it down. . . . Then a second reading before the end of the month. The book in question is, to put it simply, good. In Simon’s book, the alternation between the fictional narrative and historical sections is skillfully constructed. Imagined characters encounter real people in real situations. The lives of Benjamin and those close to him are connected to almost all those events, phenomena and unusual circumstances for which the history of Finland’s Jewish community has become known. His book succeeds in providing a multifaceted portrayal of a difficult history. Strangers in a Stranger Land is three books in one: a history of the Jews in Finland, a surprisingly compact history of Finland over the same period, and a novel in which David, Benjamin, and Rachel, three childhood friends, grow up and experience the prewar and war years through their complicated interpersonal relationship. An excellent book. Simon has put in years of effort, and it shows on every page.