One evening in mid-July 1945, a red convertible sports car stopped beside the house…. A man got out and asked, “Do you happen to know where Uri Chanoch lives?” I looked at him in surprise and replied, “That’s me.” “I have good news for you,” he said…“I’ve been sent to inform you that your brother, Danny, is alive.” With love and longing, Uri Chanoch describes his happy childhood in Kovno prior to the incursion of the Soviet forces into Lithuania and the subsequent German occupation. After surviving constant hunger and escaping death in the ghetto, he was deported to the Dachau–Kaufering concentration camp, where he endured forced labor under the most inhumane conditions. In May 1945, Uri escaped to freedom and was liberated by the American Army. Uri and Danny reunited in Italy and embarked on an illegal immigrant ship to Eretz Israel, where they joined a kibbutz. In December 1947, Uri enlisted in the Palmach and fought in the fierce battles to liberate Jerusalem. Following his decision to leave the army in 1952, he confronted the rigors of civilian life, penniless and without family support. He subsequently became a successful businessman and married his first love. Uri dedicated his last twenty years to improving the lives of survivors and commemorating the memory of the Holocaust in Israel and Germany, and was awarded the highest medal of service by the German government. Judith, his wife, has continued his mission by bringing his memoir to light. The Story I Never Told is a moving, personal narrative about pain and sorrow, joy and happiness, and a great love. Compellingly told, this memoir provides a unique insight into the story of the State of Israel and the Jewish People.
