San Francisco author and historian Henry Michalski will be presenting his acclaimed book, "Torn Lilacs," at the West Portal branch library on Oct. 7. Recently, Michalski presented his work at the Anza and Richmond branch libraries.
"Torn Lilacs" is the true story of what his parents endured during World War II. It's a love story which begins in Poland but shifts early on to regions rarely written about, such as Siberia and Kazakhstan, where the author Michalski was born shortly after the war.
Michalski, then 4 years old, arrived in the United States with his parents and older brother in August of 1949, and settled in San Francisco the following year. Eager to learn the new culture and assimilate into American society, the family purchased its first home at 222 21st Ave. between California and Clement streets in 1952. They were becoming proud Americans.
Starting out in the Western Addition, Michalski heard horrific stories of survival, which directly led to his interest in history and politics and eventually to a career as a high school history teacher in the Napa schools.
Early on, his mother, the protagonist and heroine of "Torn Lilacs," designated Henry the family historian.
"I will tell you everything, and you're going to tell our story without exaggeration, exactly what happened, because the world must know our suffering, and learn from it so it doesn't happen to other people, ever again," she said.
"When we studied the Holocaust in my history classes in Napa," Michalski said, "the students' eyes glazed over at the mention of six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Most people can't relate to that staggering number. Stalin once quipped, "One person's death is a tragedy; one million deaths, a statistic."
Michalski decided to humanize history by telling his classes the story of two ordinary people who met and fell in love at the beginning of the war and of their struggles to survive. It's a story of loss and hope that spans three continents. It's his parents' story. At the end of class, the bell would ring, and nobody moved. The students were paralyzed. Some cried. A few approached his desk and said, "Mr. Michalski, you have to write this book. It's an amazing love story and sounds like a movie."
Michalski takes pride in the literary success of Torn Lilacs.
"It's beyond my wildest dreams" he said, "When the book debuted, I thought my children and a few friends would read it, but it started picking up positive reviews and winning literary awards. 'Tori Lilacs' is touching people in an emotional way evoking comments and descriptions like, 'masterpiece,' 'unputdownable' and 'a page-turner,' but most readers comment that "Torn Lilacs" reads like a motion picture script, and unlike any book they have ever read dealing with that period of history."
Last April, Michalski presented "Torn Lilacs" at the Yom HaShoah Holocaust remembrance at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and next month Michalski will be presenting and signing books at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Michalski notes with pride that "Torn Lilacs" is now required reading at Sonoma State University in a course on the history of antisemitism.
"My parents would be so proud to know that young people will be learning from their experiences as well as the consequences of not standing up against hatred," Michalski said. "They need to know what happens when good people see bad things and do nothing."
Michalski's presentation will take place at 2 p.m. on Oct. 7 at the West Portal branch of the San Francisco Public Library, 190 Lenox Way.
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