Introduction PART ICHILDHOOD, SCHOOLS, STUDIES, AND FAMILIES KrakówGaliciaAnnexation by the Soviet UnionEarly YearsReturn to BudyninHigh School: Oserdów and SokalSummer Holidays in OserdówLwów PolytechnicJudenfreiWedding and the AnschlussWho would survive?PART IIUNDER SOVIET OCCUPATION IN POLAND Lwów under the Red ArmyThe Government Mills TrustNationalizationPassportization and the perfidy of the NKVDA court case and a spyPART IIIUNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION Call-up to the Red ArmyGerman Army arrivesWorking for the GestapoSurrendering the Jewish fursActions and the Jewish StarAction against my motherPART IVUNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION – AS AN ARYAN Planning our escapeMoving to WarsawFirst steps as DarażCritical need for employmentLusia blackmailedWarsaw Ghetto RevoltOnly with an AusweisAccusedLusia blackmailed againPlanning an escapeThe Gestapo take LusiaElżunia at the GestapoLeaving LegionowoPART VUNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION IN HUNGARY Polish Guides – German PoliceSlovakian LatkesWaiting at Kassa, HungaryCamp Kadarkút for Polish familiesYellow Star for Hungarian JewsThe medical examinationTaszár Airfield employmentArrested by Hungarian gendarmesEscapeHabers deportedPART VIUNDER SOVIET OCCUPATION IN HUNGARY German counteroffensiveA German spy!Crossing the DanubeLeaving TaszárCapitulationThe Yugoslav repatriation missionWatch smugglingStamp smugglingNew Life: May 1946PART VIIAFTER THE WAR Life with the SovietEmigrationPoland revisited: 1967Sentimental journey: 1988My thoughts on AntisemitismKindnessNotes Photos Acknowledgments Amsterdam Publishers Holocaust LibraryHenry Reiss's beautiful memoir of two Polish-Jewish engineers trying to defy the horrors of the Holocaust.Through the darkness of the Holocaust: A Jewish family’s incredible survival story - a memoir 80 years in the making.How did two Polish-Jewish engineers defy the horrors of the Holocaust? Henry Reiss meticulously describes their decisions and their journey as the threats shifted with the progress of war.From the depths of discrimination in prewar Poland to the heart-wrenching choices made under Soviet and then German occupation, a world of fear, disguise, and unwavering determination in the face of danger is revealed. Their survival depended upon them engineering their own salvation. Henry’s memoir reveals how Hitler’s genocide was ignored or sometimes even facilitated because of local fear, hate, jealousy, or necessity. The relationships between Ukrainians, Poles, Jews and Russians in Galicia were clearly complex then and remain so now. Yet amidst this darkness, Henry’s appreciation for the beauty of nature and the human spirit shines through. With his gift for description, he effortlessly paints a tapestry of surroundings and emotions. The Engineers is an immersive, exciting and deeply resonant memoir.Through the darkness of the Holocaust: A Jewish family’s incredible survival story - a memoir 80 years in the making.How did two Polish-Jewish engineers defy the horrors of the Holocaust? Henry Reiss meticulously describes their decisions and their journey as the threats shifted with the progress of war.From the depths of discrimination in prewar Poland to the heart-wrenching choices made under Soviet and then German occupation, a world of fear, disguise, and unwavering determination in the face of danger is revealed. Their survival depended upon them engineering their own salvation. Henry’s memoir reveals how Hitler’s genocide was ignored or sometimes even facilitated because of local fear, hate, jealousy, or necessity. The relationships between Ukrainians, Poles, Jews and Russians in Galicia were clearly complex then and remain so now. Yet amidst this darkness, Henry’s appreciation for the beauty of nature and the human spirit shines through. With his gift for description, he effortlessly paints a tapestry of surroundings and emotions. The Engineers is an immersive, exciting and deeply resonant memoir.