Broken Birds: The Story of My Momila

Jaclyn shares the story of her family and how they fought battles against the Nazis and each other.

Jaclyn’s mother, Channa Perschowski was born in a small town in Poland. Jaclyn’s father, Nathan Polczer came from a large family. When Channa was a little girl, she and her family fled from the Nazis. She later traveled to New York with some friends.

On January 29, 1948, Nathan Polctzer became Nathan Poltzer. He boarded a ship for New York. Once in New York, he found that his family didn’t really want him.

While attending a dance, Nathan meets Channa. Later they get married and have five children. Jaclyn and her brothers grow up…get married and have children of their own. Sadly when Channa dies, Jaclyn learns that sometimes the blood between families can be tainted.

Broken Birds: The Story of My Momila is inspired by author, Jeannette Katzir’s own experiences as a Holocaust survivor. I thought that Mrs. Katzir did a good job portraying life back then during World War II and the Holocaust. I always have found a fascination with reading stories in regards to the Holocaust. Some of my favorites were The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom and The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank. I thought that this book fit nicely somewhere in the middle. While I enjoyed reading this book, I only became attached to a few people in this book and they were Channa, Nathan and Jaclyn. Not to say that the rest of the people won’t interesting but I just liked Channa, Nathan and Jaclyn better. So when the story pertained to them, I was more engaged in the story. Which is why at times, it seemed that the story dragged a bit. Overall, though, Broken Birds does fly with emotion and sorrow.