"GOAT FOR AZAZEL" - A WORLD WAR II STORY is the saga of the friendship
between two Poles, a Christian and a Jew,against the backdrop of events that
enfolded in Europe between 1939-1945.
During this six-year span,Henry Kaplinski, a Jew, is forced to live
and survive as a Christian. A sequence of events propels him from the Red
Army to the German Wehrmacht. At the same time,his childhood friend, Edward
Daszkiewicz is drawn closer to Jewish values and culture through his love of
a woman who, while raised Catholic,discovers her Jewish roots in the mids of
war.
The action of the story moves from Soviet-occupied Poland to
Finland,Russia,Germany,Italy and England. There is also a parallel sub-plot
involving
a U.S.Air Force pilot,Col.Paul Krafchin,who sees action in the European
campaign.
The various twists and turns of fate alternatively separates and rejoins the
characters, always under the constantly-changing and immensely trying
circumstances of the war.
The novel,much like the film,"Saving Private Ryan", uses true
historical facts and details to uncover the essential elements of human
nature. It is only under difficult times that what is true and real of people
becomes revealed. The enduring values of
loyalty,human dignity and freedom are put to test over again in the extreme
conditions of deprivation,hunger and fear for one's survival.
