The Watchmakers

 By: Danny Ben-Moshe 

Location: FIC BEN

Genre: Historical Fiction- Holocaust

Review: By Ellen

Wow what an interesting, informative read. Based on a true story The Watchmaker's War is the story of Yakov and his Brother Benny as they immigrate to Australia after the holocaust. It follows them as they settle into a new country and new way of life. What should be a brand new start is tainted when they discover that some of the Nazi's responsible for killing their family have snuck into Australia under new identities.

I really enjoyed the insights into the Jewish community and culture in St Kilda. I learnt a lot from this book and was fascinated by the story of Nazi hunters who took matters into their own hands when the Australian authorities wouldn't. There's photos at the end of the book about the real life people involved in the story was really cool to see too!

A new beginning. An old enemy. A perilous choice. 'With so many stories untold, The Watchmaker's War is a unique and wonderful telling of one of how after liberation peace doesn't automatically follow, particularly peace of mind for those who witnessed and experienced so much evil. To be human is to desire justice - or is it revenge? - for your family, your friends, your people' Heather Morris, author, The Tattooist of Auschwitz When Yakov Holtzman arrives in Melbourne - about as far away as he can possibly get from the graveyard that is Europe - he puts behind him the years he spent in the forests of Lithuania as a leader of the resistance, fighting the Nazis. He has come to join his brother - his only surviving family member - and start a new life as the watchmaker he once was. Yakov looks for solace - and love - in the fragile, traumatised community of Jewish refugees taking root in a new land. But when swastikas, threats and, most frightening of all, the faces of old enemies appear on the streets of suburban St Kilda, his new-found peace is shattered. Fierce instincts are reawakened in Yakov, and he knows he must act. But how can justice - or revenge - best be served? And will Yakov's drive to destroy his enemies overtake him too, and leave his new life in ruins? Based on a true story, The Watchmaker's War is a gripping, high-stakes tale of Nazi hunters in Australia and the war criminals they pursued - killers with links to the highest levels of Australia's spy agency. It offers profound insights into the lingering trauma of genocide, posing difficult questions about competing desires for peace and vengeance, and how far a victim should go in the pursuit of justice when the authorities fail to act.