The remarkable story of Sol Lurie, a child survivor of six concentration camps during the Holocaust, who continues to be a beacon of hope.
After a bucolic childhood in Kovno, Lithuania, Sol was just eleven when the Nazis invaded and he and his family were forced to move into the Kovno Ghetto. The Kovno Ghetto was one of the only ghettos to later become a concentration camp, and Sol was among just a few Jewish survivors from Kovno.
In this inspiring story of tenacity, character, faith, love, and forgiveness, we follow young Sol through heartbreak and fear, torment and torture. Through Sol's eyes, we learn the history of the communities in Eastern Europe, especially Lithuania, which has long been a gap in the wider history of the Holocaust. Along the way, we meet the righteous few who helped save young Sol's life. After being imprisoned in six other concentration camps for a total of four years, Sol was liberated from Buchenwald on his 15th birthday. To this day, he still joyfully celebrates every year the day he was born and liberated. Miraculously, Sol’s three brothers and his father also survived the Holocaust.
Despite the horrors of youth, Sol never lost his determination to live life to the fullest. He embarked on a new life in the United States and would thrive as a husband, father, grandfather, business owner, and an inspiration for the thousands of schoolchildren and adults who have heard Sol share his incredible tales of survival and the positive lessons he has learned from the most horrific of experiences
We can all learn from Sol at a time when divisiveness reigns. Despite all that he suffered and the death of his mother and nearly all his very large extended family, Sol’s courage and positive attitude continues to inspire as he actively seeks out and see the good in others. He wholeheartedly believes in bashert, a Yiddish word that means destiny, which gave him his “mission to educate others to love, not to hate.” Life Must Go On! is a moving and vital new addition to the history of the Holocaust and chorus of survivor stories that resonate throughout the generations.
