By COLlive reporter
In a new book of short stories My Gulag Life: Stories of a Soviet Prisoner, the life of legendary Chassid Reb Mendel Futerfas, is told for the first time. Published Hasidic Archives, the book includes biographical sketches by Dovid Zaklikowski, and is another book in the Grab & Read series.
Rough-hewn and unpretentious in his kasket and bushy white beard, Reb Mendel is a legend until today. The famed Chassid endured eight years in the Soviet Gulag and a seventeen-year separation from his family—punishment for his work in trying to save fellow yidden smuggle across the border of the Soviet Union to freedom.
Released from the Soviet Union in 1963, he would eventually rebuild his life as a mashpiah in Israel, he drew on his experiences to inspire a new generation of Chasidim. He would become known for his many personal stories and their poignant lessons.
In Hasidic Archives tradition, the new book, aesthetically designed, includes eighty-five photos, documents and paintings by his brother Hendel Lieberman, many of them published for the first time.
Read an excerpt of My Gulag Life 6 Tishrei Stories told by the Mashpia Reb Mendel Futerfas.
The new book is available HasidicArchives.com and at a discount when ordered with In the Trenches: Stories from the Frontlines of Jewish Life .
Thank you for sharing the precious generation with the current generation! Can’t wait to read this.
Looking forward!!
A BIIIIG YAASHER KOIACH !!! REB MENDEL’S LEVEL OF HISKASHRUS, CHASSIDISHKEIT EMES, WAS ON A DIFFERENT PLANE. YET EXTREMELY FUNNY, HUMBLE, PEOPLE SMART, WITTY, DOWN TO EARTH, KIIIIND AND FRIENDLY. HE WAS A DIAMOND OF A CHASSID.