Through Bullets and Thunderstorms: A Holocaust Survival Pact
Many years after her death, my grandmother came to me in a dream and said two powerful words: “It’s time.”
I had carried her story in my heart for years, because most people aren’t aware of what happened in my home county of Ukraine during the Holocaust. And with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, I knew she was right—it was time.
Through Bullets and Thunderstorms is a historical fiction novel that reads like a dystopian horror book and is inspired by her true story. It follows Maria, an 18-year-old Ukrainian Jewish girl. Devastated by the mass executions in her home town, she runs to the river intending to end her life. What she didn’t count on, was finding another girl with the exact same plan.
What followed was essentially a comedy of errors: Maria, who was incredibly short and couldn’t swim, jumped into the river yelling at the girl to stop—only to immediately start drowning herself. And so, the other girl had to rescue Maria, and pull her out of the water.
And just like that, soaked, coughing and shivering, the two girls made a pact to survive together. This chance encounter became the foundation of a powerful story about sisterhood, resilience, and finding hope even in the bleakest of times.
