In October 1941, Misha was a Soviet Intelligence Officer leading a special squad on a dangerous mission behind Nazi lines. Probing Nazi supply routes around the recently fallen city of Kiev, he witnesses the immediate aftermath of the mass murder of Jews at Babi Yar, and becomes convinced the Nazis intend to destroy all of European Jewry. Because, like the victims of Babi Yar, Misha is also Jewish, he realizes he must return home to save his family members who are trapped in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Setting out from the wintry depths of the Ukraine, Misha disregards the danger of traveling over one thousand kilometers through Nazi-held territory because his entire being is focused on a single mission: reaching his family in time.

The Unwilling Survivor is about the incredible commitment to family of a man who, despite coming of age in a world blackened by unimaginable cruelty, refuses to abandon the morality and code of ethics with which he was raised.

Beyond being a fantastic, untold and true story, at its core The Unwilling Survivor is about the indomitable strength of the human spirit.


About the author:

Michael Kopiec is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology who, during three decades of private practice, delivered more than five thousand babies. When injuries sustained in an accident with a drunk driver left him unable to return to the profession he loved, Michael eventually turned to writing. As the firstborn child of Auschwitz survivors, his father had passed into his keeping the remarkable and inspirational story of his own and his mother’s survival. The Unwilling Survivor is the first part of his family’s story.


Praise for The Unwilling Survivor:

"This spellbinding story is a lesson in courage and honor. A Polish and Russian officer, a gunrunner, a partisan fighter and, above all, a Jew fighting the Nazi machine to save his family, Misha discovers that the one thing he must never lose is himself. He teaches us all that, even in the midst of atrocity and utmost cruelty, we need not be victims. For, as long as we are guided first by our heart and soul, we can retain our nobility. This remarkable novel speaks to anyone who wishes to better understand how the Holocaust, and life after, was survivable."
-Rabbi David M. Frank, Temple Solel, Cardiff, California