“My father is the kindest, gentlest soul I know. Nothing prepared me for the secret he kept for nearly 40 years.”

Poland. There is a six-month gap in Adam Stern’s life. Six months during which he had to vanish from Warsaw, away from his wife and everything he knew, to protect them. To protect himself. To survive.

Displaced and alone, Adam kept silent about what transpired over those six months, deep in the forests between Poland and Russia. But a chance meeting with another Holocaust survivor changes everything.

Decades later, Adam finally reveals his full story to his son, Samson. A tale of a miraculous escape across Poland, of unspeakable acts of survival, and a secret group of survivors, bent on revenge, who leave a blood-red trail across Europe.

Based on a true story, My Father’s Secret is the opening chapter of Samson Stern’s compilation of short, larger-than-life stories. Heartbreaking and inspiring, My Father’s Secret spans multiple continents, decades, and the lives of both survivors and their families, exploring the legacies they have left behind. With their harrowing and gut-punching writing, Samson Stern and Doron Rosenblatt prove that no matter the hardships they face – giants die standing tall.