Book Review: The Watchmakers by Harry Lenga and Scott Lenga

I loved the book, The Watchmakers by Harry Lenga and Scott Lenga, and devoured all 262 pages in one afternoon. I simply could not put it down. There was also a glossary, sources and endnotes that I used and or skimmed as needed. I have to admit this book sat for 3 days because I was afraid to pick it up. I had spent my entire high school years researching the Holocaust and I know the depth of evil that can be in humanity. Learning about the Holocaust and the level of depravity at literally every level: mental, emotional, physical that the Nazi regime used to control a nation and erase over 6 million people makes it easy to imagine any evil on the earth. I don’t say that to take away from any other people group. It is just a fact. Nothing that has happened to any other people group didn’t happen to the Jews during the Holocaust in calculated fashion, yet amongst the hate, filth and depravity there is the beautiful part of humanity: in the midst of the worst some of us are able to come together in love and hold each other up.

This book is written by Scott Lenga, yet he lovingly used interviews and memories of his father, Harry Lenga’s stories and tried to keep the story in his father’s voice. Three brothers: Maileckh, Moishe and Khil had humble beginnings as poor Jewish sons of a watchmaker that honored the religious traditions of his faith.

“For the rest of my life, I resented my father’s readiness to give charity to other people despite the immediate and cruel expense to our family. But it was the religious discipline and poverty that would later translate into valuable survival skills when I needed them during the war. My father’s true reward for his suffering and his commitment to charity was not the two zlotys (Polish currency worth .01) from a strange customer but rather that his four sons would survive the Shoah (Holocaust).” Harry Lenga, Chapter 2

Khil was outgoing and able to speak to many people. He enjoyed his studies and also enjoyed learning to repair watches with his father. There were other opportunities for Khil to learn other trades but he felt his father was an excellent and patient teacher. These things he learned from his father’s workbench would later save his life and the lives of his brothers in the darkest days.

As the Germans were taking over different parts of Poland the brothers traveled from their home in Koshnitz to Warsaw, Poland looking for work. The older brothers were learning to cut leather for shoes, while Khil continued to practice his trade and become better at it under the help of other watchmakers. Soon the Germans were in Warsaw and Khil was summoned to the Parliament building.

“Looking back on it now, It’s unbelievable what happened in that room in the Parliament building. If a Polish guy wanted to beat up a Jew, he would yell at you first. He would call you “dirty Jew” or “Christ killer” or something like that. He would beat you only after he made himself angry. But those German guys were not even angry. They didn’t call me dirty Jew or any other name. They were completely  without emotion, without rakhmunes (compassion), without anything. Even when they saw the blood on me, it didn’t affect them. It was just their job, and they are enjoying it. The guy at the typewriter had been laughing. For him, it was entertainment, a comedy. They were doing those beating the whole day, one after another.” Harry Lenga, Chapter 4

Because the address on his identification card had been bombed he was safe for some time before he was found so he didn’t have to leave immediately. He was able to work a bit longer before going home. With the help of a friend he was able to sneak out of the Warsaw Ghetto and get home to his family without being killed.

He was happy to see his family although it wasn’t long before one of his father’s trusted friends let him know that he needed to send his sons away if he wanted them to live. Mikhoel Lenga sent his 3 sons away with as many watchmaking tools and parts as they could carry, which served them well. By morning the boys’ father was picked up and taken to Treblinka.

Treblinka was an extermination camp. More Jews were killed at Treblinka than any other extermination camp except Auschwitz. The Germans only set up extermination camps in Poland. In Poland 2.7 million people were murdered by asphyxiation with poisonous bass or by shooting. – Chapter 6

“We three brothers made a pact between us that whatever happened to one would happen to all of us. If one got taken to be killed, we all wanted to be killed. If we saw a chance to save each other, we had to try…and we did.” Harry Lenga, Chapter 7

There was a theme where the brothers, especially Khil, had to be brave enough to ask for help. Always willing to give what they had for their brother, but always willing to ask for what they needed.

“We worked hard to keep hope in our minds and not to become meshuga (crazy). And the more you talked yourself into it the more you believed in that hope. If a hungry person believes that he’ll find something to eat later, he can last longer. If he thinks, It’s pointless  and I won’t survive, he dies faster. I saw it happen many times. Pessimism is a terrible sickness. You destroy yourself. You have to have optimism all the time.” Harry Lenga, Chapter 9

The three brothers: Maileckh, Moishe and Khil were together through 2 ghettos and several concentrations camps:

• Warsaw Ghetto – Poland
• Koshnitz Ghetto – Poland
• Gorczycki Camp – Poland
• Wolanow Slave Labor Camp – Poland
• Starachowice Slave Labor Camp – Poland
• Auschwitz-Birkenau Extermination Camp – Poland
• Mauthausen Concentration Camp – Austria
• Melk Concentration Camp – Austria
• Ebensee Concentration Camp – Austria

Once they were freed the three brothers were reunited with their oldest brother. They are able to change their names and establish their own lives. Mailech changed his named to Marcel and moved to Paris. Moishe changed his name to Morris and moved to The United States. Khil changed his name to Harry, after Harry Truman and he also moved to The U.S.

All the brothers eventually married and had families and were able to be together for the wedding of one of their children before one brother died. Each one was a successful business owner. Scott wrote that he knew not to complain to his father about any thing. Most things Scott might find unpleasant were nothing compared to what his father had endured and could endure. He said that the blue tattoo on his arm was something he ever got used to seeing like a mole or a scar. Scott had great empathy for his father, living in an adopted culture that could not possibly understand him.

The atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust still happen today. Now we call it slavery, sex trafficking, child abuse, domestic violence, religious purification and many other names. Hate comes in many names. What can we do? Hold onto hope and share it loudly. When you see abuse, help where you can. Love fiercely. Persecution will always be there, choose peace and optimism knowing that if you get through this you can live another day to do better.

There were times that Harry had the ability to get revenge. He chose to let revenge be for someone else for his own peace. He understood that his revenge might be justified but by joining in the hate he would tear himself apart. When you join in the hate that is what you do.

I want to thank my sister, Jamie Holloway, for sharing this book with me. If you would like to read her book review you can find it at JamieChasesButterflies.com.

Buy your own copy of The Watchmakers: A Story of Brotherhood, Survival, and Hope Amid the Holocaust by Harry Lenga and Scott Lenga on Amazon.

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