"From Tajikistan to the Moon" is a Memoir of Robert Frimtzis' story of tragedy, survival and triumph of the human spirit will inspire the reader to navigate the mazes in life and overcome its obstacles. He speaks particularly kindly about his treatment by Italians during his arduous journey that took Frimtzis born in Moldavia, (between Rumania and the Ukraine), whose family fled the Nazi's Blitzkrieg 3000 miles eastward to Tajikistan, and after the war trekked back across half Europe and eventually ended up in Cremona, Italy, and then Geneva Switzerland, and thence to the USA. 

I haven't figured out why Frimtzi's is referred to as Polish/*Polacchi*

"From Tajikistan to the Moon"

Tajikistan officially the Republic of Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Most of Tajikistan's population belongs to the Tajik ethnic group, who share culture and history with the Iranian peoples and speak the Persian language.Tajikistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR)

Frimtzis in his own words, provides a unique account of life in displaced person's (DP) camps in Italy during the 1947-1950 era of the mass exodus of European Jews who survived the Holocaust and searched for freedom and new beginnings. Frimtzis gives great credit to ORT. 
[ ORT- In 1880 a small group of prominent Russian Jews petition Czar Alexander II for permission to start a fund to assist Jewish trade schools and establish new colonies, agricultural schools and model farms in order to help Russia's five million Jews, that leads to create the "Society for Trades and Agricultural Labor" for Jews of Russia." It is from this original name, Obschestvo Remeslenovo i. Zemledelcheskovo Trouda that the ORT acronym is derived. Now "Organization for Rehabilitation through Training" (ORT). there are ORTs in 60 Countries and have trained Millions of Jews, during the last 130 years. ]

Frimtzis states, I am not an Italian but have great admiration and love for the Italian people. These feelings have stayed with me from when I was a teenager (age 16-19) living there post World War II to this day. That includes my love of Italian opera, bell canto, art, style, the zeal of life, and the sharing of their company. I travelled on trains to Rome and Naples to inquire about the status of our visas at the American consulate. I learned to speak Italian fluently while living as a poor refugee in (DP) camps in many parts of the country.
Never was I discriminated in Italy for being a Jew, having survived the Nazi onslaught of our city. I will never forget the kindness of the Italian people toward the unfortunate poor refugees even though they had lived under the influence of Fascist Mussolini and under the watchful eye of the Vatican. They referred to us as *Polacchi *instead of *Ebrei *since the earlier* profughi* were from Poland.* *That is to be contrasted with the neutral, democratic Swiss behavior, who lived in prosperity and lack of war for some seven centuries, where young boys called me "sal Juif" dirty Jew, when I lived there as an international student of the Central ORT Institute in Aniere pres Geneve. I roomed at the Institute with a young man named Vittorio Pavoncello who was born in Rome. We and another refugee from the Cremona DP camp formed the Italian contingent. Since he spoke only Italian he could only converse with us. I am also making reference in the book to Primo Levi, as compared to my uncle who survived the concentration camps in Bershad, Ukraine (Transnistria) and the murder of his younger brother, who was buried in a mass grave with 300 other victims. He was depressed and lamented for the rest of his living days wishing he would have taken the place of his brother, a physician who was more deserving to live and help humanity.

In a short excerpt from page 154 of Frimtzis book: A few days after our arrival in Milan, my parents sent me to expedite a registered letter to New York. I walked out of the DP camp at *Via Unioni*, still wearing torn pants from my crossing the Alps. I reached the trolley stop in front of the *Panettone Motta. *Because of my attire and lack of Italian language skill, I felt too embarrassed to ask for assistance from strangers on the street. I finally set aside my pride and approached an impeccably dressed gentleman in his fifties.
"Posta, America," I said as I showed him the letter.

"Ho capito" He nodded and took me by my hand. We boarded the trolley, and he paid my fare. After a couple of stops, we got off. He escorted me to the post office and helped me send the letter, then returned with me aboard the trolley to the stop in front of the *Panettone Motta.* He refused to accept the payment I offered.

"Grazie, grazie" I thanked him profusely as I bowed.

I have not encountered other Italians quite like him. However, he is a good example of the reason I love the Italian people.

*From Tajikistan to the Moon *is a compelling true story of the spellbinding events of World War II and my escape. Written from a unique Soviet perspective, it brings to life my flight to freedom and my ultimate success in America. Against all odds, a ten-year-old boy from Beltz (Moldova) evaded Nazi capture, bombs, imminent starvation and deprivation in a mud hut in Tajikistan, escaped from the Soviet Union, and trekked across half Europe.

In America he earned a Bachelor's from CCNY and a Master's degree from Columbia University both in electrical engineering without finishing high school. To top it off, he contributed to America's accomplishments in space (worked with Neil Armstrong), developed scientific and defense satellites to keep America strong.

This inspirational story is worth reading as I bear testimony to my life as a young boy caught up in the subhuman existence of a war refugee, a displaced person, separated by unseen borders of discrimination and war, who managed to live a full and rewarding life, achieving the American dream, making a difference in the world for generations to come.

I have written the book as a result of a solemn promise I made to my mother at he age of ten during bombardments and strafing by the Nazi Luftwaffe to write a book and tell the world what happened to innocent people so it should not be repeated. In keeping with that promise distributing it to the wide public is my obligation.

http://www.atlasbooks.com/marktplc/02547.htm
 

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