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Michael Morawey grew up on the north side of Chicago. At 17 he enlisted in the Navy serving in the Quartermaster and Signalman ratings. Subsequent to that tour of duty, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences with a major in psychology and a minor in English Literature at Loyola University Chicago. Upon graduation he was accepted into the Navy’s Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island where he was commissioned an Ensign, USN(R). He served at sea in a destroyer escort, guided missile destroyers and a missile cruiser as well as various shore billets during a twenty-year stint. He also served three combat tours in Vietnam, one on close-inshore contraband interception patrols, another in-country conducting Swift boat riverine operations and a third in the Tonkin Gulf providing missile cover for the “Yankee Station” aircraft carriers as well as shore-bombardment support for army and marine units ashore. He retired as a Lieutenant-Commander in the Regular Navy. Subsequent to his naval service he worked in managerial positions, was self-employed as a wood-carver (a craft he learned from a German master after work hours in Dallas, Texas) and was employed by the state of Texas as an unemployment compensation counselor and, finally, as a judge conducting appeal hearings for the state workforce commission. He resides in the Dallas, Texas area with his wife, Mary Ann. They have three living children and four grand-children.
Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite
Many fiction and non-fiction books have been written about the Holocaust and the horrific treatment of six million Jews by the Nazis. Set basically in the year 1937, "Long Night Coming" is an excellent addition to Holocaust stories and a much needed one at that, for the author tells of brothers Rudi and Wolfgang Bachmann, their wives and children, and how as upper class German Jews working for the Reich, they thought that they'd be spared debasing treatment but they were not. Rudi, a brilliant educator, is sent to Dachau concentration camp for his outspoken words against Hilter and the Gestapo. Wolfgang has long worked for Krupp and has associated with German men of power for years. But even he is let go and warned to leave Germany. Why? He is Jewish. Wolfgang, his wife Esther, Rudi's beautiful and brave wife Rebecca, and their daughters pay a fortune for forged papers and leave Germany for Austria. Will Rudi escape the horrors of Dachau? Will Rebecca be able to save her family and herself from the Gestapo’s inexorable chase? The final chapters of this exciting novel will tell the tale!
"Long Night Coming" is a well-researched, well-written story that testifies to the bravery that German Jews exhibited when they realized that they were to be done in by the Gestapo. Author Michael Morawey has included an excellent bibliography at the end that shows his in-depth research. The Bachmanns are all believable literary characters, even to daughters Deborah and Miriam who learn Catholic prayers to save themselves. Other characters such as Aaron, the aged historian, and Werner who gives up his life to save Rebecca and Rudi, are authentic. The Nazis are portrayed as they were, misguided and often overzealous in their brutality for a cause in which they but no one else believed. There is great suspense throughout the story as the plot flows with breathtaking moments of anxiety to the end. This is a book that should not be missed!
