There is no surrealism in my findings in this Holocaust survivor’s life, other than the word or a form of it has been used so many times in this book; I began to choke! Ivan Z. Gabor’s autobiography as told to and written by Jeffrey Beal, “Echoes of My Footsteps” became, on one hand a page turner for me because I skipped over some parts – constant layers of what a reader knows is next, but Beal has to tell every little twist, turn and thought. I don’t want to read a textbook.
I suspect on the other hand as Ivan told his story, such as after being spared from firing squad (Page 80), the safe haven they fled to secure their war-hunger bodies, and then the food discovery, regardless of it being cake batter, I cannot imagine a young boy, a seven-month with child woman, and an old woman debating on the cooking process: “By unanimous proclamation we committed ourselves to enduring the baking process.” (Page 85) Too many “cake layers” and there is much more of it throughout the book.
There is no doubt in my mind that Ivan was not spared by luck. The day will come when he will know the truth, but what I also know is that he is a real life Holocaust survivor, and comparable to accounting procedures, Beal has successfully detailed every ‘finger-licking’ action leading up to the outcome. What Gabor has endured in his boyhood days by the leadership of that torturous slim that slaughtered so many of God’s children – a horrendous tragedy does not even come close as a label. However, what comes in Gabor’s future journeys, although much more different ups and downs, I suspect Ivan, the man in 1963 could have easily attested that his Father’s excerpted words from a letter, meant for a boy of 13 then, “…I hope that God will keep you healthy and happy for many years to come,” has undoubtedly been proven.
Further in my evaluation, I did enjoy the flip-flop from past to Miami – it kept me inhaling the Beal-Gabor huge bumper crop of thoughts. Frankly, I have this itching feeling, “Echoes of My Footsteps” could be another “Katie Morosky-Hubbell Gardner” big screen smash.
Review by Ben Rayman
