Escape To The Tatras: A Boy, A War and A Life Interrupted

“ A taut and gripping memoir ...” - KIRKUS Reviews

Imagine trying to stay alive during the terrifying years of deprivation, deportation and imprisonment of Jews to Nazi labor and extermination camps during World War II. If this weren’t challenge enough for the Štaub family; mother Irene, father Frici and their young son Oskar, all citizens of Prešov located in eastern Slovakia, consider the odds of survival after fleeing into the forbidding Tatra mountains in the winter of 1944, a very last resort, in order to hide from the brutal, paramilitary Slovakian forces and their Nazi German operatives. Robbed of their home, their assets and their very identity, together this family beat the odds and young Osi found the courage and resiliency to cope with physical and emotional challenges far beyond his years.

A coming-of-age story set against the collapse of Slovakia and the conquest of the Allied Forces over Germany, learn how one child’s remarkable journey to safety and adolescence encompasses the essence of Jewish life before the war and the overwhelming tragedy of a genocide whose effects are still being felt around the world. Written with the precision of unfailing memory and the pain of personal experience, Oscar (Osi) Sladek tells an unforgettable story of resilience and personal triumph.

"... a masterpiece of love and survival." - James Carroll - National Book Award Winner, An American Requiem

" ... a gripping page turner ... as dramatic an account of the Holocaust era as a reader is likely to find." - Chris Leppek, Intermountain Jewish News

Over the past six decades, Oscar 'Osi' Sladek - a Colorado Authors Hall of Fame 2025 Inductee - has been regarded as a dedicated and respected professional and cultural / educational leader in Colorado's Jewish community. His positive impact has been considerable. Oscar is a child survivor of the Holocaust from Presov, Czechoslovakia, (now Slovakia) who immigrated to the United States in the late 1950s and settled in Colorado in 1960 with his wife Selma Rosen Sladek. They have four children, seven grandchildren and two great- grandchildren.He is an accomplished composer, musician and singer. After WWII, he emerged as a popular folk artist in Israel where he served in the Israel Defense Forces for three years as musical director and composer of the Northern Command Entertainment Corps. Thereafter, Sladek was a performer on the folk music scene in Hollywood, CA during the late 1950's. In addition to his solo performances, he appeared alongside Rachel Hadass and Theodore Bikel. He and Selma met there, fell in love and moved to Denver where Oscar continued performing. Notably, he headlined the 1960 Colorado Folk Festival at the Denver Auditorium Arena, sharing the stage with Judy Collins, Odetta, Josh White, and other legendary singers.Since that time, Oscar has dedicated his life to Holocaust awareness and education, having been one of the first (and youngest) survivors in Colorado to publicly speak about his life. Osi continues to be one of the state's most prolific speakers, addressing thousands of children and adults of all backgrounds - in schools, prisons, multi-faith organizations, military bases, universities, libraries, government offices and more. His musical performances and public speaking engagements have continued over the past sixty years throughout the Rocky Mountains region, Toronto (Canada) and Southern California. He has also provided steadfast guidance as a community leader who spent the bulk of his career working as executive director of Jewish non-profit organizations.In 2019, Governor Jared Polis presented Osi Sladek with an award honoring his "commitment to inspire understanding, moral courage and social responsibility" at the Mizel Annual Dinner, one of Colorado's largest philanthropic events. In 2025, Sladek was inducted in to the Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame.

As a journalist, Corinne freelances for a variety of print publications, including "Cowboys & Indians", "Western Art & Architecture", "Colorado Life", "Home & Garden Colorado" and others. She was formerly a staff writer for "Working ranch" magazine, "True West" and "Persimmon Hill", the publication of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma.Since, 2015, Corinne has been editor-in chief of "HaLapid," the publication of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, a secular, academic organization committed to the study of the forcefully converted Iberian Jews of the Middle Ages and their global descendants. As a multi-award winning, published author, she is currently working on her ninth book. She looks forward to the release of the sequel to her first novel, "MacGregor's Lantern." titled "MacGregor's return" in 2022.Corinne is a professional member and past president of the Denver Woman's Press Club and a founding member of Women Writing the West. She is a member of Western Writers of America and the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Corinne was named a Fellow of the University of Colorado History Dept. in 2014. She is an alumna of Boston University's School of Fine and Applied Arts and has a graduate degree in design from the Interior Design Institute. She was the original founder of Writing the West, a 20 year accredited writing program held at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado.Corinne and her husband own a home furnishings gallery founded in 1976 (Zoli Contemporary Living) and are importers of European high-end home furnishings. Corinne is an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers. When not writing, she spends her free time designing jewelry and playing with their German Shepherd.