The Author
Howard Herskowitz has been a practicing trial lawyer for over thirty years, which has helped prepare him for presenting the remarkable story of his father, Aaron Herskowitz to many audiences. Howard earned his law degree from Nova University. His upbringing by two Jewish Holocaust survivors fostered a life-long interest in classic film, music and history, with a particular focus on the American Civil War and World War II. He has always had a passionate curiosity about the lack of armed organized Jewish resistance during the Second World War. Especially inspired by the heroic legacy of his father, Howard has built a career as a lawyer fighting for the rights of oppressed victims, often the underdogs, against vastly superior adversaries in numbers and resources. He vigorously prosecutes the cause of his clients in court to obtain the justice they deserve.
Howard Herskowitz convinced his father, Aaron, to tell his astonishing story despite his dad’s resistance to revisiting those nightmarish memories. When Aaron was seventy-five years old, Howard and his brother Louis persuaded their parents to travel back with them to their hometown Bilky in eastern Europe for the first time since the end of World War II. During that trip, Howard began documenting Aaron’s heroic journey on video, capturing many dramatic elements of Aaron’s Reckoning. That was when Howard first realized he had an important book to write about his father’s incredible experiences during World War II. Howard continued documenting this astonishing story during private video interviews with his father during the 1990s.
Howard experiences the same sympathetic passions in his continuous study of history and current international events, where oppressed, innocent out-numbered people manage to overcome dictatorships and achieve victory and freedom. Howard also spoke extensively with his mother Helen about her survival through two concentration camps, and especially regarding the amazing love story of his parents and their incredible reunion after the war, when each thought the other had perished. Howard Herskowitz’s passion for relaying his parents’ struggles and heroism illustrates his devotion to his family and his love for communicating a significant and tragic period in history, with astounding true events never before revealed. Howard also spent several years traveling to various locations in Aaron’s Reckoning and speaking with historians and witnesses to verify all the essentials to convey his father’s story accurately.
Howard Herskowitz has been appearing at a wide variety of speaking engagements to passionately present the remarkable story of his father’s odyssey of survival and retribution against his enemies and the enemies of the Jewish people during World War II. These speaking venues have included high schools, universities, auditoriums, libraries, synagogues, churches and many others.
The Modest Hero
Aaron rarely boasted about his heroic feats, humbly expressing that he was just “the lucky guy.” But as his father’s tale unfolded, Howard began to understand the untold truth kept virtually secret for decades until now, in the story of Aaron’s Reckoning. The Jews did not have political leaders in Europe. The Jewish leaders were the orthodox community rabbis, and their ancient beliefs against organized resistance, even to anti-semitc fascism and against immigration to Palestine (the Jews must wait for the “Messiah” to descend from the heavens to lead them to the Promised Land) played an unwitting role in the murder of so many Jews. Aaron’s stories became even more important as his own truth came out: he defied the rabbis and delivered a measure of justice to his persecutors, and on behalf of those millions of Jews who perished throughout Europe.
Tough Questions
“So Dad, how many Nazis did you kill?” That’s the haunting question young Howard Herskowitz asked his father, Aaron, over and over. His dad’s storytelling about his hair-raising escapes and heroics during World War II fascinated the young boy. But Aaron would never answer that one question.
It is not until decades later, in the small town of Gerjen in Eastern Europe that Howard’s question is finally answered. Another puzzlement to young Howard was why his father would never want to return to Eastern Europe together to relive his exciting adventures with him. Howard was so fascinated with these tales that he dreamed about them, but he didn’t completely grasp the nature of his father’s journey, the horrors he witnessed and the brutality of World War II. As he grew up, Howard found himself plagued by this simple question that has fascinated many historians and observers about the plight of nearly all the Jews during the Nazi occupation: Why didn’t they fight back? After all, the canons of Jewish history are full of tales of heroic uprisings. Didn’t David slay Goliath? What about Judah Maccabee’s epic revolt? What about Samson’s towering strength, that helped defeat the enemies of the Jewish people? Didn’t any of those stories mean anything? The answer is revealed in Aaron’s Reckoning.