"GOAT FOR AZAZEL" - A WORLD WAR II STORY is the saga of the friendship

between two Poles, a Christian and a Jew,against the backdrop of events that

enfolded in Europe between 1939-1945.

During this six-year span,Henry Kaplinski, a Jew, is forced to live

and survive as a Christian. A sequence of events propels him from the Red

Army to the German Wehrmacht. At the same time,his childhood friend, Edward

Daszkiewicz is drawn closer to Jewish values and culture through his love of

a woman who, while raised Catholic,discovers her Jewish roots in the mids of

war.

The action of the story moves from Soviet-occupied Poland to

Finland,Russia,Germany,Italy and England. There is also a parallel sub-plot

involving

a U.S.Air Force pilot,Col.Paul Krafchin,who sees action in the European

campaign.

The various twists and turns of fate alternatively separates and rejoins the

characters, always under the constantly-changing and immensely trying

circumstances of the war.

The novel,much like the film,"Saving Private Ryan", uses true

historical facts and details to uncover the essential elements of human

nature. It is only under difficult times that what is true and real of people

becomes revealed. The enduring values of

loyalty,human dignity and freedom are put to test over again in the extreme

conditions of deprivation,hunger and fear for one's survival.