Creating a Homeland - Dan Gielan

Creating a Homeland is the true story of two families from Eastern Europe whose dedication, sacrifice, and pioneering spirit helped bring about the modern State of Israel as a homeland for Jews anywhere: Sam, the young man with two engineering degrees who speaks seven languages who gives up a promising engineering career in France to work as a technician fixing refrigerators in the desert of Palestine; Leah, the young girl who joins the Haganah underground at age 15 and risks her life to defend the nation; the newlyweds, who must keep their their activities secret from each other in their quest to build a country; and others who come from all over the world to help a nascent nation being threatened with extinction.

But there is also Isaac, the secular Jew who believes his financial success and position in Latvian aristocracy will shield him and his family from Hitler, only to be so painfully crushed by the cruelty of the Nazi regime.

This is an inspiring tale of love, tenacity, and courage in the face of almost insurmountable odds. But as with all families, it is also full of personal successes and failures, joys and disappointments.

This is a story of ordinary people who rose to the occasion with extraordinary dedication and commitment, risking it all -- because that is what the times required.