'The Partisan's Coat': A mysterious historical novel set in Israel - review

Yehiel Grenimann is the son of Holocaust survivors. His mother escaped not only the Nazis but also a Soviet work camp; and his father fought with the partisans. Grenimann was born in Australia and made aliyah in 1973, when he enlisted in the army. Having retired from his position as field director for Rabbis for Human Rights five years ago, Grenimann is now making a name for himself as a distinguished writer. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, with whom he has four children, and seven – soon to be eight – grandchildren.

The Partisan’s Coat is Grenimann’s second novel. In a way, it could be called a coming-of-age novel, as it follows Joey (Yoseph), a shy boy, trying to fit in as a normal Aussie, through to becoming a middle-aged Israeli husband and father. Coming from an assimilated Jewish family, Joey is pulled between a volatile father, so traumatized by the war that he no longer wants any association with Judaism or Zionism; and his mother, who wants him to retain some connection to his Jewish roots. And this becomes a source of friction in his parents’ marriage.

While playing one day in the shed where he hides to escape his parents’ arguments, and an annoying sister, he finds and becomes obsessed with the coat, of the title, and is intrigued to learn that the mysterious previous owner, named Bora, had been a partisan leader. He is even more thrilled to find a genuine bullet hole in the coat. The coat follows him through the book to the very end. It becomes a sort of talisman and an object of veneration linking him to imagined, heroic deeds, which he aspires to emulate.

Emulating a partisan leader

Joey is a rather solitary child. His mother enrolls him in a Jewish youth group where, to his surprise, he begins to make friends and almost unconsciously absorbs a desire to move Israel. Partly fueling his wish to travel to Israel is his desire to return the coat to its original owner, who, he has learned, is still alive and active in clandestine exploits. This character weaves in and out of the pages of the book, sometimes hero sometimes villain.

Against his father’s wish for him to become a respectable Australian doctor and after an initial trip, Joey moves to Israel permanently and becomes Yoseph. The transition is not smooth, but to those of us who came as idealistic youngsters, very relatable.

He goes to live on a kibbutz, where at first he is happy but gradually finds life limiting and boring, although his love of the land is what keeps him going. Friends come and leave, there are tragedies, sorrow, and many moments of joy, but through it all he keeps the coat and the desire to meet the dark and mysterious Bora. This character, partly inspired by the author’s father, partly a composite of actual historical people involved in the early years of the State of Israel, flits through the book and keeps one turning the pages as the reader joins the young man in his quest to know more about the mystery man.

Influenced by friends and the fact that Jenny, a girl he was smitten with, was enlisting in the army, he decides to join the IDF with them as a lone soldier. I must add here, for the benefit of any potential lone soldiers reading this book, things have improved immensely since the days of the setting of the book. It is, after all, a historical novel, although many actual occurrences and characters are found within its pages. Like so many others, Yoseph enlists with excitement and a good deal of trepidation, only to find that army life is both grueling and boring.

However, throughout his army service, the shady figure of Bora is in the background, sometimes sending a brief message, and sometimes, Yoseph feels, invisibly pulling strings.

Yoseph marries Jenny. Although his parents and sister come to the wedding, his father refuses to honor the religious ceremony. Also puzzling is the fact that his father is extremely antagonistic toward any mention of the mysterious Bora. I won’t reveal anymore, except that Yoseph finally does get to meet his mysterious friend...

The book sustains page-turning interest, while giving an authentic view of Israel, warts and all – often good, sometimes bad, and occasionally ugly, but always a beloved country. ■

• The Partisan’s Coat
• Yehiel Grenimann
• Mazo Publishers, 2023
• Soft cover, Kindle, 248 pages
• Available from Amazon worldwide