By Jen Samuel, Managing Editor
HIGHTSTOWN — Jasha Levi, 90, is a witness to the atrocities of war.
"Requiem for a County: A History Lesson” is Mr. Levi’s second book written in English. It describes the history of how his native country, Bosnia, the former Yugoslavia, was torn apart repeatedly by war.
Mr. Levi will present an illustrated talk on “Requiem” this Saturday at the Enchantment Community Clubhouse, 1 Hights Blvd., Hightstown, at 4 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public.
An open discussion and book signing will follow at Mr. Levi’s home.
Mr. Levi moved to Hightstown two years ago with his wife Mary. He previously lived in Plainsboro Township for more than 20 years.
"Requiem for a Country” is a political memoir and history lesson.
"Its text reads like an adventure novel, yet it can serve as a geopolitical primer, with footnotes and (annotations), tackling the controversies of our times,” Mr. Levi’s Website states.
The book delves into topics including Eastern Europe, the Cold War, racial laws under Benito Mussolini in Italy and genocide, among other historical subject matter related to World War II.
"My book is dedicated to all the people everywhere who were torn out of their roots,” Mr. Levi said on Monday. “What I am talking about is the genocide and persecution of the 20th century and 21st, too.”
The author of several Corsican books, Mr. Levi’s first book written in English, which was published in 2009, is titled “The Last Exile.”
"(This memoir) is about the dissolution of what used to be a harmonious coexistence of multiethnic people of Yugoslavia, as well as about the destruction of Sephardic life in Bosnia,” according to Mr. Levi’s Website.
His newest book, “Requiem,” tells of the time before, during and after the Holocaust.
"People can draw their own conclusions,” Mr. Levi said of “Requiem.” He described its content as “one of the most turbulent times in history.”
He experienced the 1940 student revolt that toppled the pro-Nazi government in pre-war Belgrade. He escaped from Sarajevo in 1941.
Mr. Levi recalled being 19 at the time.
"To be yanked out of your life . . . You don’t have the roots (anymore) and someone was able to do it to you,” he said. “That’s something that is very hard to imagine for someone who is born here.”
Mr. Levi said, “We are facing a lot of that (uprooting) in the world (now).”
After leaving his homeland as a young man upon Nazi invasion, he was confined for three years as an enemy civilian in Asolo, Italy.
"We were Jewish but we were treated as civilians,” he said of Asolo.
After escaping confinement, he lived underground for nine months in Rome from 1943 to 1944.
"All the people I knew disappeared,” Mr. Levi said of World War II.
Although he survived the Nazis, after the Soviet’s attempt to control Yugoslavia in 1948, Mr. Levi went on to become an international journalist.
"While reporting from the United Nations on the Soviet invasion of Hungary, I sought asylum in New York in despair over my homeland ever becoming a democratic nation. At 35, I started a new life in America, as a laborer, draftsman, sales clerk, and eventually executive of two national non-profits,” his Website states.
Mr. Levi noted that the Bosnian War, of the 1990s, is being told in a new movie, In the Land of Blood and Honey, by director Angelina Jolie.
Mr. Levi said that war and genocide end only when the world comes together to stop it.
"And, eventually it stops, but a lot of people have been killed, millions of people have been killed. I don’t think we have developed a mechanism from stopping them.”
Still, “They’re always good people,” Mr. Levi said.
To learn more, visit www.jashalevi.com.

