Ziggy’s Potato

Author’s Note

Dear Reader:

ZIGGY’S POTATO is the voice of my Jewish childhood, inspired by an oft-told tale about my uncle’s friend. As a child, I never questioned how Ziggy’s potato would last for so long, or what it must have smelled like, because his story felt true. 

The real Ziggy was born in Germany.  He had a happy childhood until the Nazis came to power in 1933. On September 1, 1939, World War II began. The Nazis imprisoned most European Jews, including Ziggy, in concentration camps – places where Jews, political prisoners and other enemies of the Nazis were forced to work, mistreated and killed. Ziggy survived the camps through his wits, character, bravery and luck.  The camps were liberated in the winter and spring of 1945. The official end of World War II was September 2, 1945.  Ziggy emigrated to America several years later. He lived to be 93 years old.

However, ZIGGY’S POTATO is not a biography. Instead, I have told Ziggy’s emotional story – a story of bravery, faith in the future, and the will to survive. 

I created Ziggy’s private Seder (dinner) scene because Passover celebrates the journey from slavery to freedom. On Passover, Jews all over the world read the Haggadah which recounts the Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. It is also fitting that on Passover, one gives thanks for the fruit of the earth, often a potato, which is dipped in salt water during the Passover Seder. The salt water symbolizes the tears of affliction.

In the last scene of ZIGGY’S POTOATO, I added the potato’s green shoots– a miracle as improbable and uplifting as Ziggy’s survival.

I have heard and read hundreds of stories, memoirs and testimonies about the war experiences of Jewish men, women and children.  While Ziggy’s life inspired me to write ZIGGY’S POTATO, the lives of so many others also inspired me. 

I hope Ziggy’s story will inspire you.

Sharon Sorokin