Comrades, Avenge Us

About the Book

Maj. William Macnaughton of the Canadian army and Maj. John Bowles of O.S.S. lead a team into occupied Yugoslavia. Captured on Christmas 1944, the team's enlisted men are mercilessly beheaded while Bowles and Macnaughton are held as bargaining chips in case Germany loses the war.

Tortured by the SS, and then liberated at the end of the war--Bowles and Macnaughton hunt for their captors across four continents to bring them to justice.

The book delves into how the United States actually helped some Nazi war criminals escape, including the Nazi who helped put Neil Armstrong on the moon even though he had killed a bunch of GIs in an underground V-2 factory because one of them allegedly stole a loaf of bread. Other points of historical interest is the story of the attempt by Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., to get all of the killers reponsible for the Malmédy Massacre off the hook. McCarthy claimed the U.S.  Army obtained confessions by torturing the SS men by attacking their genitals. That charge turns out to be a lie.

Bowles an all-American from Ohio and Macnaughton who becomes the last Canadian to be knighted organize a team to capture the perpetrators in a story of revenge in the page-turner thriller "Comrades, Avenge us."

Reviews: by Edward J.Trout, a schoolteacher from Bristol, Pa.

I read Stephen's Book in record time. Kudos to Mr. Esrati for a "great" read. It was one of those "rare books" that one wants to slow down when one nears the end. Well all readers of this genre know why. There are few authors who can carry the reader and accurate history in their narrative. Stephen's technique of having his characters narrate "mini-history lessons" on such a complex topic was a "sui-generis" stylistic accomplishment.

Review: by Kevin Begin, a musician from Dayton, Ohio

Stephen Esrati wrote a book that kept my interest from start to finish. I thought I was reading a non-fiction novel until I read the acknowledgements at the end. The story moves quickly starting at the planning stage of a military intelligence operation during WWII and finally focusing on the search for Nazi war criminals. The book has no slow sections, and as such, I was always engrossed with the material. What makes the book read like non-fiction must be the result of Mr. Esrati's dilegent research into the people and places that comprise this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves adventure and the pursuit of justice.

About the Author

Stephen G. Esrati,73, a retired Cleveland Plain Dealer editor and prolific philatelic journalist, was among the first American hostages in Lebanon. He worked on the Boston Herald-Traveler, The Celina (Ohio) Daily Standard, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and The Plain Dealer. Born in Berlin in 1927, Esrati moved to Palestine in 1933 and to the United States in 1937. He holds two degrees in political science from Boston University. He served in Italy in the U.S. Army in World War II and was recalled to active duty for the Korean war. He also served in the Irgun Zvai Leumi, a Jewish underground army in Palestine. He was active in the U.S. Army Reserve through 1960, last as a sergeant first class in the 320th Special Forces Group in Boston. His experiences in Special Forces formed part of the background for his earlier novel, Comrades, Avenge Us. Esrati and 60 other men were removed from a U.S. passenger ship, the Marine Carp, in Beirut shortly after Israel declared its independence in 1948. The Lebanese claimed they were “Zionists heading for Palestine to fight.” They were held about six weeks in a former French army barracks in Baalbek that later became the headquarters of Hizbullah. His nonphilatelic writings have appeared in newspapers on three continents.