War Boys: A Father and Son Memoir by Jason Prokowiew

Description

What happens when the wounds of war become the inheritance of the next generation?

In War Boys, Jason Prokowiew delivers an unforgettable memoir that intertwines two extraordinary lives: his own difficult childhood growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father, and his father’s unimaginable struggle to survive the horrors of World War II after the Nazis murdered his family.

As a child, Jason lived in constant fear. His father’s unpredictable violence and alcoholism left him isolated, ashamed, and searching for a sense of worth while also coming to terms with his identity as a gay man. Determined to understand the man who caused him so much pain, Jason begins an extraordinary investigation into his father’s past.

What he discovers is a story of remarkable endurance. As a young boy during the war, his father was forced to survive alone in a world consumed by brutality, loss, and impossible choices. The trauma that enabled him to stay alive also left emotional scars that shaped the father he would later become.

Moving between personal memoir, historical biography, and family reckoning, War Boys examines how trauma echoes across generations, how children inherit wounds they did not create, and whether empathy can coexist with accountability. Rather than offering easy answers, Prokowiew explores the difficult work of confronting painful histories while searching for compassion and healing.

Honest, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, War Boys is a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of telling our stories and listening to those of others.

Book Details

• Author: Jason Prokowiew
• ISBN: 1949487709
• Format: Paperback
• Genre: Memoir, LGBTQ+ Memoir, History
• Themes: Intergenerational Trauma, World War II, Family, Abuse, Healing, Identity, Survival, Forgiveness