The Untold Story of an Undercover Hero of Israel inspired by my grandfather’s life story.
Greetings to my family, friends and colleagues.
As some of you know, I have spent the last couple years researching my grandfather’s life experience, learning about his childhood growing up in Europe just before the start of World War II, about his experience as a pro wrestler and his contributions to the founding of the state of Israel and his work for years after in various undercover missions in support of the country he loved. After learning more about his life, I became passionate about the desire to share his contributions and tell his story to others. Over the last year and a half I have worked on a self-published book, inspired by my grandfather of blessed memory, which is now available and I would greatly appreciate your support in reading and spreading the word about it.
Here is a quick overview of the book:
The UNDERCOVER WRESTLER is a historical fiction novel set in post-World War II Czechoslovakia, which tells the incredible story of my grandfather, Zalman Unreich On, a highly regarded wrestler and undercover spy. Zalman was a religious boy whose father hoped his son would become a Rabbi; instead he used his wrestling background to defend the Jewish people, first in the streets in Bratislava and later in Palestine and eventually Israel, negotiating the Czechoslovakian Arms Deal that helped the State of Israel defend itself during its early days. While working as an Israeli diplomat, Zalman helped the victims of the Communist anti-Jewish “show-trials” and he smuggled many people across the Iron Curtain in Europe. As a spy he was a master of deceit, never getting caught, in contrast to many of his peers. Zalman was a consummate professional, who left little traces of his work. As a result, his story is untold, until now.
I sincerely appreciate your support in helping me get this book launched with some great momentum. Let me know if you have any questions or ideas for me.
Thank you, -David.
PS. In 2019, I had the privilege to visit the “Archiv Bezpecnostnich Slozek” also known as the Czech Security Services Archive in Prague. I was fortunate to review the remaining fragments of the StB case file on Zalman.