The Watchmaker’s War

A new beginning. And old enemy. A perilous choice.

Yakov Holtzman arrives as ‘a displaced person’ in Melbourne – a destination as far away as it is possible to get from the graveyard that is Europe. He has put behind him the years he spent as a Nazi resistance leader with a band of partisans in the forests of Lithuania – and the family he lost – to join his brother and start a new life as the watchmaker he once was.Yakov now looks for solace – and love – in the fragmented and traumatised community of Jewish refugees taking root in a new land. But it is not long before disturbing signs of Nazi activity start appearing in the quiet streets the St Kilda community inhabits – swastikas, threats and, worst of all, faces that look like murderous enemies from the past.Yakov’s old instincts are revived and a new mission forms. Who are these people? Why does it seem the authorities are protecting them? And how best can justice – or revenge – be served?Based on a true story of Nazi hunters in Australia, and war criminals with links to the top of Australia’s spy agency, this is a compelling tale of revenge, justice, shame and the lingering trauma of genocide.