In Beyond Belief, Hanoch Teller recounts in rich detail the story of Salek Orenstein and what he witnessed growing up in the Polish shtetl of Apt (Opatow). Here is a personal, up-front view of a world that was, from the water shlepper to the rebbetzin, from the grain merchant to the beggars, to the Shabbos goy, and absolutely everyone in between, with humor, pathos, and angst.

This memoir, based on Salek Orenstein’s firsthand testimony and written with stunning detail by Hanoch Teller, transcends mere historical reporting. It is a tribute to the unbreakable spirit of one man and the enduring legacy of a generation that after suffering atrocities beyond belief, chose to embrace the future.