Once We Were Brothers opens with Ben Solomon, an 83 year old Holocaust survivor, stuffing a Lugar into his tuxedo cummerbund and heading to the Chicago Lyric Opera opening night gala. Once there, Ben seeks out Elliot Rosenzweig, a wealthy scion of Chicago business and philanthropy, points the gun at him and publicly accuses him of being a Nazi named Otto Piatek. Elliot, also a Holocaust survivor, refuses to press criminal charges although he adamantly denies being a Nazi. However Ben, firm in his conviction, retains attorney Catherine Lockhart to sue Rosenzweig for stealing his family's property during the war.
The rest of the novel alternates between Ben's narrative of growing up with Otto Piatek in Poland and Catherine's legal maneuverings to pursue Ben's claim. Ben's story of his family before and during the Nazi occupation is a compelling page turner. Because Catherine seems to have little knowledge of the Holocaust, Ben carefully tells of his family's actions and motivations. He explains why they initially chose not to leave Poland, and sensitively describes the war's increasing horrors in a manner more harrowing than graphic. At the heart of the story is Ben's relationship with Otto, who was raised by Ben's family but ultimately betrays them.
