{"title":"Historical Novels - European Jewry","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"immigrant-lessons","title":"Immigrant Lessons","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Every time you leave something that has defined you – a lover, a stage of life, a marriage, a country – you are an immigrant, learning immigrant lessons the hard way.” Immigrant Lessons is the story of two women, forty years apart, crossing the sea to the shores of their promised land – one fleeing Hitler, the other pursuing her spirituality – and finding gain as well as loss in the transition. With unusual candor and insight, this warm, lively, and at times laugh-out-loud funny book explores in rich color the rewards and challenges of immigration and family relationships. Part memoir, part lyrical prose poem, Judith Edelman-Green’s fluid tale of dislocation and change, enrichment, growth, and just plain survival will appeal to anyone who has ever been displaced, by circumstance or by choice.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Judith Edelman-Green","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336196280630,"sku":"9789652294135","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i16863.92754.jpg?v=1785304746"},{"product_id":"sobibor","title":"Sobibor","description":"\u003cp\u003eSobibor traces the life of Berek (later Bernard) Schlesinger from his Polish shtetl childhood to his life during the Holocaust – hiding in the woods, finding refuge with non-Jews, confinement in Sobibor, escape during the uprising, working with partisans’ documents. A physician after the war, he follows a relentless, unfulfilled pursuit of retribution for Nazi war criminals through the courts. The Sobibor uprising and its leaders, Alexander Pechersky, are pivotal to the novel. The author, Michael Lev, a product of Soviet Jewish culture, avoids loud rhetoric and heroic pathos, keeping the narration within the limits of realism. A flowing, masterful read. Reviews: Jewish Book World “This novel is a somber, somewhat ghostly retelling of the people and events in the Sobibor death camp. Categorized by the author as “a vivid testament of remembrance,” it is not for the casual reader… The unremitting horrors as revealed through the memories, thoughts, and nightmares of the survivors are shattering… Yet it is the relentless efforts of Berek and other Nazi hunters through which we participate, albeit vicariously, in the trials of two of the most vicious administrators of Sobibor. We are awed at the hunters’ determination to locate and bring these war criminals to justice for their unspeakable acts… If you choose to read this book, do so with the expectation that it will engender a range of emotions—anger, distress, disbelief— which, it is to say, pale in comparison to what Berek and his fellow prisoners experienced at the hands of the Nazis in the Sobibor camp.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michael Lev","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336197165366,"sku":"408-1 \/ g408n","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i17197.03127.jpg?v=1785304768"},{"product_id":"unsafe-haven","title":"Unsafe Haven","description":"\u003cp\u003eA complex and intriguing historical novel, spanning generations and continents, Unsafe Haven explores the consequences of the Holocaust in the portrayal of a host of fascinating characters, among them a Polish thug turned Nazi; a humble yet respected Jewish doctor in the ghetto; and a Jewish couple who give away their only child in order to save her. Through the decades of the Holocaust and post-war Europe, to America of the 60s and 70s and modern-day Israel, author Mayer Abramowitz explores the gamut of the post-Holocaust emotional experience.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mayer Abramowitz","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336487620918,"sku":"311-3","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i59716.26446.jpg?v=1785307441"},{"product_id":"ostrich-feathers","title":"Ostrich Feathers","description":"\u003cp\u003eA baby girl is born in the middle of the Second World War, and survives in a miraculous way thanks to the determination of her mother and the good heartedness of simple people. An Israeli woman abandons her protected life and goes for a quest in the trail of her father, whom she has not recognized. An old Polish man that she meets in Krakow, is contributory to her research, and maybe actually complicates it. A touching, thrilling book that interlaces universal origins: the unbreakable relations between past and present , between Jewish and Israel characteristics, between parents and their children and vice-versa. It teaches a valuable lesson of victory of the optimism on the laxity of the spirit and hopelessness. “My first journey to Krakow in 2000 had unexpectedly changed my life. I had journeyed there to search for traces of my father and his family, about whom I knew nothing. In Krakow, I followed the ghostly tracks and fragments of memories left behind by my father - a quest that resulted in a great gift, the revival of a new, warm family.” Miriam Romm Reviews: Ostrich Feathers is the story of Miriam Romm's search for her father, Moshe (Moniek) Grajower, who disappeared after being arrested and turned over to the Gestapo at the border between Hungary and Slovakia during the spring of 1944. This moving book relates a very personal story, and yet it carries a broader significance in relation to the Israeli and Jewish reality of our times. This is a story of closure. Not only does it reveal to us the fascinating, breathtaking story of Miriam Romm's success in her difficult, complex, almost impossible mission to find her lost father, it also illustrates various aspects of life in Israel for the European Jews whom the Holocaust had uprooted from their homes in Europe- and their children. Miriam-Maria-Hedvika-Grajower-Gajewski was born on November 30, 1944 in Lubela, Slovakia while her mother, Leah-Lonka Grajower nee Haber, was in hiding in the house of a Catholic farming family. Her parents had wed a year earlier, after falling in love in Ghetto Bochnia, 50 kilometers East of Krakow. After the Nazi conquest of Hungary, where the two had been living, they decided to attempt a return to Slovakia. It was then that Moniek was captured and apparently murdered by the Nazis. Miriam and her mother lived in Mikulash until 1948 when they left for Paris. They lived in France until immigrating to Israel in late 1949 aboard the Negba. In 1950, Miriam's mother married Maximilian-Meshulam (Tonio) Lemm, a Polish Jew who had himself illegally immigrated to Israel aboard the Sakaria and who had lost his entire family during the Holocaust. Tonio adopted Miriam and raised her as his own daughter. In 1952, her sister, Nava, was born. I read this entire book in one breath. It is a truly moving story and I strongly recommend it. But this isn't the only reason I chose to write about it. Ostrich Feathers is an extremely Zionist book. And it is Zionist despite the fact that Miriam convinces her mother, during the course of her search, to help her obtain a Polish passport- yet another expression of her growing propinquity to the country and the culture that her father had never left, the same culture which she somehow feels a part of despite the fact she has lived her whole life in Israel. Paradoxically, Miriam was able to choose to be a Polish citizen specifically because she and her family are Jews who consider Israel to be their home. Her mother had contemptuously thrown out her Polish passport and yet her mindset had in many ways remained Polish. With Miriam the opposite had occurred. Her state of mind is Israeli. Her longing is for the landscape of her mother's and father's homeland in Poland. I believe this story further demonstrates just how essential it is for the Jews to have a state of their own - a state in which they do not constitute a minority and where they will not be persecuted and eradicated just because they are Jews; a state whose spoken language and public culture is in Hebrew and whose official holidays are Jewish; a state whose scenery as homeland is not at odds with the community's culture Ruth Gavison Law professor, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Israel Democracy Institute. (These words related to the original Hebrew edition published in Israel in 2007) I was born in Krakow. As a child growing up in this city, I grew familiar with every one of its buildings. Ever since I've visited the city many times, passing through Sebastiana Street, Karkowska Street and the ever-romantic Planty Promenade which Miriam Romm describes so vividly in her book, Ostrich Feathers. I search for the familiar faces of my friends but nothing is left of the city's remarkable Jewish community. I find this to be very tragic. However, Miriam's book does not deal with tragedy but with something more personal: namely, her search for traces of her father. This drama is worthy of the theater, her realization that somewhere out there is a father whom she has never met and whom she feels compelled to search for. This is the most interesting aspect of this well-written book, written with a force that carries the reader on from one page to the next. I believe that as far as remembering those who have passed away, this book is one of the most successful memorials I have ever come across since the Holocaust. It is the memorial of an entire family tree, of all their acquaintances and all those who were lost. I consider Miriam's work to be a work of art. All modesty aside, I have read most Holocaust literature and have written some myself, but I do not wish to compare any of these to the work Miriam has done here. I believe that anyone who takes interest in the Jewish nation, its history and our recent past, should read Ostrich Feathers. NAFTALI LAVIE (LAU) Holocaust Survivor and older brother of former Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau (These words related to the original Hebrew edition published in Israel in 2007) In 1985, I traveled to Poland with the Mengele Twins delegation. Our visas were Romanian. For the right price you could get practically anything from Ceausescu, even Polish visas. In those days, Polish-Israeli relations were completely defunct with no one traveling to and from Israel. I met Kristina in Warsaw while eating dinner at the gloomy old Hotel Europa. Kristina recognized that we were a group of Israelis and struck up a conversation with us, or rather, with me, since I was the only Polish speaker in the delegation. She told me she had been born into a Jewish family but had been placed in the care of a Polish family as a baby. Her parents were murdered, her family was murdered, her entire village was wiped out and only she remained, baby Kristina. Hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews met a similar fate. Only about one thousand of them have discovered their Jewish past, although most of them have decided not to return to their true religion out of respect for their foster families. Miriam Romm's story truly touches on this issue of identity-loss during the time of the Nazi inferno. Insightful, humane and touching, her story contains the essence of Jewish history in those dark times, and particularly the history of Polish Jewry, as she is tossed between adoptive father, Tonio, and biological father, Moshe Grajower who was lost in the forests of Poland. The biographies of Polish Jews, and most European Jews, can beget countless more stories. It is not by chance that such writers as Primo Levi, Imre Kert?sz, Paul Celan, Nelly Sachs, Elie Wiesel (three of whom are Nobel laureates), are considered to be the high priests of memory while the Holocaust has become a new religion, embracing both the Jewish and Christian world as one. The fact that Miriam did not end up as yet another Kristina is due primarily to her mother's great courage and love. Such is the Polish-mother, known to us as the Yiddishe Mama. Ostrich Feathers is yet another book in the endless annals of those who seek identity, those who search for their past, those who delve among the ghosts of the Holocaust and those who have steadfastly sprouted branches and leaves in their homeland and yet adamantly desire to discover their roots. The famous French philosopher, Paul Sartre, stated after his visit to Poland during the late forties: Nowhere else can such terrible life stories be found., and he was right! Prof. Shevach Weiss Holocaust survivor and former member of the Knesset (These words related to the original Hebrew edition published in Israel in 2007)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Miriam Romm","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336520716598,"sku":"9789652294586","price":14.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i70496.38926.jpg?v=1785308090"},{"product_id":"grandfathers-acres","title":"Grandfather's Acres","description":"\u003cp\u003eA novel that presents a mixed Jewish and gentile rural community in Eastern Galicia (Ukraine), at the end of the nineteenth century. An Orthodox Jewish family of farmers struggles with the hardships of daily life, tension with their alien neighbors and the changing moods of nationalism and enlightenment that are sweeping through the countryside. Moments of sorrow and those of happiness punctuate the lives of these determined and devoted Jewish farmers, against a backdrop of sometimes frightening political change. The lives and the way of life, portrayed in this novel are told with a deep admiration and love, which serves as a literary testimony to a reality that, 50 years later, went up in flames. Isaac Metzker (1900-1984) emigrated from those very surroundings presented in his novel, to the USA in 1924. He was a teacher in the Workers’ Circle and a writer, editor and journalist at the Jewish Daily Forward. He worked tirelessly to spread the Yiddish culture in his new homeland. He was the author of a number of books for young adult readers, historical novels and stories. He was also the editor of two popular volumes titled, “A Bintel Brief.” Reviews: Aside from the personal angle (Isaac Metzker was my third cousin, and he is writing about a village in which my father lived for five years during the First World War), this is a wonderful book for anyone who has wondered what daily village life was like for the Jews of Eastern Galicia in the 19th century. Almost every page has one or more details that I've never seen anywhere else, from the type of lighting used, to the nature of the floors, from superstistions surrounding pregnancy and child birth to the everyday relations between Jews and Christians in the villageand on and on. It's a gem, and the writing is great, too. - Saul Lindenbaum, April, 2007\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Isaac Metzker","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336526844214,"sku":"337-7","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i72039.7259.jpg?v=1785308187"},{"product_id":"conversations-with-my-ancestors","title":"Conversations With my Ancestors","description":"\u003cp\u003eMany family genealogists have wondered how to make sense of the disparate collection of documents and gaps in documentation that they have been able to unearth about their ancestors, but few have succeeded as Andrew Sanders has in reconstructing the lives of their forebears. Using documents and known historical facts as a starting point, he has engaged in an extensively researched imaginary dialogue with his ancestors to create a fully drawn portrait of his family. The result is a rich narrative that reads like a novel, drawing us into the lives of one Jewish family caught in the maelstrom of Eastern European history. In the mid-eighteenth century, the Austrian emperor Charles VI decreed that in the Czech provinces, only the oldest son of a Jewish family could marry. What were the others to do? They found heaven, or so they thought, in the nearby land of Hungary. The Magyars ethnic Hungarians welcomed anyone willing to learn their difficult language and commit to their nationality. The Bohemian, Moravian, as well as some Austrian and Silesian Jews were enthusiastic in accepting that invitation. They became Hungarian Jews, built a successful Western European style country for their hosts, and subsequently, their effort was rewarded by the massacre of over half a million of them at the hands of the Hungarian Nazis. This detailed story of one such family makes an engaging read for anyone interested in Hungarian Jewry, genealogy, or families.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Andrew Sanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336577372470,"sku":"9789652295019","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i87528.27691.jpg?v=1785309155"},{"product_id":"between-heaven-and-earth","title":"Between Heaven and Earth","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver one hundred years ago, one woman decided to change her life... When Zara Rubens is suddenly widowed, she decides to take control of her life and visit Palestine. Zara creates a new life for herself in nineteenth-century Jerusalem. She becomes acquainted with such legendary figures as British Consul James Finn and his fascinating wife Elizabeth, Reverend Conrad Schick, and the renowned painter William Holman-Hunt. As a writer for the nascent New York Times, Zara becomes embroiled in a precarious situation at the Russian Compound – with surprising discoveries. Over a century later, New York museum curator Rebecca Silver inherits her great-aunt’s diaries. She becomes fascinated by Zara’s activities. But as she delves into Zara’s life, she discovers that there was more to her aunt than meets the eye – and more to Rebecca herself, if she is willing to search within. An historical novel of mystery, intrigue…and discovery\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sue Kerman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336579371318,"sku":"9789652295163","price":12.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i8802.732321.jpg?v=1785309177"},{"product_id":"endless-memories-hebrew","title":"Endless Memories (Hebrew)","description":"\u003cp\u003eEndless Memories contains three fascinating stories portraying in a heartrending fashion the anguish and suffering of Jewish war victims. Each story depicts a basic reality, around which the individual experiences of the main character have been molded in the form of a novel. The purpose of the author, to preserve the 1940-1945 memories of his Jewish fellow human beings, has definitely been realized by this publication\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Avraham Daniels","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336648741174,"sku":"9789652296276","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i106995.9119.jpg?v=1785310252"},{"product_id":"the-wandering-jew-has-arrived","title":"The Wandering Jew Has Arrived","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1929 Albert Londres, a non-Jew and renowned journalist, set out to document the lives of Jews at this time. His travels to England, Eastern Europe and finally Palestine produced the literary masterpiece, “The Wandering Jew has Arrived.” In the East End of London, Londres is moved by the unswerving faith of the Jews. In Eastern Europe he is astounded by the misery and plight he witnesses. The bleak picture is redeemed by his gentle humor, sharp observations and the unforgettable portraits he paints of the exotic individuals he encounters along his way. Londres vividly depicts the birth of Zionism and the wave of pogroms that propelled Jewish immigration to Palestine at the turn of the 20th century. In Palestine, he discovers the new “metamorphosed” Jew, and his succinct, harrowing descriptions of the Arab massacres of the Jews of Hebron and Safed expose an age-old animosity that is still very much alive today. Presciently, Londres’ investigation provides startling insight into how the unthinkable—the Holocaust—could happen, sweeping across Europe barely a decade after the publication of his book. His evocative, passionately and very personally told story transports readers back to a pivotal moment in history and offers an invaluable perspective on Jewish life in the early twentieth century, on the nascent days of the State of Israel, and on the ongoing strife that has engulfed the region ever since. The Wandering Jew Has Arrived is as relevant today as when first penned.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Helga Abraham and Albert Londres","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54336743538998,"sku":"g889 \/889-8","price":16.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i22582.667365.jpg?v=1785311604"},{"product_id":"all-about-eva","title":"All About Eva","description":"\u003cp\u003eRudy Brook had just passed the German Bar exam and married his childhood sweetheart. Hitler’s coming to power put an end to Rudy’s law career, and his wife, Eva, dashed his Zionist dream, insisting they emigrate to America instead of Palestine. Their arrival in 1938 on Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass) spared them that calamity and the even graver one to follow. But that’s only half the story. Eva’s connections to the upscale refugee colony in Los Angeles led Rudy to become a gardener to stars such as Judy Garland, and Eva to become a masseuse to other celebrities, actor Alexander Granach among them. A big name in pre-Nazi Germany and featured in Ninotchka with Greta Garbo, his affair with Eva would wreak havoc on the budding Brook family and leave Eva with a life-altering decision about herself and the author’s older brother. Harrowing yet uplifting, All About Eva combines elements of the memoir and the historical novel to tell a compelling tale of three remarkable individuals and the tumultuous times in which they lived.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vincent Brook","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54337061323062,"sku":"7023-76","price":15.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i292872.97767.jpg?v=1785315882"},{"product_id":"the-wealthy","title":"The Wealthy","description":"\u003cp\u003eA vast amount of research was invested in this book, and readers will enjoy the detailed reconstructions. Bar-Yosef provides rich, colorful descriptions of life in Prussia in the nineteenth century; Jewish life in central Europe; the world of German and English science; the nuances and rituals of British royalty; the political world of Britain before and after the First World War; and the network of hidden ties between Arabs, Bedouins, British, and Jews in Mandatory Palestine. This is a major work of historical research. Zur Ehrlich , Makor Rishon This novel is very impressive. It provides a picture of non-Jewish and Jewish life, particularly the characteristic problems and prejudices that Jews encountered among non-Jews. The writing reflects great talent. The characters and the period come alive for the reader. I enjoyed it very much. Eli Amir , prize-winning author of Scapegoat, The Dove Flyer, and many more The writing is outstanding, to put it mildly – restrained but precise. The historical information is rich and fascinating. The characters are interesting and moving, while the family story serves to illuminate history. Emuna Alon , author of If You Awaken Love, House on Endless Waters, and many more\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hamutal Bar-Yosef","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54337149403446,"sku":"7023-98 g7398","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/2092\/2422\/files\/i309837.64426.jpg?v=1785316998"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.gefenpublishing.com\/collections\/historical-novels-european-jewry.oembed","provider":"Gefen Publishing House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}