Recommended reading

Specially recommended  reading for a greater understanding of the experiences of children of survivors:

- The classic by Helen Epstein, “Children of the Holocaust,” in addition to being the first to address the issue, this book continues being a valuable mirror where we can see ourselves reflected in different testimonies that this journalist recorded, together with the development of her own story as daughter of survivors.

- The book by the psychologist, Dina Wardi, “Memorial Candles. Children of the Holocaust” is an attempt to understand and conceptualize our experience based on her professional work with children of survivors in Israel.

- The fictionalized and novelized testimonials by: Art Spiegelman (in comic-book form, he relates his personal experience as a child of survivors, interacting with the stories of his parents);

 - David Grossman (in this marvelous novel, the first chapter of which I am especially fond, “Momik,” is an eight-year-old boy who we accompany as he experiences doubts, tribulations, fears and confusions in relation to all that he sees, hears and doesn’t understand about the Shoah);

- Eva Hoffman (a testimonial narrative of her adaptation to a new country and the cultural shock she experiences; emotional and highly conceptual), the narrative of Julie Salomon (the voyage of “return” to Poland together with her mother);

- The dazzling work by Jorge Semprún (he puts into words the content and process of his fifty-year silence) and, of course,

- The entire works of  Simon Wiesenthal, Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi,  whom require no explanation.

There are three works that I consider indispensable for gaining an understanding of the survivors / appeared:

- The work by Tom Segev, “The Seventh Million. The Israelis and the Holocaust,” in which he illustrates with historical documentation the resistance that was offered to the survivors; although Segev addresses the issue as part of what seems to be an anti-Zionist stand and which might be suspected of political motives that make some of the ideas “a matter of opinion” or questionable, there is still value in his research and strength in the documentation that he provides.

- The work by Terrence Des Pres, “The Survivor. An anatomy of life in the death camps” particularly the chapter, “The excremental assault.” I felt the text to be so vital as to include it in its entirety.

- The profound and reflective essay by Lawrence Langer, “Holocaust Testimonies, The Ruins of Memory,” based on an exhaustive examination of filmed survivor testimonies which offers a very effective approach to understanding the complexity of memory. Also, the essays collected by Langer in his book, “Admitting the Holocaust,” which addresses various issues (chronicles, the relationship between film and literature, issues related to language and social resistance, all in relation to the Shoah).

In order to reflect upon the conditions under which the Shoah was possible, the day-to-day living conditions for both the victims and the perpetrators, and ways in which these facts may serve as lessons for us, the work by Tzvetan Todorov is fundamental, it is a masterful study with which one may agree or disagree, totally or partially, but it still remains valuable as it presents reflections and lessons for something that previously seemed unapproachable and impossible to conceptualize.

For a greater understanding of the saviors or rescuers, I recommend the work by Eva Fogelman, “Conscience & Courage. Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust,” from Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1995.