Children of the Holocaust: Conversations with Sons and Daughters of Survivors

by Helen Epstein

Book Overview

"I set out to find a group of people who, like me, were possessed by a history they had never lived."

The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Helen Epstein traveled from America to Europe to Israel, searching for one vital thin in common: their parent's persecution by the Nazis. She found:

- Gabriela Korda, who was raised by her parents as a German Protestant in South America;
- Albert Singerman, who fought in the jungles of Vietnam...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140112847
• ISBN13: 9780140112849
• Release Date: October 1988
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

I would like to note this is a valuable work, but it did not capture my attention.

I understand this book helped others and maybe I cannot relate but after reading the whole thing, I felt like all I read is that it was something that wasn't talked about in families... so there was no story to me.

Hits Home

As the child of a survivor, this book talks about many of the things our family kept silent. Just reading that even one other person out there had similar feelings, experiences, and views was so very comforting. It is important that society acknowledges the 2nd Generation's special status. May the memory of all who perished, of all who survived, and all who have come after them be ever for a blessing.

Bravo for Helen Epstein

As a daughter of Holocaust Survivors, when I first read this book (over 15 years ago), I was astounded. This author was the first to raise the issue at all: how has the Holocaust affected those whose parents survived it? When I was growing up, not only was the Holocaust itself practically a taboo subject, but no one ever, ever discussed the children of Survivors. This author had the courage, the foresight, and tenacity to do just that - and to do it in the most sensitive and articulate way.When I first read the first chapter, I was so astounded that I stood up, and read that chapter standing up! She describes exactly, to the letter, how I felt growing up: that the Holocaust was a locked black box in your household, and that its secrets were more secret than sex, or anything else you can possibly imagine. Finally, someone has put on paper what I always felt, but could never describe. Everyone I have ever given this book to, no matter what his or her background, said he couldn't put it down. To anyone interested in the Holocaust - you must read this book!

An important work

While there have been many books written detailing the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, Helen Epstein places its impact in the context of both survivors and their families, specifically their children. Ms. Epstein's briliant narrative conveys her own family's history interweaving it with the histories of many others, both highlighting common ground and preserving the uniqueness of each. For me, as a "Child of the Holocaust", this book showed me that my feelings of alienation and unique perspective on man's potential brutality to his fellow man, both indirect consequences of my parents' wartime experiences, are shared within a community. This change in perspective lead me to the realization while the Children of the Holocaust are a separate and special group, we share common bonds with the descendents all persecuted people, and there are many, far too many, such children in the world. This book profoundly changed my outlook on the world and my view of my place in it. It has also helped others better understand my family and me. There can be no higher praise for literature, and I am very grateful to Helen Epstein for writing Children of the Holocaust, and to those taking the time to read it.

very valuable for children of survivors

How can you say this is "nothing new"? I think the amazing contribution of this book is how it deals with the holocaust across generations. Most books I have seen dealing with survivors only talk about their time in the camps and not how it affected them when they were freed. This book tells the story of Helen's mother, but it also talks a lot about how children respond to their parents' experiences. I think this book is extremely valuable to understanding transgenerational effects of the Holocaust. I highly recommend this book to children of Holocaust survivors, or people who know children of survivors.

touching

After reading this book for a history of WW II class I heard a friend in class remark to the professor, " Dr. K. I want you to know that this book has touched me and mde me do a lot of thinking. Of course I have trouble sleeping at night." The professor replied, " Good I have succeed in this class. I made you think and contemplate." I couldn't agree more. This book is a wonderful book that not only explores the long range consequences of the Holocaust but also show that over fifty years later the ripple of effects are shaping this century even as we approach the next millenium.