By
– June 15, 2012
The further we get from the Holocaust, the more the memoirs increase. It seems to be an imperative of descendants to keep memories of their family constant, to not relinquish these loved and once vibrant people nor allow the trials they experienced to disappear into the miasma. Some memoirs exist, therefore, mainly to provide continuity for future generations or to furnish proof of the Shoah. Others, beautifully written, read like fine fiction; a few offer insights that are applicable to the larger population, uncovering a new phenomenon as a result of the writer’s investigation; still others are intended to teach as well as to remember…”in sunshine and in shadow.”
A bittersweet memoir of growing up in Skokie, discovering his métier by combining his writing and music skills as a jazz critic for the Chicago Tribune and as author of articles and biographies of jazz greats. Both of his parents were Holocaust survivors, yet they first sought their fortune in the heart of German Chicago with a German bakery in which they only spoke German and disguised the fact that they were Jews. Reich’s father was a powerful man, physically and emotionally. His mother, however, who had survived four years in Poland by hiding and running from place to place whenever danger threatened was emotionally damaged, and suffered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder more than 50 years later, after her husband’s death. The first half of the book is an easy read about the family’s life, but the second half attains an almost clinical quality while discussing his mother’s symptoms, the dire effects of the illness and its eventual diagnosis. This could be a useful book for others whose parents are exhibiting the same syndrome.
A bittersweet memoir of growing up in Skokie, discovering his métier by combining his writing and music skills as a jazz critic for the Chicago Tribune and as author of articles and biographies of jazz greats. Both of his parents were Holocaust survivors, yet they first sought their fortune in the heart of German Chicago with a German bakery in which they only spoke German and disguised the fact that they were Jews. Reich’s father was a powerful man, physically and emotionally. His mother, however, who had survived four years in Poland by hiding and running from place to place whenever danger threatened was emotionally damaged, and suffered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder more than 50 years later, after her husband’s death. The first half of the book is an easy read about the family’s life, but the second half attains an almost clinical quality while discussing his mother’s symptoms, the dire effects of the illness and its eventual diagnosis. This could be a useful book for others whose parents are exhibiting the same syndrome.
Marcia W. Posner, Ph.D., of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, is the library and program director. An author and playwright herself, she loves reviewing for JBW and reading all the other reviews and articles in this marvelous periodical.