Four Women From Ravensbrück:
5 Stories From The Shoa
Roberta Kalechofsky
ISBN: 978-091628857-0 Fiction----------$18.00
150 pages------paperback
Five stories that extend the reach of Holocaust material into new fiction areas, the famous woman’s concentration camp of Ravensbruck; the fate of Erich Muhsam, the “Lenny Bruce” of his day; the torment of a Polish priest imprisoned in Auschwitz; the fate of a half Indian girl when history brings German immigrants to Chile; and “Epitaph for An Age,” which passes judgment. The title story, "Four Women from Ravensbruck" is riveting in its detailed description of the famous woman's camp, but its reach is beyond description as it follows the lives and history of four specific women from the camp who are chosen for the hypothermia experiment in Dachau: Resi, a prostitute; Magda, who was imprisoned for miscegenation; Katrina, a member of the Russian exile community in Berlin; and Fonya, a disaffiliated, disillusioned Russian Jew and ex-communist, ex-everything.
Seeral of the other stories expand the idea of the Shoa to people and places beyond the concentration camps: "The Enigmatic Power of the Letter 'J' takes place in a poor Indian coastal village in Chile, where a half-Jewish girl is branded on her face by German teenagers; the story of Eric Muhsam in "My Poor Prisoner" treats the imprisonment and death of the once-popular Berlin cabaret performer whose life has faded from public knowledge, but whose horrifying death at the time was considered scandalous among Berlin literati; and "Father Woytzki Leads A Jewish Youth Group to the Holocaust Memorial in Øswiecim, Poland" deals with the agony of a Polish priest who, in trying to understand how Christianity could have 'fathered' the Holocaust, becomes involved with a Jewish community in Brooklyn. The final story, "Epitaph for An Age," sweeps away the best intentions of goodness, without succumbing to cynicism: those who try to overcome evil fail, but their efforts carve a memorandum.
___________________________________________________
"These strong, powerful and arresting stories present the range of tragedy, terror and horror of the Holocaust. They provide insight into the perpetrators as well as the victims of the Shoa. This book is an important addition to Holocaust fiction in Judaica collections, and recommended for academic, public and synagogue libraries. " Susan Freiband, Library Educator, Arlington, VA (ret.) Association of Jewish Libraries Review, Nov-Dec., 2011, vol 1, # 4.
“Everything you write counts,” Cynthia Ozick. Her most recent book is Foreign Bodies.
"I have just read Four Women From Ravensbruck and I am overwhelmed with terror and pity and a new sense of the horror of the concentration camps....To read this is never to forget this. Merrill Joan Gerber, The Kingdom of Brooklyn; Anna in the Afterlife; and other books.
Roberta Kalechofsky’s remarkable collection opens new doors of insight into people of the Holocaust---perpetrators as well as victims. Kalechofsky is a courageous writer with strong poetic skills, able to bring sensory expression to life. Charlotte Mandel, The Marriages of Jacob and The Life of Mary, Poet, Editor, Barnard College, Center for Research on Women (ret.) .
“The conscience of words” is deeply present in these stories. R.L.K.
|
