"Yehudi Lindeman's Shards of Memory frames and informs the emerging debate on the value of survivor-testimony in the post-survivor age. The 24 ghostwritten narratives collected in Shards of Memory will confront the reader with the urgent and important question how and where the countless shards of individuality embodied in taped survivor-testimony will survive within the generalized and simplified narratives of future generations." -- Robert Jan van Pelt, Co-author of Auschwitz (1996), Holocaust: A History/ (2002), Author of The Case for Auschwitz (2002). "This compelling book of Holocaust survivor accounts expands our understanding of human resilience. Prof. Yehudi Lindeman compiled these illuminating accounts. And we need to pay attention. For the world's future could depend on our vigilance and ability to extinguish the first flames of genocidal hatred." -- Sarah Moskovitz, Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Counseling, Department of Education California State University at Northridge "Lindeman's personal engagement with the material is impressive, and the volume's introduction and conclusion contextualize the strenuous work undertaken by the editors to transpose video testimony to the page." -- Norman Ravvin, Chair in Canadian Jewish Studies, Concordia University, Montreal "Anyone who questions the value of Holocaust testimonies for history must read this book. This book goes far beyond story-telling and the mere presentation of past images, as it brings the survivors' actual experiences and reflections directly into the reader's very present. The individual accounts in this book just tell it the way it was. The stories attest to unimaginable events that are told with great self-restraint Not a word is wasted on self-indulgence or sentimentality. The images these stories create are stark and daunting; as they penetrate the reader. They are gripping yet matter of fact." -- Dori Laub, M.D., D.F.A.P.A., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine "This is a beautiful and surprising book, intensely and painfully human yet careful and scholarly. Each of the narratives is distinctive and unforgettable; each is an account of extraordinary survival against all odds. Even the most seasoned reader of Holocaust memoirs and scholarship will find much to ponder here. Elegantly introduced and analyzed in a poignant and powerful conclusion, these testimonies constitute a historical record of immense value. This book is itself a testimony--to the enormous value of listening to survivors, and also to the incredible amount of knowledge, effort, and love needed to do justice to their lives and their words." -- Doris L. Bergen, Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies , University of Toronto
Yehudi Lindeman is Professor Emeritus of English at McGill University and Director of Living Testimonies, a center for Holocaust research and documentation in Montreal. In 1990, he also contributed to founding the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors. A child survivor of the Holocaust, he was separated from his family and moved through safe houses in Nazi-occupied Holland by members of the Dutch resistance.
Lindeman, director of Living Testimonies, a center for Holocaust
research and documentation in Montreal, has written an excellent
introduction that posits the motivation behind the needs of Shoah
survivors to tell their stories. The book's chapters are arranged
according to three distinctions: gender, age, and whether one
survived inside or outside the camps, in hiding, or on the run.
Lindeman explains that the decision to separate the chapters of
women's accounts of the camps from that of the men was an effort to
capture their particular experiences during the Holocaust. He is
sensitive to recent Holocaust historiography that distinguishes
between the gender-based behaviors of those who were victims of the
Nazis. Lindeman writes that although Nazi destruction clearly did
not distinguish between men and women, there are differences in
terms of what was done to them (vulnerabilities) and what they did
(their resources). The volume includes a country-by-country
chronology discussed by the survivors, as well as a glossary.
Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.
*Choice*
Shards of Memory is a collection of personal testimonies of various
means of survival by which individuals preserved themselves in the
face of the great Nazi assult on their bodies, psyches, and lives
during World War II. The Living Testimonies Project at the
Holocaust Video Documentation Archive of McGill University gathers
and records the experiences and eyewitness accounts of Holocaust
survivors through individually videotaped interviews with
survivors. The current volume is a retelling of 25 of these
stories. The editors convey the narratives in the survivors' own
words and provide candid descritions of the subjects' tone and
manner of speaking.
*MultiCultural Review*
Since 1989, Yehudi Lindeman has been interviewing Holocaust
survivors for the Living Testimonies Archive in Montreal. In this
volume, he shares the stories of 25 individuals. Included are those
who managed to pass as Gentiles, others who survived the death
camps, and others who went into hiding or escaped. The final
narrative offers the perspective of a Danish man who helped smuggle
some 7,000 Jews to safety. Elie Wiesel contributes the
foreword.
*Reference & Research Book News*
. . . these narratives make an important contribution to Holocaust
studies by providing a framework for stories that survivors often
find incredibly difficult to share. Reading these personal accounts
reminds us of the time when such stories were not welcome, when
even family members and friends did not want to hear about the
horrific events of the past. Many of these survivors describe the
difficulty they have had in discussing their past, even with their
own children and grandchildren, and in this admission we can detect
both the anguish of reliving their past and a sense of urgency, a
need to somehow convey and preserve their experiences. Moreover,
this volume reminds us that there are still many stories that have
not been shared. Shards of Memory challenges all of us to recognize
and appreciate the genuine difficulty of recalling and sharing the
terrible realities of the past. Each of the stories in this
collection is a reminder that there is yet one more testimony to
hear, and that it is our human obligation to listen and learn.
*Shofar*
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