Book Review: Isidor. Ein judisches Leben by Shelly Kupferberg

 

A well known moderator of Jewish cultural events, Tel Aviv born Shelly Kupferberg published this year her first novel, a literary memoir of her great uncle Isidor Geller. 

First pages into the book, one may believe that the book is a work of fiction, but once the mentions of searching through the letters and diaries and scraps of the past in the Tel Aviv apartment of her grandfather - the Austrian-Israeli historian Walter Grab - we realize that Isidor is in fact a memory reconstruction. Literarilly speaking, it is impossible to fully reconstruct someone´s past assuming a full precision. Indeed, especially placed in a literary context of a family figure, most probably there will be life episodes and testimonies of a high personal, subjective nature therefore fictionalisation has its own place. Personally, I was not extremely pleased with the blurred lines between those approaches - literature and historical reconstruction - but it is a matter of clarity that I am feeling comfortable with sometimes in specific literary contexts. There are also a couple of repetitions about the characters, which although may make sense from the point of view of an unfolding storytelling, still does take some precious storyline time.

Returning to the novel as such, there are elements so familiar to almost all Jewish stories from the German-speaking realm - both in terms of common tragic destiny and, in some cases, assimilation. There are also many details that are resurging more and more boldly lately, especially related to the stealing - concealed for so many reasons - not only of Jewish properties, but of art and valuable objects, as well as book collections. However, the specific personal traits are equally important and do make the stories uniques and worth telling.

Isidor. Ein judisches Leben contributes to the emerging literature in German, by Jewish authors, about Jewish lives before and during the Shoah. The mentions: ´in German, by Jewish authors, about Jewish lives´ are simulataneously important for the sake of authenticity and owning the narrative in a way that does not try to excuse or to edulcorate the facts, but to share stories as they were, instead of fitting into a narrative imposed from outside the Jewish realm.

The outstanding poetic cover deserves a special mention as well, and as usual, I am in awe about the high quality of the covers of German books.

Rating: 3.5 stars

One Hundred Saturdays by Michael Frank

 

For one hundred Saturdays, Michael Frank discussed with Holocaust survivor Stella Levi about her memories of her life in the Juderia, the Jewish quarter of Rhodes, and thereafter, following the liberation from Auschwitz. The fate and history of the Jews from Rhodes, a cosmopolite community connected to both the Middle East, the Balkans and Europe, is relatively less known and even less explored. The book by Nathan Shachar is a noticeable exception in this respect. 

The dialogues between Frank and Levi - now in her late 90s - are however more than an academic reconstruction of a time past. They add on the personal memories of Levi, now the only survivor of her family, already decimated by the Shoah. In comparison with an analytical academic approach, One Hundred Saturdays is sharing a personal, intimate account of an unique, subjective anthropological value. I had the access to the book in audiobook format, which includes some interventions of Levi herself - including singing songs in Ladino from her childhood - , therefore sharing an even more direct personal testimony.  

For us, the young readers, it is a priviledge to have access to such first hand testimonies about one of the many lost Jewish worlds. Those world will stay alive as long they are remembered. The world of the Jews from Rhodes, as well as many other Jews whose world were destroyed by war and hate are part of a bigger history of Jewish culture and memories. 

Rating: 5 stars