Customer Reviews

The Holocaust Kid: Stories

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Sonia Pilcer's important, provocative and caustic "The Holocaust Kid" defies easy categorization. This novel is at once a profound contemplation of the Holocaust, a wickedly twisted view of the responsibilities and burdens of being a child of Holocaust survivors and a withering examination of the American Jewish sanctification of Holocaust memory and its attendant mandate of remembrance. Told through the beleaguered, angry and sarcastic voice of Zosha Palovsky, "The Holocaust Kid" provides important insights into the lives of children of survivors, the 2G generation. Zosha's emotional turmoil, her anger at being held hostage to a defining event she never experiences directly, but only derivatively, and her unflinching insistence on carving out her own identity give the novel its purchase.

The Holocaust looms as the defining nature of Zosha's life. Her mother, the omnipresent and maddeningly oppressive Genia, and her father, laconic and intellectually inquisitive Heniek, provide their daughter with the foundation of Holocaust identity, which so informs Zosha's sensibility. Forever aware of her responsibility as a replacement for so much that was lost, she laments relinquishing her own needs and wants. She is warned that she "must never forget, not even for a moment. Because I lived when so many died."

Yet, what is she to remember? Furtively cleaning her daughter's room, Genia discovers one of Zosha's essays. Zosha examines the Hebrew injunction to remember, zachor. Yet her daughter is confused as to what she is mandated to sanctify. "Remember what? Lives exitnguished?...Childhoods, entire countries and cultures lost?" Zosha recoils at the unfairness of this obligation and the impossible enormity of its requirements. Her father has "numbers," her mother "nightmares;" Zosha is left with their "fierce, anxious love."

"Kid" scrapes against our preconceptions of being a child of survivors. When Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel proclaims that their is a "privileged generation," that 2G children are the "justification" of their parents' will to survive the unspeakable, Pilcer bitterly questions those assumptions. If Zosha's life is so presumably sanctified by memory, why does remembrance bring discomfort and not peace?

The daughter angrily denounces her parents' captivity by memory, their stubborn refusal to let loose and recreate a genuine new life in America. Her parents memories served only to increase pain. Their "tearful retelling of loss" reinforced their captivity to genocide. Zosha bristles with anger at her parents' double standards, their inconsistencies, phony rituals and use of Judaism as a sword raised to compel obedience. Even the Holocaust becomes but the ultimate parental means to subordinate Zosha.

Rejecting their wish that she become "normal, like Daddy and me," Zosha sets sail to discover her own identity. Though competently chronicled, this quest loses its tautness due to the structure of the novel. "Kid" seems to be composed of disparate narrative episodes, and, indeed, many of the chapters have appeared in numerous journals during the past decade. Though not every novel needs to appear seamless, "Kid" suffers from abrupt, disjointed changes in time.

This sole structural criticsm, however, should not dissuade readers from tackling this morbidly fascinating, intellectually provocative and psychologically revealing short novel. "The Holocaust Kid" succeeds on levels which few authors have even attempted to explore. It is an audacious, explosive and, in places, outrageous examination of the impact of the Holocaust on survivors and their children. Its voice is new, fresh and memorable.

In The Holocaust Kid, Sonia Pilcer movingly depicts the story of Zosha Palovsky, a child of Holocaust survivors, from the beginning of her life in a German DP (displaced persons) camp, throughout her childhood, turbulent adolescence, and finally, into adulthood. The book is a collection of stories, each one dealing with a different period in Zosha's life, or the lives of her survivor parents.The stories dealing with her parents' experiences in the camps provide the context and background for the atmosphere in which Zosha was raised. As a member of the Second Generation myself, the book has a great deal of meaning for me. However, many of the issues in this book are universal (parent-child relationships, rebellion, etc) and I highly recommmend it to anyone looking for a fascinating read, regardless of their background or experience.

I read other people's reviews for this book and thought I would find it very interesting and engaging. I have read a wide variety of other books either about the Holocaust or at least touch upon the subject, and this one just isn't very good. I didn't like any of the characters and only some of the stories have any potential to make me smile, laugh or think very deeply. This is one of those books that is short, so it's easy to read, but the only reason I couldn't put it down is because I was painfully hoping that at some point, it would get better. I read a lot of books and while this one is okay, overall, I would recommend to skip it.

Sonia Pilcer creates an unforgettable emotional tapestry in this beautifully written collection of stories. Zosha is the child of Holocaust survivors and through this series of related stories we see the terrible impact of the Holocaust on two generations. Born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany, Zosha comes to America as a child and grows up surrounded by the ghosts of those who died in the concentration camps. As she struggles for her own identity, she must live with the transplanted memories of those who died before she was ever born. The stories are, poignant, painful, funny, and always right on target. The Holocaust Kid is a joy to read.

These fifteen interrelated stories by the daughter of Holocaust survivors will live on in your heart, long after you've devoured them. Our narrator, Zosha, is a charming and always elequent raconteur, taking us on a witty, haunting journey. Pilcer treats difficult subjects with wit, charm and intelligence. Eloquently written and extremely felt, this material is for Jews and nonJews alike.

Sonia Pilcer succeeds in making the reader experience the horror of the Holocaust, not by directly describing it, but by showing its impact on a child of the next generation, and in so doing creates a more powerful impact. It's painful to witness Zosha's journey to her own personal "liberation" but the book's denouement is a touching testament to the power of the renewal of life, and the grace that is mysteriously granted if we are open to receiving it.

I have read several pieces of Holocaust literature and was drawn to the unique concept of this book. "The Holocaust Kid" is the tale of Zosha Palovsky, a second-generation Holocaust survivor trying to make her way in life. She desperately wants to distance herself from her parents, but at every turn, finds herself face to face with her 'memories' of what happened during the war.

Pilcer explores the concept of memories being passed down, or inherited, by the children of survivors. Zosha feels like she has lived through her parents' experiences, that she understands them, if only because she is their child. She has the nightmares of a survivor, even though she wasn't born until after the war. And despite her mother's efforts to keep her daughter unburdened by her memories, they are transmitted to her daughter nevertheless.

"The Holocast Kid" is an interesting concept, a collection of stories that span Zosha's liftime. However, there seems to be little common thread between the pieces, which jut back and forth in time, with no age or year reference to guide the reader. A few of the characters, especially the men in Zosha's life, seem flat and one-dimensional, existing as mere cardboard foils for Zosha. Yet there is a strange mix of humor wrapped around these stories about the tragedy of the Holocaust. Pilcer's novel is a quick, oftentimes entertaining read, that doesn't quite live up to its potential.

I can not convey to you how much I loved this book. I have a strange fascination with the Holocaust; I never knew why and still don't, so it was obvious that I would read this, too. I've read Fragments (discovered to be a farce), Night, I Will Bear Witness, and Schindler's List. They were all great books about the Holocaust, but this book gave the subject a different dimension.

The book is from what Pilcer calls the 2K survivor's point of view. This in and of itself is rather thought-provoking. Never once before did I think about what the children of survivors must endure, the survivor's guilt and accompanying problems. At one point she writes something about irritating her mother and hasn't she suffered enough already. There is much food for thought in this book for those with a hungry brain.

The format of the book, too, is interesting. It's a series of short stories with the same characters, all interrelated. I thought it was strange at first, but in the end a refreshing approach. It's also nice to go back to the stories and read them out of order, to enjoy them for their own sake (the favorites) because they stand well all on their own.

There is a distinct honesty to her writing style, very straight forward. Although the situations in the book do not necessarily warrant suspense, she manages to generate suspense in the reader. For example, one story is titled "Paskudnyak." Underneath the title is the definition in italics "From Polish/Ukranian, a man or woman who is nasty, mean, odious, contemptible, rotten, vulgar, insensitive, and dirty." Immediately I wanted to find out who the Paskudnyak in the story was (and I'm sure you want to, now, too!). And when the doors slam shut in the cleverly titled "Trauma Queen," I immediately edged my way to the edge of my sofa's cushion, dying to know what happened after that.

The book is at once a riotous laugh and a poignant weep. I could not put it down until I closed it, stared at it--completely read cover to cover--on my table and decided it needed a second, closer read and read it again. It seemed disrespectful to the subject matter the way I hungrily devoured it during the first frenzied reading (two nights). I can only recall seven other books I read a second time right after closing them (I read a LOT, so that's a very, very low number!)

The important thing to realize is that you don't have to be Jewish nor a World War II buff to appreciate the literature. You could be anyone because she makes her characters' experiences accessible to anyone and everyone. It's not JUST about being a 2K survivor. It's about being a human. In the end I identified with her (the character, Zosha) on so many levels.

The other thing to remember is that it may be hard to separate Zosha from Sonia (the author). On the back cover it says that the picture on the cover is in fact the writer. If you visit the website and read the "about the author" area, you will find that she has a lot in common with Zosha, that she WAS born in a displaced persons camp in Germany and IS a 2K survivor. But where will you find the book? In the fiction section of the book store. I discussed this book closely with other people who couldn't seem to separate the truth from the fiction. Just keep that in mind.

I think I read on the website that she received like forty (or some insane number of) rejection notices from publishers for this book. I'm glad she believed in it enough to pursue its publication. It's a fabulous book and I hope you'll read it, too.

In a world where there seems to be a code of "rules" about how the Holocaust should be discussed, Sonia Pilcer dares to dissect the rules themselves, from a very personal vantage point, in The Holocaust Kid. This collection of stories centers around Zosha, a very American young woman whose parents are survivors. The weight of the Holocaust and the necessity of remembrance is an everpresent burden to Zosha, for whom these "memories" are important but also surreal, dependent on the multitude of stories shared among her parents and their friends. Survivor's guilt is passed down to the second generation, in an adulterated, confusing form that leaves Zosha simulaneously alienated and obsessed with the residue of the war.

For me, the most poignant story is "Thieves," in which Zosha's mother Genia "cleans" her daughter's apartment in her absence, snooping through Zosha's unfinished writing, all of which centers around the Holocaust. At first, Genia is glad Zosha takes an interest, as she reads a poem about her own father's cigarette case, which the family had managed to keep through the war. However, as Genia reads on, her daughter's work begins to examine, maybe even break the "rules" of remembering the Holocaust, and Genia feels violated, her family secrets now exposed. Both mother and daughter are "thieves," prying in each others' stories.

A very poignant and, for me, enlightening collection of stories.

I friend recommended this. I sat down too late to start it on a weeknight but I found I couldn't put it down or move a muscle until I had finished the whole thing.

Yes the title is 'Holocaust Kid' and yes it's a book about the Holocaust. And growing up, and having parents and children. And sex and drugs for that matter. But mostly it's a book about life.

Spookily, ecstatically, irreversibly, with a deft, balls-forward daring, it's not just a book ABOUT life, either: it's one of the few books I've read recently that has described or proved -- no, demonstrated -- something about being alive so immediately and truthfully that I realize that I've forgotten how to do it properly.

Within minutes of finishing it I had woken up my sleeping child -- something I have never done before I assure you -- put some dance music on the CD player -- though it was as I said a week night -- and my family, more than a little confused, took a turn through the living room until the CD got turned off and I was firmly warned not to read good books again.

It's filled with much meat for thought:

We are a remembering and a forgetting. We each are part of a given tribe -- yet only through great skill and some nerve become 'our own person.' 'Live and Learn' isn't only an excuse for some of us, it's a motto, a supreme skill for others who have managed to rise above even the greatest of evils, the most wretched of circumstances, to do the greatest of things, namely to live.

There are many threads woven into this rare fabric. Be assured you will both enjoy 'Holocaust Kid,' profit by it, and, perhaps, yourself live a bit more intensely because of it.

[The same friend recommends `Maiden Rites' but I can't find a copy.]