Customer Reviews

Last Walk in Naryshkin Park

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Rosa Zwi traces her roots back to a small town in Lithuania. Her family had fled Zagare to escape the rising anti-Sematism in Lithuania in the years leading up to WW11. Most of the family that remained were trapped in Lithuania, and were murdered by local Lithuanians and/or Nazis. The book is invaluable in telling the story of Jews from the town of Zagare, almost all of whom were murdered. There is no-one left to tell me the story of my own relatives from Zagare who are likely to be in the mass graves in Naryshkin Park. Thank you Rosa Zwi for sharing your journey back in time. The book is well written and easy to read.

I think when writing a book of this type there is always a tendency to exagerate facts and figures in order to make it more dramatic and sell more copies. One case in point: the author says that the 3,000 figure for Jews killed in Zagare is more likely 7,000. Where does she get this figure? According to census records, in 1938 Zagare had 5445 residents, not all Jews. In 1942 it had 2,936 residents, mostly non-Jews. So about 2,509 were killed, not 7,000, perhaps not even 3,000. This of course does not make the crime any less horrendous. But let's stick to facts, please.

This is an interesting account, part personal and part historical of the plight of the Jewish people of Lithuania, focusing primarily, but not restricted to, the Second World War. The author begins by providing a brief history of her family, which serves to personalize the tragedy to come. The town her parents were from originally is the main subject of the book, and although a small town, appears representative of other towns where the same thing happened. The title of the book alludes to the park in the town where a great number of the towns` Jewish people are buried, after being killed by other townspeople during German occupation. This is not a casual read, although that`s more to do with the subject matter, rather than the writing style. It will make you sad and perhaps angry, and there is no happy ending, perhaps just an understanding that we can learn from our mistakes. The latter part of the book follows the author as she heads to Lithuania for her first ever trip there, (she lived in South Africa as a child), and her experiences when visiting the park, as well as meeting the only Jew now living in the town. A moving and involving book.

Congratulations Rose Zwi's book Last Walk in Naryshkin Park is the Winner of the Sliver APPA Award, category General Literature, in Beijing, China for the translation from English to Mandarin of Last Walk in Naryshkin Park