Who Will Say Kaddish?: A Search for Jewish Identity in Contemporary Poland (Religion, Theology, and the Holocaust) [Hardcover]

Larry N. Mayer (Author), Gary Gelb (Author, Photographer), Marc Riboud (Foreword), Thane Rosenbaum (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Religion, Theology, and the Holocaust | Publication Date: July 2002

An exploration of the fragile resurgence of Jewish life - and identity - in post-communist Poland.

By the eve of the Holocaust, Poland was home to the second largest Jewish population in the world. By war's end, its Jews had been decimated and their once-vibrant culture all but destroyed. The authors of this book revisit their roots to research a rumor that Jewish life is being rekindled in modern Poland. What they discover are three generations of Jews - Holocaust survivors and their offspring - with differing historical perspectives.

A sociocultural portrait - through interview, photography, reportage, and personal memoir - of the Jewish resurgence that has taken place since the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Who Will Say Kaddish? shows how each group explores the issue of "Jewish" identity for themselves and for Poland at large.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Larry Mayer is a writer and teacher. His articles have appeared in Hadassah and the Boston Phoenix. He is the son of Polish Holocaust survivors and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Gary Gelb's photographs have appeared in Hadassah, Moment, Money, and Smart Money. He lives on Staten Island, New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd); 1 edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815607199
• ISBN-13: 978-0815607199
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Travel > Europe > Poland

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully multifaceted and literate exploration, January 18, 2005

By 

Charles M. Wyzanski (CAMBRIDGE, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who Will Say Kaddish?: A Search for Jewish Identity in Contemporary Poland (Religion, Theology, and the Holocaust) (Hardcover)

This highly original and personal collection of what amounts to 22 separate essays, combined with illustrative photographs, is much more than its subtitle would suggest, "A Search For Jewish identity in contemporary Poland." Mayer gives us humorous, skillfully drawn vignettes, beginning with growing up in New York City with a father and mother and sister who, on the surface, were little different from other immigrant families, except for the telling fact that the parents came not so much for economic betterment but rather to escape a long history of Polish anti-Semitism, culminating in the Nazi occupation and Holocaust.

Mayer knows that, despite his parents' wish to forget the past, nature abhors a vacuum. Armed with passable Polish and the outlines of the history of Poland, he travels to that country in 1995 and tracks down the vestiges of an older Jewish community and the emergence of a newer one. Among his subjects we find less anger or self-pity than a gritty determination to defy the odds and hold onto tradition, even though that tradition must be reinvented and redefined.

I recommend this book without qualification. Mayer may not be a novelist, but his characters draw you in and leave you with the same kind of inchoate satisfaction and understanding that Jumpa Lahiri was able to achieve in exploring her Indian background in The Namesake.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking and poignant, January 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Who Will Say Kaddish?: A Search for Jewish Identity in Contemporary Poland (Religion, Theology, and the Holocaust) (Hardcover)

A breathtaking and poignant look at identity--from the pespective of a new and important vantage point: the 2nd generation Jew who must accept the past and forge a future. Larry Mayer's text unflinchingly takes on all the hard questions and Gary Gelb's photo's bring the reader the means of seeing for oneself.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and well worth it!, September 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Who Will Say Kaddish?: A Search for Jewish Identity in Contemporary Poland (Religion, Theology, and the Holocaust) (Hardcover)

This is an amazing book that integrates photos and text very successfully. This is not just a photo book, nor just a wonderful story about the miraculous revival of the Jewish community in Poland. The author's personal journey, as the son of two Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivors is just as intriguing and extremely well-written. I appreciate his open-minded approach and ironic self doubt. I was especially moved by the chapters about the old Jewish man living near Tarnow, and the 'Jewish' priest in Lublin. The sections where the author takes us back to his American childhood were also especially charming and enlightening. The black and white photographs are well-placed throughout and add an extra level of understanding to this contemporary narrative. A must for all those interested in Judaism, the Holocaust, and what it means to create an identity in the wake of tragedy.

Also recommended: Helen Epstein--'Where She Came From' Thane Rosenbaum--'Second Hand Smoke' Nathan Englander--'For the Relief of Unbearable Urges'