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They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland before the Holocaust Hardcover – September 24, 2007

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Mayer Kirshenblatt (Author)
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Mayer Kirshenblatt (Author),
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (Author)
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4.9 out of 5 stars 11 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 411 pages
  • Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (September 24, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0520249615
  • ISBN-13: 978-0520249615
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #945,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA Look At A Lost World
By Lydia Kaplan on October 17, 2007
Format: Hardcover
They Called Me Mayer July is a beautiful book, both in the written word and the art work. It details the day-to-day lives of the Jewish people who lived in their 'schtetles' before the Holocaust and it goes into the various personalities, nick names, and jobs that were done during those years. Artistically, the detail is stunning and a joy to behold. For those of us whose ancestors came from these places, it gives us the opportunity to see and read what life was like, both the good and the difficult. I was so impressed that I bought a book as a gift for a friend and have recommended it to others. We owe a debt of gratitude to the author and his daughter for giving us this wonderful gift.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe Shtetl - You Are There
By S. J. J. Freeman on June 2, 2008
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This book is a treasure! It provides reminiscences in text and in paintings of a Polish Jewish shtetl, Apatow or, as the Jews called it, Apt. Like Grandma Moses, Kirshenblatt began painting late in life and, like her, has produced primitive, lively, intimate illustrations of his remembered world. The text is equally intimate describing the people, their nicknames, and their lives. Anyone interested in furthering his or her knowledge of the shtetl, as told by one of its last living inhabitants, must read this book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsKirshenblatt recreates a shtetl in full color
By B. V. Fetterman on March 29, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Having recently returned from a trip to the Polish town of my mother's childhood, I was eager to see Mayer Kirshenblatt's paintings of Jewish life in prewar Poland on exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York. I immediately recognized buildings and landscapes I had seen on the trip--the small, square houses surrounding the town square, ruins of once impressive, multi-tiered synagogues--but the exhibition instantly filled me with joy because Mayer Kirshenblatt's paintings put the people back in a panoramic view of life before the Holocaust.

At once naive and sophisticated, Kirshenblatt's art captures the energy and diversity of life as it was lived in prewar Apt (Opatów in Polish), a shtetl in southern Poland. Shunning nostalgia for accuracy, the paintings are rich in ethnographic detail and show every area of activity, some with the artist as a blue-clad schoolboy looking on. The 93-year-old Toronto artist, who started painting in his seventies, is becoming internationally known; his work was recently exhibited at the Galician Jewish Museum in Kraków.

The text of this book, which includes 200 full color reproductions, represents another kind of achievement. Each painting tells a story, evoking memories of people, trades, and events. Mayer Kirshenblatt collaborated with his daughter, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a scholar of Eastern European Jewish culture and folklore, on a captivating text recording his almost encyclopedic range of memories of the town up to 1934, the year he departed for Canada.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsJourney through a Lost World - through a Young Boy's Eyes
By Astros Fan in Exile on December 27, 2009
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This wonderful book matches up primitive paintings with an engaging narrative to take you through a journey to a lost world - a largely Jewish town in pre-WWII Poland. Mayer Kirshenblatt, the artist who created these paintings (starting in his 70s!), had an incredible visual memory for the world of his youth. The text, crafted by his daughter (a well-known anthropologist/folklorist), is a first-person narrative, largely told in his smart-ass adolescent voice, then coming back every now and then to his adult voice to provide updates on "where are they now?" Or --given the time and place -- how did they die at the hands of the Nazis? However, this is NOT a Holocaust book; it's a visual journal of youth in a Polish town, in a largely Jewish community. The paintings are primitives, from his youthful viewpoint - the rooms have improbably high ceilings, more a reflection of a child's shortness, always looking up at everything.

The paintings provide a tableau of pre-war Jewish life, including celebration of life events, Sabbath and holidays. However, this is not an overly sentimental memoir of the Old Country. The painter wasn't always good little boy who minded his parents and teachers - he skipped school to check out all parts of his town, including many of the grimier aspects. The painter's sly graphical sense of humor is well matched by the text, where his daughter (after spending years hearing her father's stories) did a lovely job of echoing his youthful voice. There are, of course, some pretty terrible events that are depicted - some of them based on the painter's imaginings of events that happened after he left Poland as a teenager. But overall, there is more to laugh about than cry - many of the stories are very funny.

I saw the exhibition of this art work at the Jewish Museum in NY. It was a wonderful show, and made me run back to read the book again. By the way, Mayer Kirshenblatt (z"l) passed away last month.
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5.0 out of 5 starsExtraordinary memoir
By Hannah B. Fischthal on January 6, 2009
Format: Hardcover
"Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust" is a partial description of this beautiful book. Accompanying the marvelous paintings done by Mayer Kirshenblatt is a rich, well-written text in the combined voices of the artist and his daughter Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, world-renowned folklorist. This book is a real treasure.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsIt is nice to read what it was like before the Holocaust

I will keep this book forever. My step-fathers parents immigrated to America from Poland in the 1800's. It is nice to read what it was like before the Holocaust.

Published 15 months ago by Peggy
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing story and fun to read

This book is like listening to a beloved grandfather or uncle tell about his life. Only, it is so much more interesting than my relatives and not nearly as judgmental. Read more

Published on February 5, 2012 by M. S. Fenton
5.0 out of 5 starsA beautiful and special book

Although there's little I can add to the previous reviews, let me just say that the paintings are beautiful and the memoir is wonderful. Read more

Published on August 14, 2011 by A voracious reader
4.0 out of 5 starsThey Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in...

I bought this book after visiting Mayer July's exhibition in Jewish museum, NY. Both, the exhibition and the book are remarcable!

Published on September 18, 2009 by Alexander Chervinsky
5.0 out of 5 starsWindow onto a lost way of life

I love this book! Mayer is incredibly talented and his memories and reflections are a window onto the past that is otherwise lost to us. Read more

Published on June 16, 2009 by J. Strauss
5.0 out of 5 starsThey Call Me Meyer July

A beautiful book with glorious art, but best of all, the total recall of the author of his childhood town in Poland, before the World War, reproduces, with maps and streets... Read more

Published on June 11, 2009 by Emerita

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