Tell the Children, Letters to Miriam (Paperback)

by Dora A. Sorell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Even among the charged and eloquent survivor memoirs that-Thank God! still keep appearing, this one is distinctive for its reach and specificity, its clear voice and astonishing recall, its human stamp and spiritual strength. -- John Felstiner, Professor of English, Stanford University; Author of Paul Celan - Poet, Survivor, Jew

Her autobiography is informative, perceptive and poignant. Its emotional impact is powerful. To read it is to come closer to historical events that will forever haunt mankind's conscience. -- Elie Wiesel

Tell the Cbildren-Letters to Miriam is the passionate testimony of a woman who overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles to realize her dreams.... This inspiring work is a must-read book for all who wish to nourish their belief in a better world. -- Micheline Maccario, M.D., President, San Francisco Chapter of the Older Women's League

Product Description
For almost forty years after the end of the war Dora struggled to put the past behind her and placed all her energies into building a new life, a family and a career. But the birth of her first grandchild, Miriam, reawakened in her the memories that had laid barely beneath the surface. Dora began to realize that unless she told her story, the new generation, born in America, would grow up not knowing anything about their past, their ancestors, the traditions they followed in a small town in Northern Transylvania, the destruction brought by the Holocaust, and the oppressive life in post-war communist Romania.

Dora began to write letters to Miriam whenever something in the present evoked images from the past. Each letter is a vignette, a story about people she has known, family members who have disappeared, events she has witnessed and places she has been. What emerged after a few years was the chronicle of a Jewish family against the backdrop of the main historical events of 20th century Europe.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Sighet Pub Inc (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096635270X
• ISBN-13: 978-0966352702
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,091,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #92 in

  Books > History > Europe > Romania

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talk to your children, June 18, 2000

By	Barbara Williams (New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews

Yes, do talk to your children, and especially about this book and it's subject. It is the most insightful and informative personal account of the whole problem in Europe during the Nazi period. Not only does Dora Sorell tell us about life before her internment, but also the problems that the end of the war created for those who lived under the communist rule. That is one thing that has been sorely lacking until now. We must never forget, and must tell our children and our grandchildren. Dora Sorell has given us a way to do that in her letters to Miriam.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing personal history by a survivor, December 6, 1998

By A Customer

Tell the Children is a vivid story so well told that it is hard to believe its author is not a professional writer. Dora Sorell was taken by the Nazis from her home in a Romanian village to some of the worst concentration camps, where she managed not only to survive but also to be reunited with her childhood sweetheart, to become a physician, to experience years of almost unimaginable horror under Communist rule, and to escape successively to Italy, Brazil, and finally the United States. Her chronicle, presented as letters to her granddaughter, benefits from sharp perception, a powerful memory, an extraordinary interest in the people around her (including a large and interesting family), and a genuine ability at storytelling. Unpretentious as she is, Dora Sorell is a heroic woman. Her book is unpreachy and unsentimental but deeply felt, and for me it made a lot of modern history seem real for as if the first time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best story of the Jewish life and Holcaust in Transilvania., December 31, 1998

By A Customer

Ms. Sorell describes life in pre war world two Transilvania and Holocaust events like nobody else. She expresses personal feelings, and at the same time paints the picture of the overall way of life for the Jewish community in the times preceding the war. The Holocaust description is the most moving one I ever read and preserves for future generations the realities of a terrible time through the eyes of a survivor. The book balances the view of a mature person with the feelings and desires of a young lady experiencing terrible events.