Description
Book SynopsisShares the life experiences of the children of 4 siblings who out of eight siblings, parents and grandparents, survived the Holocaust. It explores the ways in which these children from the same socio-cultural background have built diverse lives in German
Trade Review“The lives of the Kalman family provide the perfect palette from which to understand the conflicts and the compromises and commitments that Jews have had to make to live not only in Germany but in the modern world.”—Sander L. Gilman, author of
Jewish Frontiers: Essays on Bodies, Histories, and Identities“These interviews are valuable and frank documents. The experiences of the Kalman family are representative of many Jewish families in the period 1945–2000. Y. Michal Bodemann’s astute questions and obvious intimate acquaintance with the family bring out the problematic aspects of being Jewish in Germany today. He deals not only with questions of anti-Semitism but also with the secularization process of German Jews.”—Jack Zipes, coeditor of
Unlikely History: The Changing German–Jewish Symbiosis, 1945–2000“Why did Jews choose to live in postwar Germany? Most scholars have looked for answers to this question in the official institutional history. Y. Michal Bodemann turns our view to the private sphere and thus reveals for the first time a more intimate and at the same time more complex picture of the German Jewish community as mirrored by one family.”—Michael Brenner, author of
After the Holocaust: Rebuilding Jewish Lives in Postwar GermanyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments xi
Introduction: Contemporary German Jewish Life through One Family 1
Prologue: Rita Volkov, Great Aunt in Toronto 37
Part 1. Albert's Family
Berthold and His Father 45
Working in the Kalmans' Firm 71
Berthold in His Life 79
Eva, Swiss Mentality, Polish Company 91
Ronnie, in and out of His Father's Shadow 108
Salek, Nordau's Jew 119
Esther, the Zionist Pioneer in Our Family 132
Gabriel, Postmodern Jew 156
Part 2. Ignaz and Dina
Ignaz, Dina's Father 179
Dina, from Germany to Israel and Back 187
Johannes Rautenstrauch, A Goy in the House 218
Part 3. Jerry Guterman
Jerry and the Fossils 233
Part 4. Jurek's Family
Jurek, Benjamin and His Brothers 249
Jonny, a Career in Israel 256
Lilian, Staying at Home 261
Motti, the Sculptor-Rememberer 268
Glossary 279
