Description
Book SynopsisAfter World War II, the Girls Club of Brooklyn, New York, became both home and safe haven to orphaned teenagers who were Holocaust survivors. They are a small group, but taken together these women''s stories represent the broad range of experiences that most Jews suffered during and after the Holocaust. Some endured the ghettos and camps. Some survived in hiding, with partisans, or in the remote far-eastern reaches of the Soviet Union. Consequently this collective, personal history-enriched with relevant information about places, people, events and issues-tells not only their story, but also the story of tens of thousands of child survivors. The work of scholars from various disciplines and genres provides background information and historical detail as this book traces the women''s experiences from their childhood days in pre-war Europe to the present. Contrary to what early literature on child survivors predicted, they built successful lives in America.
Trade ReviewCarole Ford's sensitive profile of young Holocaust survivors whose lives intertwine at the Girls' Club in Brooklyn sheds light on the challenges of forging a new life alone. The Club gave them opportunities for friendship, education and enabled them to rebuild their lives. Theirs are compelling narratives, told with compassion and grace. As we get to know them, we also find that we like them and celebrate their joys as they become wives and mothers, housewives, students, professionals, community volunteers, and very doting grandmothers. Despite their horrific experiences in Nazi occupied Poland, most of them refused to be victimized further and instead overcame the odds and led fulfilling and happy lives." -- Myrna Goldenberg, coauthor of Testimony, Tensions, and Tikkun: Teaching the Holocaust in Colleges and Universities
Carole Bell Ford gets at and renders with clarity and sensitivity the life histories of a fascinating group of young female Holocaust survivors. These histories are complex, filled with irony, ambiguity and compassion —in short, humanity. Without extraneous academic apparatus, and without falling into the trap of seeing horrific experience as somehow making its victims 'better for it,' Ford and her interlocutors tell us something very important, and yes, even hopeful about human resilience. -- Gerald Sorin, Distinguished Professor of Jewish and American Studies State University of New York at New Paltz
Table of Contents1 A Meeting with Holocaust Survivors 2 Table of Contents 3 Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter 4 1. Introduction: The Women and the Girls Club Chapter 5 2. Lodz: A Path to the Ghetto Chapter 6 3. Growing up: Coming of Age in a Nightmare Chapter 7 4. Sh'erit ha-Pletah: The "Surviving Remnant" Chapter 8 5. America: A Home at the Girls Club Chapter 9 6. After the Girls Club: Settling In, Settling Down Chapter 10 7. Betty and Lucy: Different Forks in the Road Chapter 11 8. Child Survivors in Old Age: The Aging Women 12 Bibliography 13 Index
