{"product_id":"helmis-shadow-a-journey-of-survival-from-russia-to-east-asia-to-the-american-west-9781647790202","title":"Helmi's Shadow: A Journey of Survival From Russia","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHelmi's Shadow\u003c\/i\u003e tells the sweeping true story of two Russian Jewish refugees, a mother (Rachel Koskin) and her daughter (Helmi). With determination and courage, they survived decades of hardship in the hidden corners of war-torn Asia and then journeyed across the Pacific at the end of the Second World War to become United States citizens after seeking safe harbor in the unlikely western desert town of Reno, Nevada. This compelling narrative is also a memoir, told lovingly by Helmi's son, David, of growing up under the wings of these strong women in an unusual American family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRachel Koskin was a middle-class Russian Jew born in Odessa, Ukraine, in 1896. Ten years later, her family fled from the murderous pogroms against Jews in the Russian Empire eastward to Harbin, a Russian-controlled city within China's borders on the harsh plain of Manchuria. Full of lively detail and the struggles of being stateless in a time of war, the narrative follows Rachel through her life in Harbin, which became a center of Russian culture in the Far East; the birth of her daughter, Helmi, in Kobe, Japan; their life together in the slums of Shanghai and back in Japan during World War II, where they endured many more hardships; and their subsequent immigration to the United States.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis remarkable account uncovers a history of refugees living in war-torn China and Japan, a history that to this day remains largely unknown. It is also a story of survival during a long period of upheaval and war—from the Russian Revolution to the Holocaust—and an intimate portrait of an American immigrant family. David reveals both the joys and tragedies he experienced growing up in a multicultural household in post\\-Second World War America with a Jewish mother, a live-in Russian grandmother, and a devout Irish Catholic American father. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs David develops a clearer awareness of the mysterious past lives of his mother and grandmother—and the impact of these events on his own understanding of the long-term effects of fear, trauma, and loss—he shows us that, even in times of peace and security, we are all shadows of our past, marked by our experiences, whether we choose to reveal them to others or not.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHelmi's Shadow\u003c\/i\u003e accomplishes that near-miracle of the best literature: It makes the world new. David Horgan has excavated the story of an amazing woman, his late mother, with such rigor and insight that her personal journey becomes a way for the reader to re-see 20th-century global convulsions, and experience them in an intimate and sensory way. This beautifully written, riveting account is a treasure and an illumination.\" - Dierdre McNamer, author of \u003ci\u003eRed Rover\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"The story is gripping, and Horgan is an outstanding writer. Given that so much of the literature on Jews in Shanghai is devoted to the refugee community that arrived between 1937 to 1941, the history of the Russian Jews is still, for the large part, overlooked and unknown. Moreover, the depiction of the lives of two Russian Jews living in Kobe, Japan during the Second World War adds to our knowledge of Jews in Asia. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat.\" - Kevin Ostoyich, professor of history, Valparaiso University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003e Map: Rachel and Helmi's Journey 1905-1947\u003cbr\u003e Prologue: Kobe, Japan \/ August 1945\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePART ONE: THE FAR EAST\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eI Exile \/ Odessa to Harbin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 1 Pogrom, Odessa 1905\u003cbr\u003e 2 The Paris of the Orient, Harbin 1920\u003cbr\u003e 3 Telegram, Harbin 1926\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eII Refugee \/ Harbin to Shanghai\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 4 Soothing the Barbarian, Shanghai 1927\u003cbr\u003e 5 The Garden Bridge, Shanghai 1931\u003cbr\u003e 6 \u003ci\u003eReno, Nevada, 1955\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e7 Shanghai, 2008\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 8 The Public \u0026amp; Thomas Hanbury School for Girls, Shanghai 1932\u003cbr\u003e 9 The French Concession, Shanghai 1935\u003cbr\u003e 10 The War At the End of the Street, Shanghai 1937\u003cbr\u003e 11 Mrs. Blacksill's School, Kobe 1937\u003cbr\u003e 12 The Fourth Floor, Shanghai 1938\u003cbr\u003e 13 The Next World, Shanghai 1939\u003cbr\u003e 14 \u003ci\u003eReno, Nevada 1956\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eIII Stateless \/ Shanghai to Kobe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 15 The Thomas Cooke \u0026amp; Son Travel Agency, Kobe 1939\u003cbr\u003e 16 Stateless, Kobe 1941-1943\u003cbr\u003e 17 Fire From the Sky, Kobe 1943-1945\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eIV Immigrant \/ Kobe to America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 18 Sentimental Journey, Philippines 1945\u003cbr\u003e 19 The Counter-Intelligence Corps, Kobe 1945\u003cbr\u003e 20 The Quota System, Kobe 1946\u003cbr\u003e 21 Passage On A Freighter, Kobe 1946\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePART TWO: AMERICA\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eV Family \/ San Francisco, Reno\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 22 The Evangeline Hotel For Women, San Francisco 1946\u003cbr\u003e 23 An Invitation, San Francisco 1947\u003cbr\u003e 24 Over the Mountains, San Francisco \u0026amp; Reno 1947\u003cbr\u003e 25 Outside The Rail, Reno 1947\u003cbr\u003e 26 The Loud-Mouthed Bishop, Reno 1948\u003cbr\u003e 27 Mother-In-Law, Reno 1949\u003cbr\u003e 28 The Little Theater, Reno 1949\u003cbr\u003e 29 The Second Son, Reno 1951\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eVI Reno I\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 30 The Eternal Fires of Hell\u003cbr\u003e 31 The Chesterfield Girl\u003cbr\u003e 32 Howling In The Night\u003cbr\u003e 33 Black Sunday\u003cbr\u003e 34 The Empty Chapel\u003cbr\u003e 35 The Old Man At The Window\u003cbr\u003e 36 The Kitchen Table\u003cbr\u003e 37 Mazel Tov\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eVII Reno II\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 39 Freedom\u003cbr\u003e 40 The Rest Home\u003cbr\u003e 41 The Next Life\u003cbr\u003e 42 Helmi's Shadow\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue: November 1946\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"University of Nevada Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51041965736279,"sku":"9781647790202","price":22.46,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781647790202.jpg?v=1750952401","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/helmis-shadow-a-journey-of-survival-from-russia-to-east-asia-to-the-american-west-9781647790202","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}