Description
Book SynopsisDescribes the dangers to which Jewish refugees and immigrants were subjected in France and Italy as the Holocaust marched forward. This work uncovers a complex history of suffering and resilience through historical documents and personal testimonies from members of nine central and eastern European Jewish families, displaced to France.
Trade Review"Zuccotti brings multiple tales together into a coherent, compelling, and dramatic narrative."—Maud Mandel, Brown University
-- Maud Mandel
"Drawing on both witnesses and documents,
Holocaust Odysseys tells the extraordinary story of hundreds of Jewish refugees who found refuge in mountainous country in the south of France and who later made their way to Italy, fleeing the Germans who hunted them. Justifiably, we concentrate on those who were murdered during the Holocaust. But we learn as well from those who, through determination, resourcefulness, careful planning, good timing, unusual opportunities, Jewish resistance, the sometimes heroic generosity of French and Italians—but most of all through sheer good fortune—emerged alive when the war finally ended. As Susan Zuccotti's narrative vividly relates, they experienced the best and the worst. For any balanced account of the Holocaust, we need to be aware of both."—Michael R. Marrus, Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies,
University of Toronto
-- Michael R. Marrus
"This is a book that Susan Zuccotti is uniquely capable of writing. Her knowledge is unparalleled, her handling of oral history is meticulous, a model of what can be done and what must be done to verify survivors’ accounts and then give it shape and form. Her narrative is compelling, skilled, sensitive, restrained and responsible."—
Michael Berenbaum -- Michael Berenbaum
"Although based primarily on the oral testimonies of these Jewish survivors, who were mostly teenagers at the time, this beautifully written book also draws on published memoirs and secondary sources. . . . Zuccotti has provided an important contribution to Holocaust historiography."— Vicki Caron,
Shofar -- Vicki Caron * Shofar *
