Shadows of Berlin is, in part, a bleak chronicle of life in Europe growing ever more hostile at the edge of World War II, part mythic parable. Bergelson’s stories—passionate, honest, dark and often hilarious—hint at the possibility of redemption even as they suggest a horror just around the corner.
David Bergelson’s Berlin stories reveal a moment of incredible possibility in Jewish culture—a time when some of the greatest Yiddish writers of the day saw the German capital as a beacon for progressive, modernist creative artists. In the course of one brief sentence, Bergelson masterfully descends from the teeming Berliner streets into the depths of his characters’ souls. His prose sparkles with stylistic virtuosity, savage humor, and creates a seamless fusion of Western and Eastern European modernisms. – Robert Adler Peckerar, Director of Education, National Yiddish Book Center
Despair peoples Bergelson''s
