To Wear the Dust of War: From Bialystok to Shanghai to the Promised Land, an Oral History (Palgrave Studies in Oral History)

To Wear the Dust of War: From Bialystok to Shanghai to the Promised Land, an Oral History (Palgrave Studies in Oral History)
Samuel Iwry | 2004-08-21 00:00:00 | Palgrave Macmillan | 256 | Jewish
On the eve of World War I, ten-year-old Samuel Iwry and his family joined other Jewish refugees in fleeing Poland for Russia. At age twenty-nine, Iwry was forced to flee again--this time from the Soviets--and ended up in Shanghai, joining 20,000 Jewish refugees already there. The story of the diaspora caused by the Holocaust is well-known, but the Far Eastern dimension has come to light only very recently. Iwry's story unfolds in his own compelling words, conveying the harrowing details of flight and survival into vivid detail. Leslie Kelly suceeds in placing Iwry's experiences into much wider historical context. This oral history sheds light on Jewish life in eastern Europe during the inter-war period, the search for a safe haven from Nazis and Soviets, daily life in the Shanghai ghetto, and emigration to America. Iwry's story is representative of the Jewish experience but also completely unique.

Reviews
The book reads like your grandpa talking directly to you, so it is realling interesting although it rambles a bit. But this man had an incredible life and it is a fascinating window on the plight of Jews who escaped the holocaust through Shanghai. DEspite all he and his family went through, he can still spike the story with humor. It's hard to put it down and it really makes you think. Highly recommended!
Reviews
Samuel Iwry, a Jewish scholar, gives a remarkable first person account of his experiences fleeing Poland, going across Russia to Japan, then to Shanghai, and ultimately to America, in flight from the Nazis, beginning in 1939. Examples are use of forged documents, crossing a border surreptitiously, waiting in Vilnius for opportunity, detention in Shanghai (with 20,000 other Jewish refugees), and travel to the U.S. (where he settled in Baltimore and became a professor at Johns Hopkins). Highly readable and suitable for adults and young adults.

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Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature

Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature
David Patterson,Alan L. Berger,Sarita Cargas | 2002-03-30 00:00:00 | Greenwood | 240 | Jewish
Whether it's a novel, memoir, diary, poem, or drama, a common thread runs through the literature of the Nazi Holocaust--a "motif of personal testimony to the dearness of humanity." With that perspective the expert authors of Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature undertake profiling 128 of the most influential first generation authors who either survived, perished, or were closely connected to the Holocaust. Arranged alphabetically by author, the entries are organized into three primary divisions: (1) an opening section on why the author's work is significant or distinctive; (2) a section containing biographical information, followed by (3) a critical examination of the highlights of the author's work. The Encyclopedia is intended for all students and teachers of the Holocaust, regardless of their levels of learning.

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Missing Pieces: My Life As a Child Survivor of the Holocaust (Legacies Shared)

Missing Pieces: My Life As a Child Survivor of the Holocaust (Legacies Shared)
Olga Verrall | 2007-07-30 00:00:00 | University of Calgary Press | 244 | Jewish
Until the age of seven, Olga Barsony lived an idyllic life in Szarvas, a small town in Hungary, surrounded by her doting, observant Jewish family. In spring 1944, Olga and most of her family were interned in the Auspitz labour camp shortly after the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Eventually reunited after the war, the family moved back to Szarvas, only to face harsh repression at the hands of the Communists a few short years later. In 1957, the Barsonys immigrated to Winnipeg, where Olga met and married her husband Orland Verrall, the cantor at the local synagogue. Olga and Orland's love for each other, the birth of their two daughters, and the promise of a peaceful, contented life together helped to build the foundation of a new start in Canada - a seemingly happy ending to an otherwise traumatic number of years.Sadly for Olga Verral, she would have to endure many more tribulations as she undertook the painful process of re-living the horror of the Holocaust as a child, while at the same time wrestling with the ghosts that had been haunting her life ever since. Anger, sadness, and a deep sense of emptiness would be a recurring theme and source of frustration as Olga undertook rebuilding her life in the aftermath of such intensely excruciating events. After the death of her husband and subsequent emotional breakdown, doctors encouraged her to write her memoirs as a form of therapy. In this way Olga Verral takes her first steps on the long journey towards recovery and tries finally to write a genuinely triumphant ending to her life story. "Missing Pieces" makes a significant contribution to the growing genre of writing by child survivors of the Holocaust, and is the first Holocaust memoir to expose the little-known Auspitz labour camp.

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