A well-crafted work that highlights the value of the arts in remembering the past.
A group of scholars, writers, and artists remember the Holocaust in this anthology.
“Remembrance is a sacred responsibility in Judaism,” write editors Berman and Humphries in their introduction to this collection of “poetic personal reflections and artistry.” Bringing together two dozen Jewish artists, playwrights, poets, and scholars, this volume highlights the centrality of the Shoah to Jewish cultural productions. While the chapters are written by different authors, they are all centered around a common question: “Can Art Heal Trauma?” The topics range from a staged production of The Diary of Anne Frank and the use of children’s stories from the Terezín concentration camp in the musical I Never Saw Another Butterfly to explorations of LGBTQ+ themes and the experiences of Jewish sex workers during the war. The first book in an anticipated two-volume collection, this offering pays particular attention to theater, dance, concerts, and other “arts onstage”; the second volume will highlight fine arts and television/film. The idea that the Holocaust should serve as a constant reminder of our responsibility to remain vigilant against racism, extremism, and political violence is a recurring theme in the work; artistic expressions do not only prompt us to recall the past but also function as catalysts for change in response “to current political hate messages, antisemitism, and violence.” This is a well-researched work—the scholarly underpinnings and thorough research citations will appeal to academic readers (co-editors Berman and Humphries are both Dean Emerita of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre and Humphries is a Professor Emerita at American University). The book is accessible to general readers as well, and the text is supplemented by a plethora of high-resolution color photographs. It’s also a pragmatic resource for educators at all levels—many chapters include lesson plans, study guides, discussions of methodologies, and other resources.
A well-crafted work that highlights the value of the arts in remembering the past.Pub Date: June 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781956864670
Page Count: 486
Publisher: International Psychoanalytic Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
An eye-opening and thought-provoking read.
Antisemitism is alive and well and worth talking about.
Fersko, senior rabbi at the Village Temple in Manhattan and vice president of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, argues that Americans of all backgrounds must discuss antisemitism. The author notes that many people view antisemitism as a problem of the past, an issue that is rare and isolated in 21st-century America. She demonstrates convincingly that this mindset is misinformed and that antisemitism is on the rise. Early on Fersko provides a lengthy explanation of antisemitism as “the longest-held, farthest-reaching conspiracy theory in the world.” She explains that antisemitism is a belief in a variety of lies and stereotypes about Jews and Judaism, which manifests in everything from seemingly innocuous remarks to outright physical violence. Fersko points to seven points of dialogue that Jews and non-Jews need to address in order to help battle antisemitism, including race, Christianity, microaggressions, the Holocaust, and Israel. Throughout, she urges readers to educate themselves about the past and to learn to recognize the prejudices about Jews that many Americans inherit unknowingly. Though Fersko addresses such obvious sources of antisemitism as right-wing and racially based extremist groups, she makes it clear throughout the book that the American left is also a major source of antisemitism today. In some cases, this is seen in virulent anti-Israel stances, where left-wing activists portray Jews as racists and oppressors. In other cases, American liberals simply perpetrate tropes and stereotypes about their Jewish friends and neighbors, often through microaggressions, misplaced humor, miseducation about the Holocaust, etc. Though there are certainly points for debate, the text serves as a meaningful starting point for dialogue. If nothing else, she provides the important reminder that the age-old specter of antisemitism is not extinct; in many ways, it’s stronger and more dangerous than at any time since the Holocaust.
An eye-opening and thought-provoking read.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781541601949
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Seal Press
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
