This distinctive volume contains twenty first-person narrative essays from Holocaust survivors who were children at the time of the atrocity. As children aged two to sixteen; these authors had different experiences than their adult counterparts and also had different outlooks in understanding the events that they survived. While most Holocaust memoirs focus on one individual or one country; And Life Is Changed Forever offers a varied collection of compelling reflections. The survivors come from Germany; Poland; Austria; Romania; Hungary; Italy; Greece; France; the Netherlands; Belgium; Latvia; and Czechoslovakia. All of the contributors escaped death; but they did so in myriad ways. Some children posed as Gentiles or were hidden by sympathizers; some went to concentration camps and survived slave labor; some escaped on the Kindertransports; and some were sent to endure hardships in a "safe" location such as Siberia or unoccupied France. While each essay is intensely personal; all speak to the universal horrors and the triumphs of all children who have survived persecution. And Life Is Changed Forever also focuses on what these children became-teachers; engineers; physicians; entrepreneurs; librarians; parents; and grandparents-and explores the impact of the Holocaust on their later lives.
#1768283 in Books Walker Clarence Earl 2010-01-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.18 x .40 x 5.50l; .40 #File Name: 0813927781144 pagesMongrel Nation The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings
Review
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Logical Affirmation; Brilliant Use of ContextBy NormProfessor Walker has given us more than reasoned confirmation of what Americans have long suspected; at least since the 1802 revelations by James Callender. By weaving the Jefferson-Hemings liaison into a historical setting that accommodated such relationships more comfortably than we in the 21st Century have considered; he reminded us to look through the eyes of Thomas and Sally's contemporaries. Of course; the immediate white family had a different take on the situation regardless of truths they must have been aware of; and denial has persisted among their descendants.Walker has also made a compelling case for a historical mixed-race perspective in which we should all take pride. In my book Diagnosing Jefferson I touched only briefly on the benefit of viewing the liaison in a positive light. I'm pleased and humbled to say Professor Walker has put more into that.Based on what we know of Jefferson; and based on circumstances in which Sally found herself in Paris; what in the world else could anyone think would happen between the lonely; love-starved widower and the late Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson's young; gorgeous; look-alike half-sister? Especially when she was aware of her technical freedom to choose in a country that didn't recognize slavery; and especially when he was forsworn never to remarry. He wasn't going to become a monk; and she wasn't going to watch her god-like brother-in-law suffer for want of the affections of a down-home woman.After the DNA flap some years back; reputable historians like Joseph J. Ellis agonized over the findings; as though forgetting that Thomas was exactly as human as he (Ellis) had been describing in his writings. As for Sally; she must have been a bright young woman; for much boils down to the question: What kind of woman would Thomas Jefferson have wanted to give amorous attention to (in apparent total loyalty; judging from his Memorandum Books) for 38 years till death?The only criticism I might make of Walker's work is in his going low-key over the possible influence of Sally's mother; Elizabeth; and other family members who'd bedded white men and; in some ways; gained thereby. I don't believe 14-year-old Sally would have been chosen at the last moment to sail to Paris with Thomas's daughter Polly had the Hemings matriarch Elizabeth not been strongly involved; for the major white player in that send-off was yet another blood relation to the Hemings clan; Elizabeth Eppes.All in all; Mongrel Nation is a must-read for people who appreciate Thomas's and Sally's contribution to the United States's mixed-race heritage; and it's time we gave prominence to that contribution.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy tnracerExcellent.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great insight into race todayBy Wendy B. HanawaltWalker's book is about the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Heming; but it ripples out across the years to politics today. Walker's discussion of America's peculiar obsession with being seen as a "white" nation informs our undersetanding of today's headlines; particularly why The Birthers are obsessed with proving that President Obama is not "one of us" and the Tea Party's love affair with the Founding Fathers. This little piece of history is deftly written; a quick and fascinating read. I recommend it very highly.
