JULY 27 • 2023 | 15

Book Excerpts 

“I believe my birth as the first-
born child to Holocaust survivors 
signaled to my parents the prom-
ise of a new beginning: a new 
generation that could vindicate 
the annihilation of their families, 
a celebration of planting ground 
in a newfound country, and a 
confirmation of their love and 
commitment.” — Avishay Hayut, 
son of Aliza and Aharon Chajut
 
“At some point as a child, I must 
have realized that my parents 
had a very troubled background 
that my older sister and I should 
not ask about. We wanted to 
protect them from any further 
sadness and pain, so we never 
made trouble ourselves. We were 
always good.” — book co-editor 
Julie Goldstein Ellis, daughter of 
Magda Blaufeld Goldstein and 
Louis Goldstein 
 
“I had a very strong sense of 
myself ... a resiliency you might 
call it ... and I knew how I needed 
to live to be happy. But at the 
same time, my obligation to my 
family emerged naturally as a 
guiding principle for me.” — Ava 
Adler, daughter of Minna (Mindl) 
Adler 
 
“How does healing occur? 
Certainly, it never happened for 
my father. He managed to start 
a new life and had six kids, but 
he never recovered himself. He 
didn’t seem to understand how 
to negotiate American life. … 
Throughout my life, I continued 
to vacillate between embarrass-
ment, anger and resignation at 
my inability to get through to him. 
But no matter his rage (or mine), 
I found I still felt protective of my 
father.” 
— Phil Barr, son of Harold 
(Chaim) Rayberg 

Outreach and Recognition 

Since The Ones Who Remember was published in April 2022, various combina-
tions of the authors have participated in nearly 60 book talks in the United States, 
Israel and Canada, and on Zoom with a sister 2G group in the UK. 
CHAIM, an association chaired by Dr. Charles Silow and Sandra Silver, hosted 
a panel featuring their 2G counterparts Joy Ensor, Ava Adler and Eszter Gombosi 
on Sept. 18 at the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills. A discussion 
guide to The Ones Who Remember can be found on the book page of the group’s 
website: secondgenerationvoices.com. Past presentations by the essayists can be 
viewed on the same website or on a YouTube channel set up for the book. 
The Ones Who Remember has garnered numerous positive reviews in the 
media. Following are the book’s accolades to date:

GOLD AWARD: Foreword INDIES Gold Winner for Anthologies
SILVER AWARD: Nautilus Award for best memoir describing heroic journeys
FINALIST: Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal for most thought-provoking book
FINALIST: Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Medal for most outstanding cover art
FINALIST: Next Generation Indie Book Awards for best memoir (Adversity/ 

 
 Tragedy)

FINALIST: National Indies Excellence Award for best anthology

interest in taking the narratives from our 
services and turning them into a book,” 
Wade said. But instead of presenting their 
parents’ stories only, a prospective publisher 
and one of the temple’s survivors suggest-
ed that the would-be authors write essays 
“through our own intergenerational lens.”

THE WRITING PROCESS 
“We asked ourselves, ‘Could we take that 
deeper dive in a manner that was both 
authentic and respectful?’” Ensor recalled. 
A few of the 2Gs, including Wade, still 
had a living parent who they didn’t want 
to offend. Wade said the new focus of the 
book was stressful for her at first, but the 
writing process helped her gain clarity 
about her father and the impact of what 
he had been through. They previously had 
a rocky relationship, she said, but “by the 
time my chapter was completed, I also had 
a better understanding of who he was, and 
my frustrations had melted away.”
The book’s four co-editors “tested the 
waters” for others in the group by doing 
their own writing first, Ensor said. “We dis-
covered that the words poured out of us.” 
In Benn’s sensitively written essay for the 
book, she expresses amazement at the hor-
rors her parents, Alice and Phillipe Benn, 
endured during the Holocaust and also 
speaks openly about resolving her some-
times difficult relationship with her mother. 
In addition to speaking about the book, 

co-editors Benn and Wade have led several 
memoir-writing workshops for fellow 2Gs.
On behalf of the group, Ensor said, 
“Writing our chapters was an unexpected 
force for growth and healing for us. And 
working together on the book project has 
strengthened our kinship ties with one 
another.”
Three purposes can be derived from 
reading their book, she said. It can serve 
to “inspire others about the strength of the 
human spirit, to see that from trauma can 
also come fortitude, compassion and toler-
ance. … sound an alarm about the terrible 
consequences of being bystanders when 
there are assaults on human rights and on 
the institutions of our democracy. 
“
And, finally, as the survivor generation 
dwindles in numbers and as we ourselves 
age, we want to honor our parents’ legacies 
by sharing the lessons of the Shoah from 
our own 2G perspective.” 

Joy Wolfe Ensor 
speaks about 
The Ones Who 
Remember.

