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.