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In this book, readers follow author Simon through an emotional journey to discover the truth about the author’s grandmother and other members of her family. Simon refuses to be thwarted by overlooked and often erased history, as well as a region whose borders constantly changed. Instead, her narrative ventures to Eastern Europe and the town of Volchin, where numerous Jews lived and thrived until mass shootings of Jews in the area left towns like it desolate and empty. Simon’s narrative poignantly recounts the prevalence of these mass shootings, which have not received the same attention and focus as the concentration camps. The book also offers important lessons about self-reckoning, which happens when one individual endeavors to unravel the mysteries inherent in a grandmother’s stories of the past.
A fascinating, well-researched work, the author’s book explores many unique facets of generational trauma, postwar genealogy, and historical and genealogical research. Simon’s work also highlights the difficulty experienced by many Jewish families as they try to reconstruct their familial stories and immigration pathways. Government censorship and records destruction, as well as revisionist history, play a significant part. The author carefully explores the historic motivations for anti-Semitism. Thus, Simon's book is extremely relevant to today’s society, where extremist groups in both the US and Europe have caused a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic incidents. The book stresses the necessity of remembering historical events like the mass shootings which occurred so, as one local woman states in the book, society will “‘never again be like it was before.’” For readers interested in Holocaust history, World War II history, and Jewish history, Simon's book is a powerful read and a strong addition to their reading lists.
A 2023 Eric Hoffer Book Award Legacy Nonfiction Honorale Mention