This is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak (Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series)

The term ''Holocaust survivors'' is often associated with Jewish communities in New York City or along Florida's Gold Coast. Traditionally, tales of America's Holocaust survivors, in both individual and cultural histories, have focused on places where people fleeing from Nazi atrocities congregated in large numbers for comfort and community following World War II. Yet not all Jewish refugees chose to settle in heavily populated areas of the United States. In This Is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak, oral historian Arwen Donahue and photographer Rebecca Gayle Howell focus on overlooked stories that unfold in the aftermath of the Holocaust. They present the accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled not in major metropolitan areas but in southern, often rural, communities. Many of the survivors in these smaller communities did not even seek out the few fellow Jewish residents already there. Donahue transcribes the accounts as she heard them, keeping true to the voices of those she interviewed. One of the survivors who shares her tale, Sylvia Green, describes the pain and desolation of her experiences in the Nazi death camps with a voice that reveals both her German-Polish heritage and her subsequent small-town life in Winchester, Kentucky. The Hungarian-born Paul Schlisser has an equally complex voice, a mix of phrases learned in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and regional speech patterns acquired in his adopted home near Fort Knox. Donahue's collection of voices, accompanied by Howell's poignant photographs, identifies each storyteller as an American -- and as a Kentuckian. Like many others of diverse backgrounds before them, Holocaust survivors joined the ''melting pot'' as a haven from the suffering in their native lands, but they eventually came to regard America as home. Although they speak of atrocities, most often experienced when they were children and unable to fully comprehend the situation, they also emphasize the comfort of acceptance -- not just by Jewish communities but also by a state that has long equated ''religion'' with Christianity alone. Kentucky is not known for its cultural and religious diversity, yet these stories reveal one of the many ways that the state has become home to a wide spectrum of immigrants -- people who once were strangers but now are its own. A look at the lives of nine Jewish Holocaust survivors after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, when they settled in rural Kentucky. At the end of World War II, many thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors immigrated to the United States from Europe in search of a new beginning. Most settled in major metropolitan areas, usually in predominantly Jewish communities, where proximity to coreligionists offered a measure of cultural and social support. However, some survivors settled in smaller cities and rural areas throughout the country, including in Kentucky, where they encountered an entirely different set of circumstances. Although much scholarship has been devoted to Holocaust survivors living in major cities, little has been written about them in the context of their experiences elsewhere in America. This Is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak presents the accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled outside of the usual major metropolitan areas. Using excerpts from oral history interviews and documentary portrait photography, author Arwen Donahue and photographer Rebecca Gayle Howell tell the fascinating stories of nine of these survivors in a unique work of history and contemporary art. The book focuses on the survivors' lives after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, illuminating their reasons for settling in Kentucky, their initial reactions to American culture, and their reflections on integrating into rural American life. Praise for This is Home Now "Until Donahue and Howell turned their recorders and cameras on these well-chosen survivors living in Kentucky, no one had taken the time to ask how these solitary transplants made new lives for themselves and their children in rural middle America. The stories and images reproduced in this book are both moving and arresting. We owe Donahue and Howell a great debt for rescuing them before they disappeared down the trapdoor of historical memory." —Lawrence N. Powell, author of Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana "Each of the stories can stand on its own as a fascinating example of what has transpired for Jews outside of New York City." —David Wallace, Community (Jewish Community Association of Louisville) " This Is Home Now focuses on the overlooked stories of Holocaust survivors who relocated to the commonwealth." — Lexington Herald-Leader The term “Holocaust survivors” is often associated with Jewish communities in New York City or along Florida's Gold Coast. Traditionally, tales of America's Holocaust survivors, in both individual and cultural histories, have focused on places where people fleeing from Nazi atrocities congregated in large numbers for comfort and community following World War II. Yet not all Jewish refugees chose to settle in heavily populated areas of the United States. This book focuses on overlooked stories that unfolded in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It presents the accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled not in major metropolitan areas but in southern, often rural, communities. Many of the survivors in these smaller communities did not even seek out the few fellow Jewish residents already there. The book transcribes the accounts as they were heard, keeping true to the voices of those interviewed. Its collection of voices, accompanied by poignant photographs, identifies each storyteller as an American—and as a Kentuckian. Like many others of diverse backgrounds before them, Holocaust survivors joined the “melting pot” as a haven from the suffering in their native lands, but eventually came to regard America as home. Although they speak of atrocities, most often experienced when they were children and unable to fully comprehend the situation, the survivors also emphasize the comfort of acceptance—not just by Jewish communities but also by a state that has long equated “religion” with Christianity alone

At the end of World War II, many thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors immigrated to the United States from Europe in search of a new beginning. Most settled in major metropolitan areas, usually in predominantly Jewish communities, where proximity to coreligionists offered a measure of cultural and social support. However, some survivors settled in smaller cities and rural areas throughout the country, including in Kentucky, where they encountered an entirely different set of circumstances. Although much scholarship has been devoted to Holocaust survivors living in major cities, little has been written about them in the context of their experiences elsewhere in America.

This Is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak presents the accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled outside of the usual major metropolitan areas. Using excerpts from oral history interviews and documentary portrait photography, author Arwen Donahue and photographer Rebecca Gayle Howell tell the fascinating stories of nine of these survivors in a unique work of history and contemporary art. The book focuses on the survivors' lives after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, illuminating their reasons for settling in Kentucky, their initial reactions to American culture, and their reflections on integrating into rural American life.

At the end of World War II, many thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors immigrated to the United States from Europe in search of a new beginning. Most settled in major metropolitan areas, usually in predominantly Jewish communities, where proximity to co-religionists offered a measure of cultural and social support. However, some survivors settled in rural areas throughout the country, including in Kentucky, where they encountered an entirely different set of circumstances. Although much scholarship has been devoted to Holocaust survivors living in urban contexts, little has been written about them in the context of their experiences elsewhere in America. This book presents accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled outside of the usual major metropolitan areas. Using excerpts from oral history interviews and documentary portrait photography, an author and a photographer come together to tell the fascinating stories of nine of these survivors in a unique work of history and contemporary art. The book focuses on the survivors' lives after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, illuminating their reasons for settling in Kentucky, their initial reactions to American culture, and their reflections on integrating into rural American life. -- Publisher's description At the end of World War II, many thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors immigrated to the United States from Europe in search of a new beginning. Most settled in major metropolitan areas, usually in predominantly Jewish communities, where proximity to co-religionists offered a measure of cultural and social support. However, some survivors settled in rural areas throughout the country, including in Kentucky, where they encountered an entirely different set of circumstances. Although much scholarship has been devoted to Holocaust survivors living in urban contexts, little has been written about them in the context of their experiences in rural America. Approximately forty Holocaust survivors currently live in Kentucky. Using excerpts from oral history interviews and documentary portrait photography, author Arwen Donahue and photographer Rebecca Gayle Howell tell the fascinating stories of nine of these survivors in a unique work of history and contemporary art. The book focuses on the survivors' lives after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, illuminating their reasons for settling in Kentucky, their initial reactions to American culture, and their reflections on integrating into rural American life Series......Page 3 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 photographs......Page 8 series foreword......Page 10 foreword......Page 12 acknowledgments......Page 16 introduction......Page 18 a note on methodology......Page 36 chapter 1......Page 40 chapter 2......Page 60 chapter 3......Page 78 chapter 4......Page 98 chapter 5......Page 114 chapter 6......Page 130 chapter 7......Page 146 chapter 8......Page 166 chapter 9......Page 188 notes......Page 210 selected bibliography......Page 218 Index......Page 222 Photographs......Page 234 Back Cover......Page 258 Sylvia Green -- Oscar Haber -- Robert Holczer -- Abram Jakubowicz -- Ann Klein -- Justine Lerner -- Alexander Rosenberg -- John Rosenberg -- Paul Schlisser. [compiled And Edited By] Arwen Donahue ; Photographs By Rebecca Gayle Howell. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [201]-204) And Index. Interviews with nine Holocaust survivors. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism)