Friday, May 21, 2010

Who Will Say Kaddish? Jewish Idenity in Modern Poland, by Larry N. Mayer


WHO WILL SAY KADDISH?: A Search for Jewish Identity in Contemporary Poland
by LARRY N. MAYER
photos, Gary Gelb
2002

A book about modern Poland and the renewal of Polish Jewish identity, now fragile, after the Holocaust and communism. Probably the only book of its kind in its multiple levels and viewpoints. An intelligent, insightful writer with himself much to say.

Based on his extensive interviews (and research) in Poland, Mayer maneuvers through a highly ambiguous thumbprint of Poland’s now dispersed, diverse generations. Mayer manages to put that ambiguity expertly into words, making him the perfect guide where there’s not merely one truth. Intellectual, sometimes tough going, but this writer knows how to see and convey the ambiguity of the world around him. Mixed in with an exploration of his own personal identity (child of Polish Holocaust survivors).

Artful b&w portrait photos by Gary Gelb that warmly convey this intensely foreign yet sympathetic world.

Reviews:  amazon reviews

Publisher, Syracuse University Press website link

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