THE BOOK FAIR

After Long     Silence

Review:

Helen Fremont discovers her parents held deep secrets from her and her sister, Lara, their whole lives long.  The girls grew up raised as Roman Catholics.  Their parents never mentioned their Jewish heritage, or that they were both Holocaust survivors, nor did they mention those in the family that did not survive.

 

Helen’s mother resents questions related to the past.  She offers tidbits that instead of giving comfort only raise more questions.  The sisters begin the arduous task of researching their parents past.  Helen and Lara acquire records from Yad Vashem in Israel then decide to travel to the Ukraine to unearth the secrets their parents buried.

In lieu of their daughters’ relentless pursuit of the past, the parents guardedly open up their memories giving their daughters a view of their wartime lives.  By doing so, the girls are able to understand both their mother and their father’s bizarre behaviors over the years.

 

Helen writes beautifully and sensitively of her family’s struggle living in Lvov, Ukraine.  She describes the struggles her family endured, surviving the daily danger of life during the war under both the German and Russian occupations.  Helen relates the deeply moving and fascinating tale of her mother, Batya, her father, Kovik, and Zosia, her maternal aunt.

 

Unrelated to her parent’s historical story, Ms. Freemont disclosed her personal story.  Hiding her lifestyle from family members paled in comparison to Jews hiding from the German killing machine.