FROM THE BOOKSHELF

BY RONA STEINBERG

The Book Club takes place approximately every six weeks in the Golda Cohen room. All are welcome and we are especially interested in suggestions for books with a Jewish theme however loosely defined. Watch out for the NWE Guild newsletter for more information.

We are currently reading and discussing - Shtetl-The History Of A Small Town And An Extinguished World by Eva Hoffman:-

There can be few of us who have gazed at photographs of forbears in Eastern Europe and not wondered what life was like for them. Hoffman’s intricately researched book helps to answer some of our questions. She traces the entire history of one shtetl, Bransk, a small Polish town about 180 km east of Warsaw, from the earliest settlement of Jews in the seventeenth century to the present day.

In fact the aim of the book is not just to provide an insight into the lifestyle of a Jew living in the shtetl. There is of course plenty of lively detail. The descriptions of buildings, commerce, communal activities, the horrors of cheder, the primitive conditions in which Jews lived contrasted with the richness of their spiritual life; but although fascinating, this is not really where the strength and main interest of the book lies.

Early on, Hoffman spells out her aim; "to counter the notion that ordinary Poles were naturally inclined, by virtue of their congenital anti-Semitism to participate in the genocide, and that Poles today must be viewed with extreme suspicion or condemned as guilty for the fate of the Jews in their country." Additionally Hoffman lived her early life in Warsaw before she emigrated as a teenager to Canada with her parents. Anyone who has read Hoffman’s book "Lost In Translation" will know how much of Hoffman’s identity was forged by her life in Poland and how important those early experiences were to remain.

Hoffman examines the evidence by returning to Bransk to see the place for herself and interviewing those elderly Poles who still remember their Jewish neighbours. Hoffman’s accounts of those interviews are enormously revealing.

But more fundamentally she explores the historical context in great detail. And it is here that one can begin to see how the attitude of Poles to Jews developed and changed over the centuries according to the political situation prevailing at the time. We also learn of and can identify with the constant struggle of the Jew to maintain his identity and separateness yet remain loyal to and be accepted by his host country - a theme obviously relevant today and not of course just for Jews.

Ultimately whether Hoffman is able to reach a conclusion about the validity of Pole as anti-Semite is a moot point. And indeed Hoffman acknowledges this. Of course there were good, heroic Poles just as there were good, heroic Germans. For there can be no doubt that Poles were terrified victims of the Nazis too and Hoffman is keen for that to be acknowledged.

But alongside those unassailable facts there were Poles who actively pursued the persecution of Jews and when the Germans came, in the eyes of the survivors as Hoffman puts it "the anti-Semitism lurking in every Pole came out and showed its true virulence."

Perhaps as in all complex situations involving human culpability, guilt and survival, the question of what is true is not always obvious or accessible. But it is certainly worth having the dialogue. For in so doing we find out not just about ourselves and what kind of Jews we are and want to be, but also about our enemy, our friend and the ones who are just plain indifferent to us.

Incidentally if you are interested in reading more by Eva Hoffman, "Lost In Translation" mentioned above is excellent. She has also recently had published her first novel, "The Secret," which is an intriguing modern fable and a great read! If you want to read more about the shtetl, the book, "Konin - A Quest" by Theo Richmond is equally fascinating.

YOU ARE WELCOME JOIN US AT THE BOOK CLUB

IN THE GOLDA COHEN ROOM

@ 8PM

CONTACT RONA STEINBERG FOR BOOK SELECTIONS AND MEETING DATES