In the garden of memory : a family memoir

by Joanna Olczak-Ronikier

Paperback, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

940.5318 OLC

Collection

Publication

London: Phoenix

Description

The story of the Horowitz family follows the lives of four generations of Polish Jews who lived through the turbulent twentieth century. Full of tales of bravery as well as the comical anecdotes of everyday life, the book follows the family members as they are dispersed around the world--to European spas, tsarist prisons, Soviet war camps, and the British RAF. One became an undercover agent, another a zoologist in France, another a leading Freudian psychiatrist. Amazingly only two members were victims of the Holocaust, though the Second World War left lasting psychological effects on all the survivors. However, this is ultimately an uplifting story--of a family that never gave up hope and never gave in.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Niecierpek
A fascinating Jewish family saga set in Poland spanning more than one hundred years and a few generations, and intricately woven into the Polish history.
In the times before the Second World War, the main setting for the story is Warsaw, even though the whole family lived in different parts of
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Europe, many studied in Vienna, or Paris, and a whole branch fell in love with communism and ended up in the newly born Soviet Union.
During the Second World War, they were scattered into different parts of the world. Most of them avoided the German concentration camps, but some suffered in the Stalin’s.
Highly recommended.
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Awards

Wingate Literary Prize (Shortlist — 2005)
Nike Literary Award (Winner — 2002)

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

336 p.; 9.25 inches

ISBN

0753819988 / 9780753819982

Local notes

Donated by Joan Yona Foster, August 2022

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