Overview

This is a story of two Jewish families in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Holocaust. They were joined by marriage after the war and Maria was born soon after. Not surprisingly her mother initially urged her to hide her Jewishness. In old age she relented, recognising that testimonies make history, and the lives of those who perished should be celebrated. The book is compiled from survivor memories, unfinished memoirs, letters, photographs, and historical archives. Maria tells of relatives like aunt Lula, who was denounced and shot and her maternal grandmother, who died in the gas chambers of Belzec. There are uplifting stories too, like her great uncle's survival on Schindler's List. Maria documents the kindness of strangers, miraculous escapes, courage, guile, strength, and resilience. Her parents adopted different strategies for survival, and afterwards responded very differently to the traumas they had suffered. The last part of the book covers Maria's early life in Stalinist Poland and her family's emigration to Edinburgh, where she and her parents led fulfilled lives as scientists. Despite this, the traumas continue to ripple through her life and following generations.

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9781803710143

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Reviews

With a scientific mind and a profound personal dedication, Maria Chamberlain takes her reader on a journey into the family history. The book combines research and reflection, history and memory, and provides rare insights into Jewish life in Poland after the Holocaust and the beginnings of a new life in Britain. - Joachim Schloer, Southampton University

Author Information

Maria Chamberlain is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. She was born in Krakow, Poland, and emigrated with her parents in 1958 at the age of eleven. The family settled in Edinburgh, where she still lives. Maria pursued an academic career as a biologist researching plant and fungal biology and teaching undergraduates at the University of Edinburgh. Now in her retirement, she maintains contact with students in her roles as an Honorary Lecturer of the University of Edinburgh and Programme Secretary of the Botanical Society of Scotland.

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