Reviews
“This strange and haunting dual memoir captures the legacy of the Holocaust and how it carries its ache down through generations. A gorgeous piece of work, it will give insight to anyone who wants to understand what was lost in the nightmare course of the twentieth century—and what was saved.”
- RICH COHEN, New York Times Bestselling author of Tough Jews and The Fish That Ate the Whale
“At a moment when the Holocaust stakes fresh claim on contemporary life, SONS OF SURVIVORS offers fresh insights on the story that continues to shape our lives. Mixing personal friendship, family history, and profound insights on inherited trauma, Aron Hirt-Manheimer and Marty Yura help us to see our own story with more empathy and wonder. This book will inspire many meaningful conversations.”
- BRUCE FEILER, New York Times Bestselling Author of Walking the Bible
“This remarkably candid conversation between two lifelong friends is a major contribution to second-generation Holocaust literature and an inspiration to anyone burdened by trauma.”
- RABBI RICK JACOBS, President of the Union for Reform Judaism
“Two sons of Holocaust survivors, conceived in the same displaced persons camp, recount the arc of their converging and diverging lives, and how they reconnected. A memorable contribution to post-war American Jewish history and to the literature on inherited trauma.”
- JONATHAN D. SARNA, University Professor and Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University
“The authors work through their traumatic legacy seeking to transform the sheer evil of Nazism into a twofold challenge for Jews and non-Jews alike: How can love prevail against hate? and, How can the lessons of the Holocaust serve as a stimulus to achieve a tikkun (repair) of the world?”
- ALAN BERGER, Raddock Family Eminent Scholar Chair in Holocaust Studies and Director, Center for the Study of Values and Violence After Auschwitz, Florida Atlantic University
“A remarkable tale of intergenerational karma, alternately courageous and tender, painful and promising, a story of historical reckoning. For all seekers on a quest for spiritual identity, this is a book of enduring hope, a profound testament to how shared memory is vital to healing.”
- TIAS LITTLE, Author of Yoga of the Subtle Body
“Making peace with intergenerational legacies of trauma involves a continuous unraveling and acceptance of unbearable memories, emotions, and choices while moving toward liberation and self-actualization. This is what the authors do as they navigate their quest to better understand how the Holocaust impacted their identities and relationships…. to undo and repair the past and heal the world for their parents and themselves.”
- DR. YAEL DANIELI, clinical psychologist and founder of the International Center for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma
“Two powerful memoirs forming one story of friendship and connections that these sons of Holocaust survivors discover and recover over a span of over fifty years -- impacting their lives and those of their loved ones.”
- DR. SHAY PILNIK, Director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Yeshiva University, and author of The Ravine of Memory: Babyn Yar Between the Holocaust and the Great Patriotic War
"This is not simply another "Holocaust book." It is the unique and moving story of two friends, both children of Holocaust survivors, who confront the barrier of silence erected by their parents; deal with the trauma that they inherited; and find a way to turn the horrors that their parents experienced into a legacy of caring, loving, and remembering in their own lives and the lives of those around them. It is a truly inspiring story, and a reminder of the power of friendship and Jewish resilience to overcome life's most challenging trials."
- ERIC YOFFIE, President Emeritus, Union for Reform Judaism
"I deeply respect Aron Hirt-Manheimer's ability as a writer, editor par excellence, and as a man of ideas. Any book on which he collaborates will be the better for his presence."
- RABBI W. GUNTHER PLAUT, editor and chief author of The Torah: A Modern Commentary