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The Family: A Journey into the Heart of the Twentieth Century
The author of the The Children’s Blizzard delivers an epic work of twentieth century history through the riveting story of one extraordinary Jewish family
In tracing the roots of this family—his own family—Laskin captures the epic sweep of the twentieth century. A modern-day scribe, Laskin honors the traditions, the lives, and the choices of his ancestors: revolutionaries and entrepreneurs, scholars and farmers, tycoons and truck drivers. The Family is a deeply personal, dramatic, and emotional account of people caught in a cataclysmic time in world history.
A century and a half ago, a Torah scribe and his wife raised six children in a yeshivatown at the western fringe of the Russian empire. Bound by their customs and ancient faith, the pious couple expected their sons and daughter to carry family traditions into future generations. But the social and political crises of our time decreed otherwise.
The torrent of history took the scribe’s family down three very different roads. One branch immigrated to America and founded the fabulously successful Maidenform Bra Company; another went to Palestine as pioneers and participated in the contentious birth of the state of Israel; the third branch remained in Europe and suffered the onslaught of the Nazi occupation.
With cinematic power and beauty, bestselling author David Laskin brings to life the upheavals of the twentieth century through the story of one family, three continents, two world wars, and the rise and fall of nations.
In tracing the roots of this family—his own family—Laskin captures the epic sweep of the twentieth century. A modern-day scribe, Laskin honors the traditions, the lives, and the choices of his ancestors: revolutionaries and entrepreneurs, scholars and farmers, tycoons and truck drivers. The Family is a deeply personal, dramatic, and emotional account of people caught in a cataclysmic time in world history.
A century and a half ago, a Torah scribe and his wife raised six children in a yeshivatown at the western fringe of the Russian empire. Bound by their customs and ancient faith, the pious couple expected their sons and daughter to carry family traditions into future generations. But the social and political crises of our time decreed otherwise.
The torrent of history took the scribe’s family down three very different roads. One branch immigrated to America and founded the fabulously successful Maidenform Bra Company; another went to Palestine as pioneers and participated in the contentious birth of the state of Israel; the third branch remained in Europe and suffered the onslaught of the Nazi occupation.
With cinematic power and beauty, bestselling author David Laskin brings to life the upheavals of the twentieth century through the story of one family, three continents, two world wars, and the rise and fall of nations.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
153 people are currently reading
2369 people want to read
About the author
David Laskin
25 books110 followersBorn in Brooklyn and raised in Great Neck, New York, I grew up hearing stories that my immigrant Jewish grandparents told about the “old country” (Russia) that they left at the turn of the last century. When I was a teenager, my mother’s parents began making yearly trips to visit our relatives in Israel, and stories about the Israeli family sifted down to me as well. What I never heard growing up was that a third branch of the family had remained behind in the old country – and that all of them perished in the Holocaust. These are three branches whose intertwined stories I tell in THE FAMILY: THREE JOURNEYS INTO THE HEART OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
An avid reader for as long as I remember, I graduated from Harvard College in 1975 with a degree in history and literature and went on to New College, Oxford, where I received an MA in English in 1977. After a brief stint in book publishing, I launched my career as a freelance writer. In recent years, I have been writing suspense-driven narrative non-fiction about the lives of people caught up in events beyond their control, be it catastrophic weather, war, or genocide. My 2004 book The Children’s Blizzard, a national bestseller, won the Washington State Book Award and the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, and was nominated for a Quill Award. The Long Way Home (2010) also won the Washington State Book Award.
I write frequently for the New York Times Travel Section, and I have also published in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Seattle Times and Seattle Metropolitan.
When I’m not writing or traveling for research, I am usually outdoors trying to tame our large unruly garden north of Seattle, romping with our unruly Labrador retriever pup Patrick, skiing in Washington State’s Cascade Mountains, or hiking in the Wallowa Mountains of northeast Oregon. My wife, Kate O’Neill, and I have raised three wonderful daughters – all grown now and embarked on fascinating lives of their own.
An avid reader for as long as I remember, I graduated from Harvard College in 1975 with a degree in history and literature and went on to New College, Oxford, where I received an MA in English in 1977. After a brief stint in book publishing, I launched my career as a freelance writer. In recent years, I have been writing suspense-driven narrative non-fiction about the lives of people caught up in events beyond their control, be it catastrophic weather, war, or genocide. My 2004 book The Children’s Blizzard, a national bestseller, won the Washington State Book Award and the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, and was nominated for a Quill Award. The Long Way Home (2010) also won the Washington State Book Award.
I write frequently for the New York Times Travel Section, and I have also published in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Seattle Times and Seattle Metropolitan.
When I’m not writing or traveling for research, I am usually outdoors trying to tame our large unruly garden north of Seattle, romping with our unruly Labrador retriever pup Patrick, skiing in Washington State’s Cascade Mountains, or hiking in the Wallowa Mountains of northeast Oregon. My wife, Kate O’Neill, and I have raised three wonderful daughters – all grown now and embarked on fascinating lives of their own.
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April 29, 2014
An enthralling, vivid account of that most dangerous type of history: that which skims the line of what we THINK we know. The subject matter is not generally something I would seek out, but Laskin's prose is fast, exciting, and a perfect narrator. He covers a lot of ground here - we go from a history of the American female breast to the trenches of WWI in the span of a few pages. As a "vigorously secular" American, Laskin treats his ancestors and their Jewish faith with a respectful empathy that helped me, a nonreligious American (of Catholic extraction), who was not previously in the market for shtetl drama, thoroughly enjoy this immersion into their lives.
For a work so full of utter feats of writing (in-depth scholarship, pace, perfect scope, flow, and all of it tight as a drum) what's really most impressive about this story is its meta-message about the nature of history. At first, it seems as though it was Laskin's good fortune to come from so vibrant and travailed a family: they partake, Forrest Gump-like, in every major historical event through which they lived, including fighting in both World Wars, dying in the Holocaust, and even more, being caught in the twin crossfires of imperialist Russia versus communism, and then communist Russia versus Nazi Germany. But as he points out at the end, this is true for many families, and to some degree every family.
One point of history that I won't soon forget is the abject treatment of Jews in Eastern Europe. The way their torment unfolds as told here, the Holocaust wasn't so much an aberration as a continuation of a progressive and systemic hatred of the Jews in Eastern Europe. The Final Solution could just as easily be known as the final iteration in a long line of anti-Semitic misery in that region.
For that reason, there is a new legitimacy lent, for me, to the creation of Israel. I fall pretty squarely on the side of anti-apartheid here, but I've never really understood the history of "aliyah," the return to Israel that the original Jewish pilgrims made. I always assumed that the British made a declaration, that Europe felt bad for the Holocaust, and boom, Jewish state in Palestine. I was wrong. Actually, this book not only gave me new appreciation for the appeal, dare I say need, for a Jewish refuge, but of a certain inevitability of Zionism given the living conditions of Jews in Europe. Whether they "made the desert bloom" is left hanging, and this book doesn't pretend to offer an even picture, but it does certainly legitimize the struggles of Israel's founders as something closer to self-actualization than colonization. Although it was certainly that as well.
For a work so full of utter feats of writing (in-depth scholarship, pace, perfect scope, flow, and all of it tight as a drum) what's really most impressive about this story is its meta-message about the nature of history. At first, it seems as though it was Laskin's good fortune to come from so vibrant and travailed a family: they partake, Forrest Gump-like, in every major historical event through which they lived, including fighting in both World Wars, dying in the Holocaust, and even more, being caught in the twin crossfires of imperialist Russia versus communism, and then communist Russia versus Nazi Germany. But as he points out at the end, this is true for many families, and to some degree every family.
One point of history that I won't soon forget is the abject treatment of Jews in Eastern Europe. The way their torment unfolds as told here, the Holocaust wasn't so much an aberration as a continuation of a progressive and systemic hatred of the Jews in Eastern Europe. The Final Solution could just as easily be known as the final iteration in a long line of anti-Semitic misery in that region.
For that reason, there is a new legitimacy lent, for me, to the creation of Israel. I fall pretty squarely on the side of anti-apartheid here, but I've never really understood the history of "aliyah," the return to Israel that the original Jewish pilgrims made. I always assumed that the British made a declaration, that Europe felt bad for the Holocaust, and boom, Jewish state in Palestine. I was wrong. Actually, this book not only gave me new appreciation for the appeal, dare I say need, for a Jewish refuge, but of a certain inevitability of Zionism given the living conditions of Jews in Europe. Whether they "made the desert bloom" is left hanging, and this book doesn't pretend to offer an even picture, but it does certainly legitimize the struggles of Israel's founders as something closer to self-actualization than colonization. Although it was certainly that as well.
May 3, 2019
The Family by David Laskin is a beautifully written memoir about three branches of the author's family: those who stayed in Europe; came to America; or moved to Israel. Meticulously researched, it is an intimate tale of individuals and their fate. I was totally immersed in their stories and found the book difficult to put down. It brilliantly offers readers a closer look at 20th century history, as reflected in the fateful choices made by individuals.
October 17, 2013
Received as an ARC via my employer Barnes & Noble. Began on 10-12-13.
Finished it on 10-17-13. Truly a remarkable story of a Jewish family over 150 years from western Russian Empire to the U.S.and Israel through the Holocaust. So many emotions came to me from reading this book: smiles,tears,and haunting fears. These people were courageous,foolhardy, gutsy, timid, lusty, naive, stubborn, ultra-religious, secular, and probably 20 other adjectives I could think of, but you certainly won't forget this book easily, whether you're Jewish or not. You get an excellent history lesson as you read how the world affects one extended family. Mr. Laskin's book does his family proud. And if you're into genealogy, this book turns the family charts into a profound narrative.
Finished it on 10-17-13. Truly a remarkable story of a Jewish family over 150 years from western Russian Empire to the U.S.and Israel through the Holocaust. So many emotions came to me from reading this book: smiles,tears,and haunting fears. These people were courageous,foolhardy, gutsy, timid, lusty, naive, stubborn, ultra-religious, secular, and probably 20 other adjectives I could think of, but you certainly won't forget this book easily, whether you're Jewish or not. You get an excellent history lesson as you read how the world affects one extended family. Mr. Laskin's book does his family proud. And if you're into genealogy, this book turns the family charts into a profound narrative.
March 31, 2025
This is a superb book. The author masterfully tells the story of three branches of his family living and dying through the decades of the twentieth century in Europe, the US and the Middle East. The immigrant experience, the founding of Israel and the horrors of the Holocaust are presented with a precise balance between history and humanity, resulting in a book that is both enlightening and moving, with great relevance to issues that impact us today.
October 12, 2013
"The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century" by David Laskin was given to me as galley preview.
The book is an excellent account of the fate of one wider family as it makes its way through Central and Eastern Europe from the early 1800s into the late 1900s.
With great detail from private letters and with further immaculate research about the times Laskin sets great sceneries from Vilnius to Minsk, to America and Israel.
The book is well written and gives enough focus and attention to all of the areas covered, speculates, makes educated guesses and includes enough personal material to give a good impression on the family life then.
This is not fiction although it often feels as if it were, which is a compliment to the writing style that is lively and thoughtful rather than factual and bleak. Laskins thoughts are honest and fresh and I could have done with a much longer chapter than the epilogue to witness the late meeting of the several family branches.
Historically this is informative and well presented but what stood out most for me was the great attitude and the philosophical thoughts about genealogy and history that round the book up at the end.
A great treasure.
The book is an excellent account of the fate of one wider family as it makes its way through Central and Eastern Europe from the early 1800s into the late 1900s.
With great detail from private letters and with further immaculate research about the times Laskin sets great sceneries from Vilnius to Minsk, to America and Israel.
The book is well written and gives enough focus and attention to all of the areas covered, speculates, makes educated guesses and includes enough personal material to give a good impression on the family life then.
This is not fiction although it often feels as if it were, which is a compliment to the writing style that is lively and thoughtful rather than factual and bleak. Laskins thoughts are honest and fresh and I could have done with a much longer chapter than the epilogue to witness the late meeting of the several family branches.
Historically this is informative and well presented but what stood out most for me was the great attitude and the philosophical thoughts about genealogy and history that round the book up at the end.
A great treasure.
April 17, 2014
This nonfiction tale of the author's family is riveting in its own right, but also hits all the stories I seem to be drawn to: European immigrants of the Lower East Side and the Holocaust.
David Laskin explores three brothers' families from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. One brother - Laskin's great-grandfather - immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Although they started as most immigrants living in the Lower East Side by living in overcrowded tenements, his family achieves the American Dream. Laskin's great-aunt, Ida Rosenthal, invented the hugely successful Maidenform bra. Laskin's grandfather, Sam Cohen, along with his great-uncles did well in the wholesale retail business. Yes, the struggled during the Great Depression, but managed to keep their heads above water.
A first cousin of Laskin's grandfather - Chaim Cohen - settled in the wild west of Palestine in the 1920s. Chaim's first cousin (another first cousin of Sam Cohen) also moved there and ended up marrying Chaim.
The great tragedy of course, was the remaining brother's family in Eastern Europe. This part of Eastern Europe changed hands many times - it went from being Polish to Latvian to controlled by the USSR. Using letters sent to their American and Palestinian relatives, Laskin paints an increasingly frantic and poignant portrayal of this family, all of whom were murdered in the Holocaust. The saddest reality was that the patriarch of that line, the author's great-great uncle, was visiting his brother's family in New York in 1939 and was unable to return to Europe, leaving him utterly helpless and heartbroken over the family he left behind.
Laskin does an amazing job of weaving a tale of these three different yet intertwined journeys - American rags to riches, Zionist zeal, and the senselessness of the Holocaust. Not only that, it is clear that Laskin went on his own journey of discovery in piecing these family histories together, one that led to some painful discoveries that his predecessors likely didn't know about.
An all around beautifully written book.
David Laskin explores three brothers' families from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. One brother - Laskin's great-grandfather - immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Although they started as most immigrants living in the Lower East Side by living in overcrowded tenements, his family achieves the American Dream. Laskin's great-aunt, Ida Rosenthal, invented the hugely successful Maidenform bra. Laskin's grandfather, Sam Cohen, along with his great-uncles did well in the wholesale retail business. Yes, the struggled during the Great Depression, but managed to keep their heads above water.
A first cousin of Laskin's grandfather - Chaim Cohen - settled in the wild west of Palestine in the 1920s. Chaim's first cousin (another first cousin of Sam Cohen) also moved there and ended up marrying Chaim.
The great tragedy of course, was the remaining brother's family in Eastern Europe. This part of Eastern Europe changed hands many times - it went from being Polish to Latvian to controlled by the USSR. Using letters sent to their American and Palestinian relatives, Laskin paints an increasingly frantic and poignant portrayal of this family, all of whom were murdered in the Holocaust. The saddest reality was that the patriarch of that line, the author's great-great uncle, was visiting his brother's family in New York in 1939 and was unable to return to Europe, leaving him utterly helpless and heartbroken over the family he left behind.
Laskin does an amazing job of weaving a tale of these three different yet intertwined journeys - American rags to riches, Zionist zeal, and the senselessness of the Holocaust. Not only that, it is clear that Laskin went on his own journey of discovery in piecing these family histories together, one that led to some painful discoveries that his predecessors likely didn't know about.
An all around beautifully written book.
December 27, 2013
Laskin's family may as well be my family: Jews from the Pale who land on the Lower East Side and make their way up in America. While the names and faces are different, the story line is the same, and that pulled me into the book. What kept me going was the sense of watching the leaves of the historical record blossom and turn into each major chapter of the 20th century, Having done my share of genealogical research 15 years ago, I understood immediately how he was using primary source materials to create the frameworks for his narratives. Laskin is a storyteller, but he's using documentary evidence available to any of us to build his tales. That gave me an exciting sense of what I might do with all my piles of government records and a dose of imagination.
As a story of the 20th century, I was pulled into tales of refugeeship and upheaval, reminded that the Six Million, for example, represents individual stories, and the unfathomable suffering of each of those mothers, fathers, children. A book like this is an important testament to what was lost and what rose from the ashes of Europe's wars.
As a story of the 20th century, I was pulled into tales of refugeeship and upheaval, reminded that the Six Million, for example, represents individual stories, and the unfathomable suffering of each of those mothers, fathers, children. A book like this is an important testament to what was lost and what rose from the ashes of Europe's wars.
December 21, 2025
3 1/2 stars
Laskin delves into his family history, which had been lost for generations.
The HaKohen family split off into three branches. One branch emigrated to America and founded the fabulously successful Maidenform Bra Company; one branch went to Palestine as pioneers and participated in the contentious birth of the state of Israel; and the third branch remained in Europe and suffered the Holocaust.
Beginning in 19th century Russia and following the fate of a family as they follow their dreams or move to improve their lives. From the founding of a business that made one branch of the family rich (most impressively founded by a woman), to the labors and dreams of one branch who become pioneers in Palestine.
Not quite 4 stars for me, but I will round it up for the intense and accurate research that went into the story.
Laskin delves into his family history, which had been lost for generations.
The HaKohen family split off into three branches. One branch emigrated to America and founded the fabulously successful Maidenform Bra Company; one branch went to Palestine as pioneers and participated in the contentious birth of the state of Israel; and the third branch remained in Europe and suffered the Holocaust.
Beginning in 19th century Russia and following the fate of a family as they follow their dreams or move to improve their lives. From the founding of a business that made one branch of the family rich (most impressively founded by a woman), to the labors and dreams of one branch who become pioneers in Palestine.
Not quite 4 stars for me, but I will round it up for the intense and accurate research that went into the story.
January 30, 2021
The subtitle of this book is "A Journey into the Heart of the Twentieth Century." That's accurate. This is a memoir of the author's family, but their story is inextricably bound with World War I, the Russian revolution, the settling of Palestine, the Holocaust, and the birth of Israel.
David Laskin's ancestors originated in Eastern Europe. He traces his family tree back 150 years to a small Jewish village in what is now Belarus. His great-great grandfather was a scribe, who spent his life copying out Torah scrolls by hand. The various branches of his family went three separate directions. One branch emigrated to America before World War I and became wealthy. His great aunt Ida Rosenthal, for instance, founded the Maidenform bra company which became the largest family-owned business in America. A second branch emigrated to Palestine in the 1920s and lived through the not infrequently violent birth of the nation of Israel. The third branch of his family remained in Eastern Europe and was wiped out, entirely, by the Holocaust.
Normally, when a book starts our with an elaborate family tree that spreads across two pages, I get a bit twitchy. It's difficult to keep track of multiple generations of a large, sprawling web of cousins, aunts and great grand nieces twice removed. The relationships are too complex for my mental bandwidth. It's why I foundered on One Hundred Years of Solitude, for instance.
But fear not! The author here did a superb job of keeping everyone clearly delineated, focusing heavily on a few key figures, and providing constant reminders of who everyone was and how they related. At this point, I probably have a clearer understanding of David Laskin's family tree than my own.
I came away from this book with an improved understanding of both the Russian revolution and the founding of Israel. And a renewed despair for the horrors of the Holocaust. Those chapters in particular were emotionally difficult reading. I can only imagine what it must have been like to write them.
One interesting historical fact I learned: when the Germans invaded the Russian empire during the first World War, they were seen as benevolent liberators by the Jews of Eastern Europe. Violent pogroms at home had been the norm for decades (if not centuries), antisemitism was rife among the Russians, and when the German troops showed up in 1917 they treated the Jews well. Many of the German troops were Jews themselves, and Germans saw to it that local Jewish communities could practice their religion freely, that they had enough to eat, and were protected from their neighbors. That left an impression among the Jews of Eastern Europe that the Germans were civilized, charming, and kind.
This impression lingered into the start of World War II, despite Hitler's propaganda, and therefore many Jews did not flee east with the retreating Russian army when they had the chance, assuming that Germans would treat them the same way they had during World War I. They assumed the Nazis couldn't be as bad as their reputation. After all, how much could change in 20 years?
David Laskin's ancestors originated in Eastern Europe. He traces his family tree back 150 years to a small Jewish village in what is now Belarus. His great-great grandfather was a scribe, who spent his life copying out Torah scrolls by hand. The various branches of his family went three separate directions. One branch emigrated to America before World War I and became wealthy. His great aunt Ida Rosenthal, for instance, founded the Maidenform bra company which became the largest family-owned business in America. A second branch emigrated to Palestine in the 1920s and lived through the not infrequently violent birth of the nation of Israel. The third branch of his family remained in Eastern Europe and was wiped out, entirely, by the Holocaust.
Normally, when a book starts our with an elaborate family tree that spreads across two pages, I get a bit twitchy. It's difficult to keep track of multiple generations of a large, sprawling web of cousins, aunts and great grand nieces twice removed. The relationships are too complex for my mental bandwidth. It's why I foundered on One Hundred Years of Solitude, for instance.
But fear not! The author here did a superb job of keeping everyone clearly delineated, focusing heavily on a few key figures, and providing constant reminders of who everyone was and how they related. At this point, I probably have a clearer understanding of David Laskin's family tree than my own.
I came away from this book with an improved understanding of both the Russian revolution and the founding of Israel. And a renewed despair for the horrors of the Holocaust. Those chapters in particular were emotionally difficult reading. I can only imagine what it must have been like to write them.
One interesting historical fact I learned: when the Germans invaded the Russian empire during the first World War, they were seen as benevolent liberators by the Jews of Eastern Europe. Violent pogroms at home had been the norm for decades (if not centuries), antisemitism was rife among the Russians, and when the German troops showed up in 1917 they treated the Jews well. Many of the German troops were Jews themselves, and Germans saw to it that local Jewish communities could practice their religion freely, that they had enough to eat, and were protected from their neighbors. That left an impression among the Jews of Eastern Europe that the Germans were civilized, charming, and kind.
This impression lingered into the start of World War II, despite Hitler's propaganda, and therefore many Jews did not flee east with the retreating Russian army when they had the chance, assuming that Germans would treat them the same way they had during World War I. They assumed the Nazis couldn't be as bad as their reputation. After all, how much could change in 20 years?
February 6, 2014
The "Heart of the Twentieth Century" was filled with darkness. The author had a curiosity about his ancestors. This remarkable book is the result. The generation born in mid nineteenth century eastern Europe were devout Jews. Their lives were proscribed by faith and rituals. As time passed the family suffered religious persecution. They began to dream of a better life in America or in the Jewish homeland of Palestine. The ones who emigrated were spared the savagery of Nazi fiends during World War II. An entire branch of the author's family, living in Poland and Lithuania were wiped out. Getting to know them in this history made their fate all the more terrifying. A family with happy children and a bright future one day were starving, beaten, and clinging to life the next. I could have shared their fate if my own ancestors had not moved to the United States. This book combines a personal context with some meticulous research to shine a light on a family living through momentous events.
December 18, 2013
I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
“The Family is as rich and poignant as any novel, only all true and impeccably researched.” – Erik Larsen, author of In the Garden of Beasts & Devil in the White City
The Family by David Laskin describes Laskin’s family tree, in three intermingled stories. The stories of his family members from Europe (Russia and Poland), Israel, and America are told in chronological order, through WWI and WWII, over the course of approximately 150 years.
For the full review, visit Love at First Book
“The Family is as rich and poignant as any novel, only all true and impeccably researched.” – Erik Larsen, author of In the Garden of Beasts & Devil in the White City
The Family by David Laskin describes Laskin’s family tree, in three intermingled stories. The stories of his family members from Europe (Russia and Poland), Israel, and America are told in chronological order, through WWI and WWII, over the course of approximately 150 years.
For the full review, visit Love at First Book
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December 21, 2013As an amateur Jewish family historian I knew that THE FAMILY would make an excellent book to read on my recent visit with relatives in Israel. The book's stories paralleled conversations, museum tours and personal experiences during my travels. Laskin provides interpretation of what happened to his relatives immigrant experience in the U.S. and Palestine as well as supposing what his European relatives endured during the 30s and early 40s before being murdered. Much insight can be gained as well as coming away with a profound understanding of why some family members survived and flourished. So much had to do with luck and decision making.
April 30, 2023
I was born a few years after World War II ended. For some reason, I could not see enough television documentaries, read enough books, see enough movies that dealt with Hitler and the Holocaust. As an observant Catholic, I could not grasp how God could let evil nearly consume the world. My obsession, even after 74 years, continues. I have searched for and still cannot find understanding of the depths of hate, evil, depravity, and sadism that relegates the pre- and post-war period as the ultimate cautionary tale for all human kind. The personal and family sagas of those who lived through the Holocaust are many, and all contain the same soul-destroying stories of hell on earth. Yet, each of those stories puts the Holocaust into smaller, human perspectives, as does this book.
The family in this book represents the history of the Jews in Eastern Europe, including their culture, religion, and unending persecution. As family members took three separate directions as they fled the poverty and war of home, you see and understand the context of that time. While the elders remained in ancestral towns, others moved to other parts of Eastern Europe that were more prosperous and provided more opportunities. Other moved to the United States. Still others overcame obstacles to begin the rebirth of the Jewish state in Palestine. Many who came to the United States worked hard, lived in horrible conditions, but eventually went on to become fabulously wealthy. Those who went to Palestine faced primitive conditions, a harsh climate, and increasingly violent encounters with the Arabs. As the story evolves, we know in our hearts what the fate will be of those who remained in Eastern Europe. The clear and factual presentation, based on considerable research, diaries, letters, and contemporary reports brings the reader to tears. The author doesn't ask for our emotional response. He doesn't have to.
Many of the children and grandchildren of the Holocaust era only wished to forget about it. Speaking about it was discouraged. Many of the great-grandchildren had no idea that many in their families had died in the Holocaust. It was left to them to fill in the picture of their ancestry, and, thus, this book was written. The writing is crisp, the pace is quick, the main characters are beautifully drawn, and the multitude of emotions one feels are not solicited, but earnestly felt. It is not a story that is soon forgotten.
The family in this book represents the history of the Jews in Eastern Europe, including their culture, religion, and unending persecution. As family members took three separate directions as they fled the poverty and war of home, you see and understand the context of that time. While the elders remained in ancestral towns, others moved to other parts of Eastern Europe that were more prosperous and provided more opportunities. Other moved to the United States. Still others overcame obstacles to begin the rebirth of the Jewish state in Palestine. Many who came to the United States worked hard, lived in horrible conditions, but eventually went on to become fabulously wealthy. Those who went to Palestine faced primitive conditions, a harsh climate, and increasingly violent encounters with the Arabs. As the story evolves, we know in our hearts what the fate will be of those who remained in Eastern Europe. The clear and factual presentation, based on considerable research, diaries, letters, and contemporary reports brings the reader to tears. The author doesn't ask for our emotional response. He doesn't have to.
Many of the children and grandchildren of the Holocaust era only wished to forget about it. Speaking about it was discouraged. Many of the great-grandchildren had no idea that many in their families had died in the Holocaust. It was left to them to fill in the picture of their ancestry, and, thus, this book was written. The writing is crisp, the pace is quick, the main characters are beautifully drawn, and the multitude of emotions one feels are not solicited, but earnestly felt. It is not a story that is soon forgotten.
August 13, 2018
When the author delved into his roots, he found a rich history that is both heart warming and tragic.
It begins in nineteenth century Russia with Shimon Dov Hakohen and Beyle Shapiro, parents whose children branch in two directions. Part of a Jewish community, they suffered the blessed times of their culture and the hard times when governmental restrictions and occasional pogroms kept them in poverty. Yet they survived by their spiritual strength and their industry.
While tradition dictates gender role, we see that tradition doesn't prevent change. The Jewish family took in two incomes. The wife not only managed the household; she also managed the property, its garden and the animals. As a result she could provide an income through selling what she raised. At least this is the way it was in the Old Country. But not all the girls bowed to the entirety of the traditional role. They attended school, struck out on their own. Two, in particular stand out. Sonia, caught in the revolutionary spirit of a return to the Holy Land, took up residence in Palestine, as did her cousin Chaim. They married and helped to carve out the new nation of Israel. Most of their branch of the family stayed in Russia or Poland and eventually died at the hands of the Nazis during WWII.
Itel is another girl who stands out. She and her brothers formed the other branch of the family. They moved to America where Itel became a multimillionaire when she created and sold the Maiden Form Bra.
It's hard to read of the suffering of the Jews during the Nazi regime and not see the parallel of today's suffering among refugees and their difficult quest for safety. I'm old enough to remember Hitler's reign of terror and its aftermath.
The author shows us the humanity of his relatives, and we can identify with that humanity even though we may not share that same family tree. DNA may tell us we have some ancient relationship. And of course, if we go back far enough, we are all related. This is a highly readable history that provides valuable insight into Jewish lives.
It begins in nineteenth century Russia with Shimon Dov Hakohen and Beyle Shapiro, parents whose children branch in two directions. Part of a Jewish community, they suffered the blessed times of their culture and the hard times when governmental restrictions and occasional pogroms kept them in poverty. Yet they survived by their spiritual strength and their industry.
While tradition dictates gender role, we see that tradition doesn't prevent change. The Jewish family took in two incomes. The wife not only managed the household; she also managed the property, its garden and the animals. As a result she could provide an income through selling what she raised. At least this is the way it was in the Old Country. But not all the girls bowed to the entirety of the traditional role. They attended school, struck out on their own. Two, in particular stand out. Sonia, caught in the revolutionary spirit of a return to the Holy Land, took up residence in Palestine, as did her cousin Chaim. They married and helped to carve out the new nation of Israel. Most of their branch of the family stayed in Russia or Poland and eventually died at the hands of the Nazis during WWII.
Itel is another girl who stands out. She and her brothers formed the other branch of the family. They moved to America where Itel became a multimillionaire when she created and sold the Maiden Form Bra.
It's hard to read of the suffering of the Jews during the Nazi regime and not see the parallel of today's suffering among refugees and their difficult quest for safety. I'm old enough to remember Hitler's reign of terror and its aftermath.
The author shows us the humanity of his relatives, and we can identify with that humanity even though we may not share that same family tree. DNA may tell us we have some ancient relationship. And of course, if we go back far enough, we are all related. This is a highly readable history that provides valuable insight into Jewish lives.
March 30, 2014
In this outstanding book, Laskin tells the story of three branches of his family-all descendants of a Talmudic scribe who lived in Eastern Europe at the end of the 19th Century. The American branch emigrated to New York City at the beginning of the 20th Century and, although they struggled, they become quite successful in the business world. Chief among these personalities was Itel ( Ida ) Rosenthal who became the owner of the Maidenform Bra Company. The second branch of the family emigrated to Palestine and we learn of their struggles as they adapt to a new climate, new way of life and become pioneers in the Middle East. Living under British occupation and faced with surrounding Arab hostilities, Laskin's family members struggled to take their place and contribute to the establishment of the first Jewish state-Israel. Perhaps the most poignant of all the stories was that of the third branch of the family-those who remained in Russia and suffered through the terrible annihilation and devastation of the Jews in Eastern Europe. I have read many accounts of the Holocaust-in both fiction and non-fiction- but nothing comes close to the way Laskin evokes such heart felt- emotions when describing some of the atrocities. There were times that I just had to put the book down and cry for the inhumanity which innocent people suffered at the hands of the Nazis. David Laskin has the ability to write non-fiction and make it sound like a novel. He also makes you feel that you know each and every character personally. I highly recommend this amazing book.
August 11, 2015
I have been studying Jewish life and WW2 and the Holocaust for over 50 years and this book not only touched me deeply but taught me a lot I didn't know, both facts as well as insights into Jewish families.
This is non fiction and written by a 4th generation family member. Much of the documentation is from interviews with family members, historical research and many recovered letters.
The family, originated in an ever changing Eastern Europe where countries and governments and municipal masters change with incredible speed (Poland, Russia, German , Latvia, Estonia and more). Three branches of the family choose three different routes. One stays in Eastern Europe, one emigrates to America and one goes to Jerusalem with the second wave of Jewish pioneers.
Everything about this book is so personal and letters and time lines and family recollections reaffirm the realities. The US branch of the family does very well, one sister founding the Maidenform Bra company (worth 35 million dollars after the war), one shouldering the brutal realities of founding the nation of Israel and one being decimated in the Holocaust.
Happiness and tears.
This is non fiction and written by a 4th generation family member. Much of the documentation is from interviews with family members, historical research and many recovered letters.
The family, originated in an ever changing Eastern Europe where countries and governments and municipal masters change with incredible speed (Poland, Russia, German , Latvia, Estonia and more). Three branches of the family choose three different routes. One stays in Eastern Europe, one emigrates to America and one goes to Jerusalem with the second wave of Jewish pioneers.
Everything about this book is so personal and letters and time lines and family recollections reaffirm the realities. The US branch of the family does very well, one sister founding the Maidenform Bra company (worth 35 million dollars after the war), one shouldering the brutal realities of founding the nation of Israel and one being decimated in the Holocaust.
Happiness and tears.
January 1, 2015
A wonderful, detailed account of an immigrant family tree -- those who stayed in the 'old country' only to perish horribly in the Holocaust, those who chose to be pioneers in Israel, and those who came to America. It's the story told thousands of time in bits and pieces, but put together as a whole by this talented journalist.
A family history that mirrors everything that has made up the USA (and Israel). These astonishing stories deserve to be heard and recorded. I'm sure that many will find similarities in their own histories.
Highly recommended!
A family history that mirrors everything that has made up the USA (and Israel). These astonishing stories deserve to be heard and recorded. I'm sure that many will find similarities in their own histories.
Highly recommended!
November 9, 2013
To start out, this book was very out of my reading comfort zone. I was pleasantly surprised, however, with how much I enjoyed the whole idea of a family going through so many historical times and personal stories with that. I found it incredibly fascinating the journey that David Laskin, the author, went through with finding all of his incredible family history. A truly amazing book that I would definitely recommend if you are interested in this genre of books!
April 17, 2017
This is the gripping true story of an extended family spread across three continents, two centuries and six generations. Beginning with the author’s third great grandfather, a Torah scribe devoted to the holy art of creating Torah scrolls on parchment, we follow the family down three paths – the immigrants who make it to America in the first half of the twentieth century, the immigrants who make it to Palestine and Israel, and the branch that remains in Belarus and Lithuania and were therefore slaughtered in the Shoah between 1942 and 1944.
As a family historian I found much to admire in the author's approach. Laskin was blessed by a large set of letters spanning decades from one family member in New York to his daughter in Palestine and Israel, in which many different family members and events were recorded. He was also fortunate to find a primary research partner, a cousin in Israel who also conducted many interviews in Israel and assisted with translation and research. It seems he must have spoken with a hundred or more cousins.
The New York branch of the family founded two successful businesses. The more famous, tightly controlled by the fierce eldest sister of the family and her husband, was Maidenform, the bra company, which at one time held 10% of the US market for brassieres. While the bra was not entirely a new invention, and there is no one source for its re-emergence in the 1920s, it sounds as if Maidenform played a significant role in popularizing it, particularly through provocative advertising campaigns and photography – “I dreamed I went shopping wearing only my Maidenform.” Maidenform went on to supply bras for the US military in the 1940s as women entered various military services.
I wondered as I read this if the resources for this book had actually come from that fortune, but there is no evidence of that. The author is three generations removed from the Maidenform founders. The multi-year research project appears to be driven instead, by the author’s passion for his subject, and the support of many distant family members. Nor does Laskin sugar-coat family relations or personalities. He is frank. Over time there were gaps between richer and less well-off family members, resentments, notable incidents of bad behavior, people with mental and emotional difficulties, and, on the other hand, there was also a willingness of the well-off branches to help family members in Palestine, and to employ family members in the American businesses. It’s a mixed picture, and this lends it credibility. There are no saints here, just beautifully documented lives woven together into a story that achieves narrative coherence.
Laskin combines the letters and interview data with historical data about the Vilna ghetto and various concentration camps, and with historical research on life on the southern Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in the early 1920s and in Herzalia in the 1920s and onward. When letters are missing, the experiences of family members must be surmised. As a reader I always felt clear about whether the author was describing something based on circumstantial evidence and creative interpolation, or whether there was letter or interview data to support the description. This to me was a mark of really good historical writing. The book flowed smoothly between primary sources and secondary source-based narrative.
This is a Jewish story, and it had a particular resonance for me because my own Jewish ancestors came from the shtetel of Radoshkovitz, just thirty kilometers from Laskin’s shtetel of Rakov. I felt as I read this book that these people’s world was my ancestors’ world, and their story, with variations, (and in some cases a lot more money than any of my immigrant ancestors) was my family’s story. The sense of identity was deepened as I read the story of one family member who made aliyah to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) area in the 1920s, exactly where I lived for six months in the early 1980s. Belarus, New York, New Jersey, the southern Kinneret in Israel – these are intimate places for me, and to read someone else’s story inscribed on them brought alive my own ancestors too, and even awakened in me memories of my own hot sticky summer nights down by the shores of the Kinneret.
The section on the Shoah is very difficult to read. Although the author really only knows the names of the ghettos in which family members were confined or the towns in which they likely met their fates, those fates can nonetheless be described in horrific (probabilistic) detail. The story of Rakov is almost too horrible to read, but read it we must. Rakov’s fate was no doubt was very similar to what happened in 1942 in Radoshkovitz, my grandfather’s birthplace, which his immediate family had left between 1902 and 1907, but which remained home to many cousins.
This tale is rewarding for its breadth, for its depth, and for its humanity
As a family historian I found much to admire in the author's approach. Laskin was blessed by a large set of letters spanning decades from one family member in New York to his daughter in Palestine and Israel, in which many different family members and events were recorded. He was also fortunate to find a primary research partner, a cousin in Israel who also conducted many interviews in Israel and assisted with translation and research. It seems he must have spoken with a hundred or more cousins.
The New York branch of the family founded two successful businesses. The more famous, tightly controlled by the fierce eldest sister of the family and her husband, was Maidenform, the bra company, which at one time held 10% of the US market for brassieres. While the bra was not entirely a new invention, and there is no one source for its re-emergence in the 1920s, it sounds as if Maidenform played a significant role in popularizing it, particularly through provocative advertising campaigns and photography – “I dreamed I went shopping wearing only my Maidenform.” Maidenform went on to supply bras for the US military in the 1940s as women entered various military services.
I wondered as I read this if the resources for this book had actually come from that fortune, but there is no evidence of that. The author is three generations removed from the Maidenform founders. The multi-year research project appears to be driven instead, by the author’s passion for his subject, and the support of many distant family members. Nor does Laskin sugar-coat family relations or personalities. He is frank. Over time there were gaps between richer and less well-off family members, resentments, notable incidents of bad behavior, people with mental and emotional difficulties, and, on the other hand, there was also a willingness of the well-off branches to help family members in Palestine, and to employ family members in the American businesses. It’s a mixed picture, and this lends it credibility. There are no saints here, just beautifully documented lives woven together into a story that achieves narrative coherence.
Laskin combines the letters and interview data with historical data about the Vilna ghetto and various concentration camps, and with historical research on life on the southern Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in the early 1920s and in Herzalia in the 1920s and onward. When letters are missing, the experiences of family members must be surmised. As a reader I always felt clear about whether the author was describing something based on circumstantial evidence and creative interpolation, or whether there was letter or interview data to support the description. This to me was a mark of really good historical writing. The book flowed smoothly between primary sources and secondary source-based narrative.
This is a Jewish story, and it had a particular resonance for me because my own Jewish ancestors came from the shtetel of Radoshkovitz, just thirty kilometers from Laskin’s shtetel of Rakov. I felt as I read this book that these people’s world was my ancestors’ world, and their story, with variations, (and in some cases a lot more money than any of my immigrant ancestors) was my family’s story. The sense of identity was deepened as I read the story of one family member who made aliyah to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) area in the 1920s, exactly where I lived for six months in the early 1980s. Belarus, New York, New Jersey, the southern Kinneret in Israel – these are intimate places for me, and to read someone else’s story inscribed on them brought alive my own ancestors too, and even awakened in me memories of my own hot sticky summer nights down by the shores of the Kinneret.
The section on the Shoah is very difficult to read. Although the author really only knows the names of the ghettos in which family members were confined or the towns in which they likely met their fates, those fates can nonetheless be described in horrific (probabilistic) detail. The story of Rakov is almost too horrible to read, but read it we must. Rakov’s fate was no doubt was very similar to what happened in 1942 in Radoshkovitz, my grandfather’s birthplace, which his immediate family had left between 1902 and 1907, but which remained home to many cousins.
This tale is rewarding for its breadth, for its depth, and for its humanity
January 18, 2021
The subtitle of this book is "A Journey into the Heart of the Twentieth Century." That's accurate. This is a memoir of the author's family, but their story is inextricably bound with World War I, the Russian revolution, the settling of Palestine, the Holocaust, and the birth of Israel.
David Laskin's ancestors originated in Eastern Europe. He traces his family tree back 150 years to a small Jewish village in what is now Belarus. His great-great grandfather was a scribe, who spent his life copying out Torah scrolls by hand. The various branches of his family went three separate directions. One branch emigrated to America before World War I and became wealthy. His great aunt Ida Rosenthal, for instance, founded the Maidenform bra company which became the largest family-owned business in America. A second branch emigrated to Palestine in the 1920s and lived through the not infrequently violent birth of the nation of Israel. The third branch of his family remained in Eastern Europe and was wiped out, entirely, by the Holocaust.
Normally, when a book starts our with a giant family tree that spreads across two pages, I get a bit twitchy. It's hard to keep track of multiple generations of a large, sprawling web of cousins, aunts and great grand nieces twice removed. The relationships are too complex for my mental bandwidth. It's why I couldn't get into One Hundred Years of Solitude, for instance.
But fear not! The author here did a superb job of keeping everyone clearly delineated, focusing heavily on a few key figures, and providing constant reminders of who everyone was and how they related. At this point, I probably have a clearer understanding of David Laskin's family than my own. I couldn't tell you the name of a single great grand parent of mine.
I came away from this book with an improved understanding of both the Russian revolution and the founding of Israel. And a renewed despair for the horrors of the Holocaust. Those chapters in particular were emotionally difficult reading. I can only imagine what it must have been like to write them.
One interesting historical fact I learned: when the Germans invaded the Russian empire during the first World War, they were seen as benevolent liberators by the Jews of Eastern Europe. Violent pogroms at home had been the norm for decades (if not centuries), antisemitism was rife among the Russians, and when the German troops showed up they treated the Jews well. Many of the German troops were Jews themselves, and Germans saw to it that local Jewish communities could practice their religion freely, that they had enough to eat, and were protected from their neighbors. That left an impression among the Jews of Eastern Europe that the Germans were civilized, charming, and kind.
This impression lingered into the start of World War II, despite Hitler's propaganda, and therefore many Jews did not flee east with the retreating Russian army when they had the chance, assuming that Germans would treat them the same way they had during World War I. They assumed the Nazis couldn't be as bad as their reputation. After all, how much could change in 20 years?
David Laskin's ancestors originated in Eastern Europe. He traces his family tree back 150 years to a small Jewish village in what is now Belarus. His great-great grandfather was a scribe, who spent his life copying out Torah scrolls by hand. The various branches of his family went three separate directions. One branch emigrated to America before World War I and became wealthy. His great aunt Ida Rosenthal, for instance, founded the Maidenform bra company which became the largest family-owned business in America. A second branch emigrated to Palestine in the 1920s and lived through the not infrequently violent birth of the nation of Israel. The third branch of his family remained in Eastern Europe and was wiped out, entirely, by the Holocaust.
Normally, when a book starts our with a giant family tree that spreads across two pages, I get a bit twitchy. It's hard to keep track of multiple generations of a large, sprawling web of cousins, aunts and great grand nieces twice removed. The relationships are too complex for my mental bandwidth. It's why I couldn't get into One Hundred Years of Solitude, for instance.
But fear not! The author here did a superb job of keeping everyone clearly delineated, focusing heavily on a few key figures, and providing constant reminders of who everyone was and how they related. At this point, I probably have a clearer understanding of David Laskin's family than my own. I couldn't tell you the name of a single great grand parent of mine.
I came away from this book with an improved understanding of both the Russian revolution and the founding of Israel. And a renewed despair for the horrors of the Holocaust. Those chapters in particular were emotionally difficult reading. I can only imagine what it must have been like to write them.
One interesting historical fact I learned: when the Germans invaded the Russian empire during the first World War, they were seen as benevolent liberators by the Jews of Eastern Europe. Violent pogroms at home had been the norm for decades (if not centuries), antisemitism was rife among the Russians, and when the German troops showed up they treated the Jews well. Many of the German troops were Jews themselves, and Germans saw to it that local Jewish communities could practice their religion freely, that they had enough to eat, and were protected from their neighbors. That left an impression among the Jews of Eastern Europe that the Germans were civilized, charming, and kind.
This impression lingered into the start of World War II, despite Hitler's propaganda, and therefore many Jews did not flee east with the retreating Russian army when they had the chance, assuming that Germans would treat them the same way they had during World War I. They assumed the Nazis couldn't be as bad as their reputation. After all, how much could change in 20 years?
August 7, 2018
I found The Family an interesting though not particularly compelling read. It lies somewhere between an epic and a kitchen sink family history. Basically this: a Russian shtetl family divides into three distinct parts, one emigrates to the US and founds the Maidenform Bra Company, one emigrates to Palestine and the hardships of nation building and war, and one stays put to face pogroms, war, and annihilation.
The Maidenform story is the quintessential assimilated, and successful immigrant story, with the great twist of the success being in bras, girdles. Fashion went from flat chested flappers to buxom somewhat liberated women, and Maidenform offered the form for the buxom. If you grew up in the 1950's you could not avoid the ubiquitous advertising campaign that had a brassiered model proclaiming lines like, "I dreamed I visited the White House in my Maidenform Bra." Honestly, you couldn't open a copy of Look or Life without Maidenform. Lots of interesting and humorous tidbits about the bra business.
The two family members who went to Palestine, first cousins who married, led a really hard, but fairly uneventful, therefore uninteresting life. The author gives us details, though.
The folks who stayed behind faced all the horrors of the holocaust in Vilna - a city totally devastated by the removal and murder of the Jewish population. All the horrors - and we're not spared any of them. It is a wrenching family drama in which all is lost.
A well researched addition to the literature of the Jewish diaspora, that promises (three journeys into the heart of the twentieth century) more than it delivers.
The Maidenform story is the quintessential assimilated, and successful immigrant story, with the great twist of the success being in bras, girdles. Fashion went from flat chested flappers to buxom somewhat liberated women, and Maidenform offered the form for the buxom. If you grew up in the 1950's you could not avoid the ubiquitous advertising campaign that had a brassiered model proclaiming lines like, "I dreamed I visited the White House in my Maidenform Bra." Honestly, you couldn't open a copy of Look or Life without Maidenform. Lots of interesting and humorous tidbits about the bra business.
The two family members who went to Palestine, first cousins who married, led a really hard, but fairly uneventful, therefore uninteresting life. The author gives us details, though.
The folks who stayed behind faced all the horrors of the holocaust in Vilna - a city totally devastated by the removal and murder of the Jewish population. All the horrors - and we're not spared any of them. It is a wrenching family drama in which all is lost.
A well researched addition to the literature of the Jewish diaspora, that promises (three journeys into the heart of the twentieth century) more than it delivers.
February 14, 2021
This book moved me deeply. I loved taking a beautiful walk through the family history of this author. So many joyful, sad, poignant moments, and he did a great job of capturing them. The book was about a lot more than the Holocaust, but the portion that did focus on the Holocaust was particularly hard to read, especially as the grandchild of Auschwitz survivors. This book put us into the shoes of those desperately trying to escape the horrors of the Holocaust, and into the shoes of family paralyzed and helpless to do anything from afar. A sweeping 20th century family tale that gives a multi-dimensional look at what it was like for one family to live through the events of the last 100 years that shaped the world we live in today. I enthusiastically recommend.
September 21, 2023
Just glance at the length of this book’s acknowledgements and you’ll get a sense for the amount of research, interviews, and scholarship that made telling this story possible. It’s impeccable.
I generally try to avoid literature and film about World War II as I hate to see such a tragedy romanticized or used for dramatic entertainment, but I’m glad I read this. It feels very personal, as it is an account of the author’s ancestors, and conveys a depth of feeling you don’t always get in nonfiction.
Fair warning, this is really, really hard to read. The author quotes Timothy Snyder: “Auschwitz… is in fact only a hint of the true reckoning of the past still to come.” For every one of the millions of the Nazis’ victims, there are dozens of stories of brutality, humiliation, torture, and evil on the road to their eventual deaths or survival.
I took off a star because I felt like a lot of the details about the American cousins in the first half were superfluous to the book, but in general the juxtaposition of the different relatives’ experiences in the US, Palestine, and Eastern Europe was effective and interesting.
I generally try to avoid literature and film about World War II as I hate to see such a tragedy romanticized or used for dramatic entertainment, but I’m glad I read this. It feels very personal, as it is an account of the author’s ancestors, and conveys a depth of feeling you don’t always get in nonfiction.
Fair warning, this is really, really hard to read. The author quotes Timothy Snyder: “Auschwitz… is in fact only a hint of the true reckoning of the past still to come.” For every one of the millions of the Nazis’ victims, there are dozens of stories of brutality, humiliation, torture, and evil on the road to their eventual deaths or survival.
I took off a star because I felt like a lot of the details about the American cousins in the first half were superfluous to the book, but in general the juxtaposition of the different relatives’ experiences in the US, Palestine, and Eastern Europe was effective and interesting.
June 3, 2018
Very detailed, some of it fascinating, some of it a slog. The most interesting part for me was the earlier portion, pre and through WWI. Mostly because it is history I was least familiar with. The writing I also thought better earlier in the book. I do admire how incredibly well researched it was throughout
September 23, 2018
I don't quite have the right words to recommend this book as highly as it should be, so I will use the author's own words: "The pulse of history beats in every family. All of our lives are engraved with epics of love and death. War has touched all of us. Fate and chance and character make and break every generation. ... Open the book of your family and you will be amazed, as I was, at what you will find."
Read
July 19, 2017Initially I found it difficult to "get hooked" on this story. Having been encouraged to keep reading, I finally got immersed in the detail and history of the author's family tree. While I kept referring to the depiction of the tree itself to clarify the many names offered, I cannot help but marvel at the amount of perseverance and dedication to the project of researching the family.
Equally important was the epilogue describing the many contacts with family members across the US, as well as Israel.
Truly a well done historical novel.
Equally important was the epilogue describing the many contacts with family members across the US, as well as Israel.
Truly a well done historical novel.
February 23, 2018
Wanted to like this because my sister said it was good, but I just couldn't get into it.
February 18, 2020
The author traces three lines of his family: one that stays in Eastern Europe, another that immigrates to New York and another which settles in Palestine. Fascinating, but quite gut-wrenching. Beautifully written.
October 12, 2017
I can't say that I enjoyed this book, but I did learn quite a bit. We read it for our book club, and it certainly was a great book for discussion. I was particularly interested by the woman who emigrated to Palestine, and her experiences there.
June 25, 2022
4.5 stars
David Laskin's The Family is one of the top three of the two dozen or so books I have read about the Holocaust. The book covers much more than the worst genocide of the twentieth century, however. The work is a veritable masterpiece of the memoir genre: compelling, well-written and well-researched.
The Family is also a surprise because its premise is seemingly simple: Laskin charts the history of his family over the course of the twentieth century and a bit prior. This period included anti-Jewish pogroms, two world wars and emigration from Europe to North America and the Middle East. Nothing about Laskin's treatment of this material is trite. This is, quite simply, a superb story about how one family navigated the bright futures and bloody perils of the twentieth century. In the end it is a story of the twentieth century itself. Virtually any American, Jew or gentile, should see a reflection of his or her own family in Laskin's story.
There is much to praise here. Laskin covers a lot of territory, including shtetl life in Lithuania and Poland. The Family presents a picture of the vitality, warmth and depth of the shtetl, a vivid culture erased from Europe. Laskin can trace his ancestry to scribes, teachers and rabbis who helped develop one of the the richest cultural traditions in history.
And I loved his stories about Sonia and Chaim, Zionist ancestors of Laskin's who immigrated to Mandatory Palestine prior to the formation of Israel in 1948. Though they and others like them were noble pioneers, they endured grueling lives as farmers, herders and fishers in a remote country among occasionally hostile Arabs and absentee rulers. The British ruled the region in the period between the world wars, but they often neglected it as internecine clashes blew up between Jews and Arabs -- battles that continue to this day.
Part of Laskin's family stayed in Europe as the echoes of the Holocaust started to rumble. Though his family in America and the Middle East knew their relatives were swallowed up in the great disaster, they did not know what happened to them. Laskin researches generously, and what he has to share is unforgettable.
Another part of his family went to New York. And though these people originally settled in the cramped, dirty and noisy tenements of New York, they enjoyed resounding success. The New York family were millionaires within a generation. Itel, a seamstress, helped found the Maidenform bra company and made it a roaring success.
Laskin tells the story of dozens of his family members as well as their friends and neighbors. Sometimes it is difficult to keep track of a person. He mentions someone from a century ago, tells his or her story and moves on. Chapters later, Laskin might refer to that person again. It's hard to remember who that person was. But that is a quibble. The Family shows what it means to be part of a real family in good times and in catastrophe. And there was no cataclysm bigger than the Holocaust.
David Laskin's The Family is one of the top three of the two dozen or so books I have read about the Holocaust. The book covers much more than the worst genocide of the twentieth century, however. The work is a veritable masterpiece of the memoir genre: compelling, well-written and well-researched.
The Family is also a surprise because its premise is seemingly simple: Laskin charts the history of his family over the course of the twentieth century and a bit prior. This period included anti-Jewish pogroms, two world wars and emigration from Europe to North America and the Middle East. Nothing about Laskin's treatment of this material is trite. This is, quite simply, a superb story about how one family navigated the bright futures and bloody perils of the twentieth century. In the end it is a story of the twentieth century itself. Virtually any American, Jew or gentile, should see a reflection of his or her own family in Laskin's story.
There is much to praise here. Laskin covers a lot of territory, including shtetl life in Lithuania and Poland. The Family presents a picture of the vitality, warmth and depth of the shtetl, a vivid culture erased from Europe. Laskin can trace his ancestry to scribes, teachers and rabbis who helped develop one of the the richest cultural traditions in history.
And I loved his stories about Sonia and Chaim, Zionist ancestors of Laskin's who immigrated to Mandatory Palestine prior to the formation of Israel in 1948. Though they and others like them were noble pioneers, they endured grueling lives as farmers, herders and fishers in a remote country among occasionally hostile Arabs and absentee rulers. The British ruled the region in the period between the world wars, but they often neglected it as internecine clashes blew up between Jews and Arabs -- battles that continue to this day.
Part of Laskin's family stayed in Europe as the echoes of the Holocaust started to rumble. Though his family in America and the Middle East knew their relatives were swallowed up in the great disaster, they did not know what happened to them. Laskin researches generously, and what he has to share is unforgettable.
Another part of his family went to New York. And though these people originally settled in the cramped, dirty and noisy tenements of New York, they enjoyed resounding success. The New York family were millionaires within a generation. Itel, a seamstress, helped found the Maidenform bra company and made it a roaring success.
Laskin tells the story of dozens of his family members as well as their friends and neighbors. Sometimes it is difficult to keep track of a person. He mentions someone from a century ago, tells his or her story and moves on. Chapters later, Laskin might refer to that person again. It's hard to remember who that person was. But that is a quibble. The Family shows what it means to be part of a real family in good times and in catastrophe. And there was no cataclysm bigger than the Holocaust.
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