Bridge Builder: My Life Since the Holocaust

by Shimon Redlich

The fourth and final volume of the highly-acclaimed autobiographical cycle of Jewish memoir and history.




Bridge My Life Since the Holocaust is the fourth and final volume of Shimon Redlich’s autobiographical cycle, which began with Together and Apart in Brezany (2002), a description of relations among Poles, Ukrainians and Jews in his native town and his survival during the Holocaust. It continued with Life in Transit (2010), an account of his family’s resettlement in postwar Lodz and a new life in Israel. A New Life in Israel (2018) portrayed his adjustment to life on a kibbutz and service in the Israel Defense Forces. In Bridge Builder, Redlich recounts his life since the late fifties. It features his academic journey from student in Jerusalem and the US to professor at Ben-Gurion University, his friendships, his encounters with Jews and non-Jews in Eastern Europe, and his unconventional approach to controversial topics. As in previous volumes, in Bridge Builder Redlich’s own memories are supported and enriched by meticulous historical research.

250 pages, Paperback

Published March 24, 2026

About the author

Shimon Redlich (Hebrew: שמעון רדליך) is an Israeli historian and Holocaust survivor, professor emeritus at the Ben Gurion University, a specialist in the modern history of Jews in Eastern Europe, Russia and the USSR.