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After This: Survivors of the Holocaust speak
On 27 January 2015 the world commemorated the 70-year anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. As the last living witnesses of that terrible time pass away, award-winning writer Alice Nelson presents a powerful collection of fourteen narratives by Australian Holocaust survivors told in their voices. Each individual’s account of the war years – and of the life that followed – tells a deeply personal story that affirms the resilience of the human spirit.
- GenresHolocaustNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2015
About the author
Alice Nelson
9 books34 followersAlice Nelson is an Australian writer. Her first novel, The Last Sky, was shortlisted for The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award, won the T.A.G. Hungerford Award and was shortlisted for the Australian Society of Authors’ Barbara Jefferis Award. She was named Best Young Australian Novelist of 2009 in the Sydney Morning Herald’s national awards program. Alice's new novel, The Children's House, will be published by Knopf Australia on 1 October 2018.
Awards
Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year (Winner 2009)
Barbara Jefferis Award for Literature (Shortlisted 2009)
T.A.G. Hungerford Award (Winner 2006)
The Australian / Vogel Literary Award (Shortlisted 2004)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 11, 2023
The book I’m reading is called “After This” written by Alice Nelson. The survivors have not only shared their memories with Alice, they have shared personal mementos and photos taken before the war, some in prisons, after the war and their new homes in Australia in Perth, Western Australia. Alice organised 14 narrative stories of Holocaust survivors from a different background and different countries of men and women who have endured the darkest years of horrors in history. This book is different because a lot of people migrated to Australia after the war like my father’s family in 1949 from Italy. I remember vividly when he told me it was because there was no work for anyone back then. I was especially interested to read how they got here, why they left their home countries and what happened to them once they got here. I thoroughly enjoy the book as a result.
February 10, 2019
We should be grateful to Alice Nelson for organizing these narratives of Holocaust survivors who lived in Perth, Western Australia after enduring unspeakable horrors during WW2
The aspect that horrifies me is the way their Christian neighbors turned on them; not all,as there are stories of families hiding their Jewish friends at great personal risk. On page 252, Heiny Elert recalls that the man helping the Germans round up whole families was the same baker from whom they had bought bread for the past 15 years.
Chaim Matjeles states this:Nothing can ever compensate for the terrible loss I suffered or the agony I experienced and it gives me no pleasure to recall these painful memories.But at a time (2015 publication) when survivors like me are dwindling in number, it is important to speak out and be heard, for there are people who are trying to rewrite history, to distort the facts or to pretend they never happened.Page 214
A poignant aspect of these narratives is that most of the 14 people lived in my immediate vicinity, one family literally around the corner. They raised their happy children in the glorious freedom of Australia but their dreadful memories haunted their everyday interactions and led to tortured dreams. However I shared their joy in seeing their children and grandchildren take their places as often distinguished members of multi cultural Australia.
The aspect that horrifies me is the way their Christian neighbors turned on them; not all,as there are stories of families hiding their Jewish friends at great personal risk. On page 252, Heiny Elert recalls that the man helping the Germans round up whole families was the same baker from whom they had bought bread for the past 15 years.
Chaim Matjeles states this:Nothing can ever compensate for the terrible loss I suffered or the agony I experienced and it gives me no pleasure to recall these painful memories.But at a time (2015 publication) when survivors like me are dwindling in number, it is important to speak out and be heard, for there are people who are trying to rewrite history, to distort the facts or to pretend they never happened.Page 214
A poignant aspect of these narratives is that most of the 14 people lived in my immediate vicinity, one family literally around the corner. They raised their happy children in the glorious freedom of Australia but their dreadful memories haunted their everyday interactions and led to tortured dreams. However I shared their joy in seeing their children and grandchildren take their places as often distinguished members of multi cultural Australia.
June 21, 2015
On 27 January 2015, the world commemorated the 70-year anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Some years earlier Alice Nelson, at the request of her mother-in-law, set aside her second novel to work with fourteen Holocaust survivors in order to help preserve the last living memory of that time.
As a young girl raised on a farm I was accustomed to seeing brands and lip tattoos on animals. Our neighbours at the time were a mini United Nations with many nationalities living together in one short street. Mr W was a gentle self-effacing man who attempted to teach me German; Mrs W was a very beautiful woman who cooked food totally foreign to Australia in the 1950’s. Their home was where I acquired a taste for rollmops and freshly baked black bread.
I knew they were refugees, but had only a child’s understanding of what that meant. Then one day I saw our neighbour with his sleeves rolled up and learned that people too could be numbered like cattle. Mr W noticed me staring and spoke to my parents before telling me the child’s version of what had happened to him. That was my first encounter with a Holocaust survivor.
In After This: Survivors of the Holocaust speak, we are privileged to read the recollections of 14 men and women, ordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives. As the author says: “Each individual recounts the story of their life before the Holocaust, their wartime experiences and their new lives as migrants to Australia after the war. The survivors come from a range of different backgrounds and countries but all endured the horrors of the Holocaust. Their experiences are diverse, although of course there are many overlaps: persecution, discrimination, hiding, ghettos, deprivation, trains and camps. Each individual narrates their particular Holocaust experience, but emphasis is also given to their lives before and afterwards, so that they are not portrayed just as victims.”
In an age when we try to explain away the Holocaust and argue statistics, this book reminds us the statistics are people; mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings. As the survivors near the end of their lives, there is a need for their history, their words and experiences to be passed to the next generation. One of the survivors says: “The Holocaust is a monumental part of history, so please do not forget what I am saying. I won’t be here forever to tell the story. It is in your hands and the hands of your generation and generations to come – to always remember.”
In her Introductory Essay, Alice Nelson tells us that the survivors relate their stories not because they seek redemption “… no redemption could ever be possible and to speak of healing or catharsis belies the horrifying enormity of their experiences.” Rather this sharing of their lives, despite the pain it brings is a “way to counteract apathy as well as forgetfulness.”
The survivors have not only shared their memories with Alice, they have shared their personal mementos and photos; photos taken before the war, some in their prisons and others in their new homes in Australia. This book and its memories remind us how resilient people can be. Despite its subject matter it is an uplifting read which I recommend to anyone. Betty, Izaac, Fryda, Bill, Rosalie, Rosa, Aaron,Erica, Kurt, Chaim, Richard, Hanoch, Pola and the person who wished to remain anonymous, thank you for sharing your lives with us.
“As the Holocaust recedes in time, as the last surviving witnesses to this terrible memory pass from the world, it becomes ever more important to listen to the stories of survivors. To listen and attend and remember.”
This review is published on Starts at 60 at this link http://bit.ly/1LbGxod
As a young girl raised on a farm I was accustomed to seeing brands and lip tattoos on animals. Our neighbours at the time were a mini United Nations with many nationalities living together in one short street. Mr W was a gentle self-effacing man who attempted to teach me German; Mrs W was a very beautiful woman who cooked food totally foreign to Australia in the 1950’s. Their home was where I acquired a taste for rollmops and freshly baked black bread.
I knew they were refugees, but had only a child’s understanding of what that meant. Then one day I saw our neighbour with his sleeves rolled up and learned that people too could be numbered like cattle. Mr W noticed me staring and spoke to my parents before telling me the child’s version of what had happened to him. That was my first encounter with a Holocaust survivor.
In After This: Survivors of the Holocaust speak, we are privileged to read the recollections of 14 men and women, ordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives. As the author says: “Each individual recounts the story of their life before the Holocaust, their wartime experiences and their new lives as migrants to Australia after the war. The survivors come from a range of different backgrounds and countries but all endured the horrors of the Holocaust. Their experiences are diverse, although of course there are many overlaps: persecution, discrimination, hiding, ghettos, deprivation, trains and camps. Each individual narrates their particular Holocaust experience, but emphasis is also given to their lives before and afterwards, so that they are not portrayed just as victims.”
In an age when we try to explain away the Holocaust and argue statistics, this book reminds us the statistics are people; mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings. As the survivors near the end of their lives, there is a need for their history, their words and experiences to be passed to the next generation. One of the survivors says: “The Holocaust is a monumental part of history, so please do not forget what I am saying. I won’t be here forever to tell the story. It is in your hands and the hands of your generation and generations to come – to always remember.”
In her Introductory Essay, Alice Nelson tells us that the survivors relate their stories not because they seek redemption “… no redemption could ever be possible and to speak of healing or catharsis belies the horrifying enormity of their experiences.” Rather this sharing of their lives, despite the pain it brings is a “way to counteract apathy as well as forgetfulness.”
The survivors have not only shared their memories with Alice, they have shared their personal mementos and photos; photos taken before the war, some in their prisons and others in their new homes in Australia. This book and its memories remind us how resilient people can be. Despite its subject matter it is an uplifting read which I recommend to anyone. Betty, Izaac, Fryda, Bill, Rosalie, Rosa, Aaron,Erica, Kurt, Chaim, Richard, Hanoch, Pola and the person who wished to remain anonymous, thank you for sharing your lives with us.
“As the Holocaust recedes in time, as the last surviving witnesses to this terrible memory pass from the world, it becomes ever more important to listen to the stories of survivors. To listen and attend and remember.”
This review is published on Starts at 60 at this link http://bit.ly/1LbGxod
February 19, 2017
I have read a few holocaust survivor stories now but this book was different for me because it contained the stories of people who migrated to my city after the war. I was especially interested to read how they ended up here, why they left their home countries and what happened to them once they got here. It turns out that many settled in my suburb and surrounds.
Many of the stories in here are from those that survived by going underground and either avoiding the concentration camps completely or partially. Their backgrounds vary in nationality (Dutch, Polish, Lithuania, Hungarian, etc) and socio-economic groups; and whilst all are Jewish, some more orthodox than others.
As you can imagine, the content is disturbing and whilst I expected this, I was still shocked to read some of the things that these people witnessed and experienced. There was little understanding or treatment for PTSD at the time, so I often wondered how these people coped with life afterwards, considering what they went through. There was some mention of this by the children of these survivors - how their parents suffered anxiety, nightmares and phobias.
I was surprised to read that no real centre or organisation had been set up in Perth before 1990, to share and educate later generations on what had happened. I'm glad one eventually was, for these people are ageing and dying and their stories must not be lost. This is especially true in today's political atmosphere.
A final word - you need not be Jewish to find this book of interest or import. You just need to be a decent human being. The 3 star rating I give it (as opposed to 4 or 5) is simply due to the feeling I have that more stories should have been included, with perhaps more nationalities represented. Also, historical notes interspersed amongst the testimonials would have been useful to provide a background.
Many of the stories in here are from those that survived by going underground and either avoiding the concentration camps completely or partially. Their backgrounds vary in nationality (Dutch, Polish, Lithuania, Hungarian, etc) and socio-economic groups; and whilst all are Jewish, some more orthodox than others.
As you can imagine, the content is disturbing and whilst I expected this, I was still shocked to read some of the things that these people witnessed and experienced. There was little understanding or treatment for PTSD at the time, so I often wondered how these people coped with life afterwards, considering what they went through. There was some mention of this by the children of these survivors - how their parents suffered anxiety, nightmares and phobias.
I was surprised to read that no real centre or organisation had been set up in Perth before 1990, to share and educate later generations on what had happened. I'm glad one eventually was, for these people are ageing and dying and their stories must not be lost. This is especially true in today's political atmosphere.
A final word - you need not be Jewish to find this book of interest or import. You just need to be a decent human being. The 3 star rating I give it (as opposed to 4 or 5) is simply due to the feeling I have that more stories should have been included, with perhaps more nationalities represented. Also, historical notes interspersed amongst the testimonials would have been useful to provide a background.
November 30, 2018
As Nelson makes clear in her introduction, the included testimonies were not presented as "pieces of literature". Therefore, it is unwarranted to "rate" this collection on grounds other than the impact their stories will have on their readers.
The foreword by Arnold Zable, himself the son of Holocaust survivors, and Nelson's own introductory essay, present the testimonies with the respect and honour due to the brave men and women who agreed to provide witness to the horrors they experienced. These survivors have resurrected their lives in Western Australia, in Perth, whereas many of the survivors' testimonies I've read through an association with the JHC in Melbourne, have been given through the Holocaust centres in Melbourne and Sydney.
Many of us feel compelled to learn of the individual stories of the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust, especially since their numbers are dwindling. After they are gone, it will be left to us to remind the world of the inhumanity that was perpetrated, in the hope that it can never be allowed to happen again. Collections such as this one will help us to do so.
The foreword by Arnold Zable, himself the son of Holocaust survivors, and Nelson's own introductory essay, present the testimonies with the respect and honour due to the brave men and women who agreed to provide witness to the horrors they experienced. These survivors have resurrected their lives in Western Australia, in Perth, whereas many of the survivors' testimonies I've read through an association with the JHC in Melbourne, have been given through the Holocaust centres in Melbourne and Sydney.
Many of us feel compelled to learn of the individual stories of the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust, especially since their numbers are dwindling. After they are gone, it will be left to us to remind the world of the inhumanity that was perpetrated, in the hope that it can never be allowed to happen again. Collections such as this one will help us to do so.
January 20, 2016
In view of the refugee crisis in Europe, it seems apposite to be reading this collection of testaments from survivors of the Holocaust, people who fled Europe to make a new life here in Australia. With a foreword by Arnold Zable and a powerful introductory essay by Alice Nelson, the book consists of fourteen narratives which consist of what Zable calls a three-act drama: the time before, when there was home, family and a sense of belonging; a period of unrelenting horrors; and then liberation, accompanied by a sense of devastation, loss, a period in limbo and then rebuilding a life…
Reading these stories is an emotional experience. No matter how much you think you know about the Holocaust, the personal story brings to the fore the very ordinariness of people who are just like us, who went through the unimaginable. The B&W photos make this ordinariness vivid – pictures of little kids; a girl who perished with her doll; a brother and sister who died in Sobibor – because a labourer had a fight with the farmer who was hiding them and got his revenge by giving them away to the Nazis. And yet remarkably these people came here to the other side of the world, with nothing in their pockets, and somehow managed to create new lives, new families, new reasons to go on living. The family photos taken in Australia are a testament to the human spirit and what can be achieved when people are given a fair go.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/09/08/af...
Reading these stories is an emotional experience. No matter how much you think you know about the Holocaust, the personal story brings to the fore the very ordinariness of people who are just like us, who went through the unimaginable. The B&W photos make this ordinariness vivid – pictures of little kids; a girl who perished with her doll; a brother and sister who died in Sobibor – because a labourer had a fight with the farmer who was hiding them and got his revenge by giving them away to the Nazis. And yet remarkably these people came here to the other side of the world, with nothing in their pockets, and somehow managed to create new lives, new families, new reasons to go on living. The family photos taken in Australia are a testament to the human spirit and what can be achieved when people are given a fair go.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/09/08/af...
July 12, 2015
Inspiring! The journeys of 14 Holocaust survivors: pre-war, family, warnings of what was coming, the atrocities, liberation and re-location. What brave souls to go through all that but braver still to share their stories so they are not lost in the generations to come.
November 20, 2015
This book was a recount of the lives of 14 Holocaust survivors. It still astounds me as to how the Jews were persecuted, humiliated, tormented and killed. I cannot believe humans can be so cruel. A very interesting read.
September 19, 2016
Every time I read stories shared by survivors, I think two things: thank you for sharing this painful part of your past AND how did the world get to be that way? This collection was well put together and worth the read.
October 21, 2015
Mandatory reading for anyone who is interested in history. At times simply heartbreaking, at others inspirational. Those who contributed were incredibly brave to share their awful experiences.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews