Yesterday: A Memoir of a Russian Jewish Family

by Miriam Shomer; Leider Zunser

Genres: Judaism

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1978

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess right off that I think this book is amazing because it is about my family. Miriam Shomer Zunser was my great grandmother, and Yesterday is the book she wrote for her children so that they could know and understand their heritage. The story is unfathomable to us today: Two young Jewish children, Michel and Yentl, were forced to marry in order to escape induction into the Russian army that would have been a sure death sentence. They had an incredible 24 children in their lifetime, only ten of whom survived. This is the story of Michel and Yentl (my great great great grandparents), their children, and their children's children. It is a portrait rich in detail and loving memory of the harsh realities of life in czarist Russia. Amazing.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yesterday is the story of a family in a vanished world--that of Jews in the closing years of the Russian Empire. The personalities are interesting, and the family dynamics familiar. What I found most interesting was the tales of the everyday lives of the family members, since that world exists no longer.