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Called to Testify

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How does a secular, non-practising Jew who has lived most of her life outside the Jewish community suddenly find herself in the front rows of a Nazi war crimes tribunal? In 2015, the award-winning writer Judith Kalman was invited to Lüneburg to testify at the trial of Oskar Gröning, accused of facilitating 300,000 murders at Auschwitz. She appeared on behalf of a relative she had never met, a child of her father's first marriage, who died in the camp. Kalman not only found herself in the unaccustomed company of survivors who had built their identities and missions out of Holocaust remembrance, but grappling with profound questions of loss, guilt, and restitution. For the first time in her life, she was forced to confront her parents' tragic past, and how it had confounded her own sense of who she wanted to “Broken friendships, missed expectations, difficult family relationships, and a problematic marriage were all forged in the heritage of loss.” Called to Testify is a beautiful, thoughtful memoir about the meaning of life in the wake of traumatic events, coming to terms with your identity, and understanding the magnitude of what can never be restored.

230 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2022

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Judith Kalman

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Author 36 books86 followers
June 18, 2022
Called to Testify
The Big Story in My Small Life
by Judith Kalman
Pub Date 17 May 2022 | Archive Date 30 Jun 2022
Sutherland House
Biographies & Memoirs | Nonfiction (Adult) | Religion & Spirituality


How is it that a secular non practicing Jew who has lived most of her life outside the Jewish community suddenly find herself in the front rows of a Nazi war crimes tribunal?


In 2015 award winning author Judith Kalman was invited to Lüneburg to testify at the trial of Oskar Gröning, accused of facilitating 300,000 murders at Auschwitz. She appeared on behalf of a relative she had never met, a child of her father’s first marriage, who died in the camp.


Kalman found herself in the unaccustomed company of survivors who had built their identities and missions out of Holocaust remembrance, but were also grappling with profound questions of loss, guilt, and restitution.






Revisiting her parents’ tragic past, she saw how it had confounded her own sense of who she wanted to be: Broken friendships, missed expectations, difficult family relationships, and a problematic marriage were all forged in the heritage of loss.






Called to Jesus is a beautiful and heartfelt memoir thoughtful memoir about the meaning of life in the wake of traumatic events, coming to terms with your identity, and understanding the magnitude of what can never be restored.





If you’re looking for a heartfelt memoir about one women coming to terms with her parents tragic past, I highly recommend Called To Testify.



Five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review