Daughters of Absence

"If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example." --Anne Frank

Daughters of Absence is a collection of twelve essays written by daughters of Holocaust survivors. Each chapter is a contribution from a female author, poet, artist, musician, filmmaker, comedienne, playwright, and more. The authors not only tell about their own personal experiences as daughters of Holocaust survivors, but many essays also include accounts from their parents of horrific experiences during the Holocaust.

Despite the unique pressures of being the daughters of "survivors," the contributors have thrived and made the most of their lives, but not in stereotypical ways. Instead, they chose ways that combine compassion with courage, and success with celebration. The result is an uplifting and very inspiring book from a group of very inspiring women.

The contributors include editor Mindy Weisel, an artist whose works are on display at museums around the world; Helen Epstein, author of Children of the Holocaust; Aviva Kempner, producer of the films The Partisans of Vilna and The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg; Lily Brett, the only writer who has won Australia's highest awards for fiction and poetry; photographer Vera Loeffler; poet Miram Morsel Nathan; and Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Senator Joe Lieberman. The introduction is by Eva Fogelman, author of Conscience & Courage: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust.

This book has been used in the classroom and at seminars and conferences. It was previously available only in a hard cover edition, but it is now available in trade paperback and e-book editions. Highly recommended because of its unique perspective on the Holocaust and because each chapter demonstrates the strength of the human spirit. Please help spread the word about this wonderful book.

Praise for "Daughters of Absence"

"These twelve essays were written by daughters of Holocaust survivors. The women--artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, a photographer, a musician, and an actress--have found a strong voice through their work, and their work has been both a life force and a lifesaver." Booklist

"An impressive and revealing collection of writings of the children of Holocaust survivors. It is also an homage to Holocaust survivors, intended as a gift from the children of those survivors to their parents, and as a tribute to the millions who died. With moving, uplifting prose that recounts how the daughters of survivors transform a legacy of shadow into the artistic light of movies, art, photographs, poems, novels, and lives, Daughters of Absence is a powerful, life-affirming read and a strongly recommended addition to Holocaust studies reading lists and reference collections." - Midwest Book Review

"Mindy Weisel and the other daughters of Holocaust survivors have provided us with extraordinary insights. The solemn beauty of their sagas and the triumph over the past is a gift to their parents, who survived and rebuilt their lives, and to those millions who did not." - Susan Tumarkin Goodman of the Jewish Museum New York

"Each in her own genre, these 'daughters of absence' trace--with great skill, great courage, and great candor--their journey from a ghost-ridden past to a fulfilling present." -- Peter Novick, author of The Holocaust in America, professor of history at The University of Chicago

"Explores the pain of daughters of the Holocaust." -- Newsweek.com

"[Mindy Weisel's] feelings spilled out in watercolor on her paintings. She came to know other survivors' daughters who had overcome the particular emotional stuntedness by creating art. Weisel asked 12 of them to write essays, which she has collected in a new book, 'Daughters of Absense: Transforming the Legacy of Loss.'" -- Washington Post