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Vielleicht Esther
Vielleicht Esther | Katja Petrowskaja
2 posts | 4 read | 3 to read
Hie sie wirklich Esther, die Gromutter des Vaters, die 1941 im besetzten Kiew allein in der Wohnung der geflohenen Familie zurckblieb? Die jiddischen Worte, die sie vertrauensvoll an die deutschen Soldaten auf der Strae richtete wer hat sie gehrt? Und als die Soldaten die Babuschka erschossen, mit nachlssiger Routine wer hat am Fenster gestanden und zugeschaut? In Kiew und Mauthausen, Warschau und Wien legt Katja Petrowskaja Fragmente eines zerbrochenen Familienmosaiks frei Stoff fr einen Epochenroman, erzhlt in lapidaren Geschichten. Die Autorin schreibt von ihren Reisen zu den Schaupltzen, reflektiert ber ein zersplittertes, traumatisiertes Jahrhundert und rckt Figuren ins Bild, deren Gesichter nicht mehr erkennbar sind. Unglubigkeit, Skrupel und ein Sinn fr Komik wirken in jedem Satz dieses eindringlichen Buches.
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ReadingEnvy
Maybe Esther: A Family Story | Katja Petrowskaja
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Mehso-so

I enjoy a good research narrative and that's really what this is - more than a memoir, as the author is only barely present in the book, it's the story of Katja's family members, as she traces them through the historical events that forced relocation. Most of her family members were Jewish and lived in Poland, Ukraine, and Russia, with forced moves into Austria and Germany for some. ↘️

ReadingEnvy The research takes her to Soviet archives, concentration camp historians, an old rabbi who knew a family member, a former student of the "deaf-mute" schools her family members were known for establishing, and even a former landlord. ↘️ 3y
ReadingEnvy There is some reflection by the author on places that do not seem to acknowledge the atrocities that occured where they are. Kiev really stood out this way, where 13k+ Jewish people were killed in two days but the statues of commemoration of that period are about local war heroes instead.↘️ 3y
ReadingEnvy While I found the contents and approach unique, the book took a while to get through, largely due to its fragmentary nature and problematic formatting in the Kindle eBook version (which I paid for, not an ARC.) 3y
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tholmz
Maybe Esther: A Family Story | Katja Petrowskaja
Bailedbailed

I feel like I could have stuck this one out, but it couldn‘t hold my attention.