Zachor, I Remember. Will You?

Book excerpt: We are all born into a story, each with its own plot, characters and settings. For the children of Holocaust survivors, that story is tinged by the fact that their mere existence is a miracle: after all, their parents weren't supposed to live much less procreate.Many second-generation survivors grew up with a stifled and mysterious background. Others grew up with an overflow of traumatic information. Some grew up emotionally and psychologically scarred. Others felt overwhelmed with and by their parents' stories. And yet others again developed coping skills not just from their parents' experiences but also from how those experiences were conveyed to them.Vera Freidin's daughters fall into the latter category. Never hiding the realities of her Holocaust experience, Kathy and Sue's mother conveyed her stories with sensitivity, dignity and, at times, with humour. She instilled in them her positive outlook, her passion for life and learning, and her determination not to just survive but to strive to thrive.In the year leading up to her eighty-fifth birthday, Vera Freidin sat down with her daughters to compile her memoir. Kathy and Sue carefully and lovingly transcribed her stories as she told them: the familiar stories with which they grew up and some new stories they had not previously heard. That exercise, frequently punctuated by awe, tears and laughter led to this book.Vera Freidin and her daughters hope that you will feel, as you read Zachor, I remember. Will you? that she is sitting with you, perhaps enjoying a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, as she personally tells you these stories.Zachor, I remember. Will you? is a collection of memories which describe a determined woman, a kind woman, a highly intelligent woman, an inspirational woman, a woman with a remarkable memory and a woman who, despite having good reason to hate and be bitter, does not know how to hate or be bitter. The woman who is Zachor, I remember. Will you? is a good person: you will like her.