Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Gershon (1924-1993), a poet who has written about her experience as a refugee during WW II ( We Came As Children ), here gives a searing account of growing up as a Jewish child in Hitler's Germany. She writes in the third person, referring to herself as ``Kate,'' the youngest of three daughters born into a close, financially secure family. As anti-Semitism gained ground, Kate's feelings of inferiority increased. Gershon skillfully evokes the slow erosion of civil rights for German Jews and the ways in which this political climate increased the tensions among Kate, her parents and sisters. She is unflinchingly candid about the hostility she felt towards her older sister Anne, whose strength of character she envied. Channeling her anxiety into poetry, Kate wrote about the meaning of being Jewish and her desire to go to Israel. In 1938 her father was able to evacuate Kate and one of her sisters to England before he and his wife were murdered by the Nazis. Photos. (June)
A Lesser Child: An Autobiography
by Karen GershonA Lesser Child recounts the childhood of distinguished poet Karen Gershon, who grew up in Germany under Hitler's regime. Karen was the granddaughter of a wealthy member of the local Jewish community, and her family was close-knit. She was academically gifted and a natural poet, with striking good looks. Yet none of her good fortune could dispel her sense of… See more details below
Overview
A Lesser Child recounts the childhood of distinguished poet Karen Gershon, who grew up in Germany under Hitler's regime. Karen was the granddaughter of a wealthy member of the local Jewish community, and her family was close-knit. She was academically gifted and a natural poet, with striking good looks. Yet none of her good fortune could dispel her sense of inferiority. In Hitler's Germany, a conventional adolescence was impossible, and Karen cowered behind an unrelieved bewilderment. Karen's story, however, is more than an account of her childhood. It is a vivid and moving re-creation of the period leading up to the Holocaust, with all its tension and uncertainty.
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Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780720608991
- Publisher:
- Owen, Peter Limited
- Publication date:
- 06/08/1994
- Pages:
- 224
- Product dimensions:
- 5.68(w) x 8.78(h) x 0.81(d)
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