Anatomy of a Friendship: A Dual Memoir of Women's Journeys through War to Peace

by Cecile Spiegel, Diane Tuckman

Overview

Diane Tuckman and Cecile Spiegel fled religious persecution with WWII conflicts at their heels. Separately, from Egypt and from Germany, each leaped continents, cultures, and languages as a refugee before finding a new home in the United States. Hiding in plain sight in France, Cecile eluded capture by the Nazis, but lost many dear to her. Diane came of age there, far from the Mediterranean idyll of her childhood in Egypt. They relied on family, faith, and resilience to overcome the otherness felt by displaced peoples. As they dictated their memoirs to one another, Diane and Cecile discovered the anatomy of their friendship in their parallel odysseys and the optimism of 20th-century American womanhood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781644698389
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	06/21/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	138
File size:	24 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Cecile Spiegel (1915-2010) was born in Nuremberg, Germany, the only child of loving parents. She escaped to France amid rising Nazi persecution. She survived WWII hidden in the countryside with aid from French Resistance members. Cecile worked for American forces in post-war France before immigrating to America, where she became a French teacher.  

Diane Tuckman was born in 1935 in Heliopolis, Egypt. At the start of the Arab-Israel war in 1948, her family fled mounting oppression. They settled in France, where Diane translated for American forces before moving to the United States. A noted silk painter, she is a founder of Silk Painters International (SPIN).  

Cecile Spiegel (1915-2010) was born in Nuremberg, Germany, the only child of loving parents. She escaped to France amid rising Nazi persecution. She survived WWII hidden in the countryside with aid from French Resistance members. Cecile worked for American forces in post-war France before immigrating to America, where she became a French teacher.
Diane Tuckman was born in 1935 in Heliopolis, Egypt. At the start of the Arab-Israel war in 1948, her family fled mounting oppression. They settled in France, where Diane translated for American forces before moving to the United States. A noted silk painter, she is a founder of Silk Painters International (SPIN).

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Beginnings / Diane
2. Beginnings / Cecile
3. Winds of Change / Diane
4. Winds of Change / Cecile
5. On the Run, with Children / Cecile
6. New Realities / Diane
7. Coming to America / Cecile
8. Never Forget / Cecile
9. American Odyssey / Diane and Cecil
10. Reflections on Immigration
11. Lekh-L’kha / Diane
12. Anatomy of a Friendship / Cecile and Diane
13. Second Acts

Epilogue / Diane

Postscript and Acknowledgments
Timeline

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“An amazing autobiography of two Jewish women, who met in the United States and became friends only to discover that they shared a similar story. One left Germany in 1936 for France before making her way to the US. The other left Egypt in 1948, taking the same path via France to the US. In parallel chapters, the book tells how they started on their journey, their refugee experiences, settling in the US initially and for the rest of their lives. Even though religious intolerance toward Jews was at the root of both stories, their Jewish faith, one Ashkenazi and the other Sephardi, played an important part in their resilience. I found myself at times crying and laughing and always learning through their personal account. Their experiences were very different and yet in some ways the same. Written in a matter-of-fact style, yet very powerful and uplifting.”

—Susan Laden, President and Publisher of the Biblical Archaeology Society