The Juderia: A Holocaust Survivor's Tribute to the Jewish Community of Rhodes

by Laura Varon

Overview

Life in la Juderia, the Jewish quarter of Rhodes, had its basis in the strong cultural traditions of the Sephardic Jews who settled there after fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. Nazi occupation of the island late in World War II would shatter the community and force its inhabitants into concentration camps far from home. Driven by her promise to look after a younger sister, young Laura Varon learned to cope in a world where human kindness was so rare that it could neither be trusted nor believed. One of the few survivors of Rhodes, she would struggle to deal with the loss of the dead and the ghosts that haunted the living.

Upon her liberation, Laura lay among corpses, finally ready to give up her fight. Clean sheets and a caring touch were almost more than she could bear. A long convalescence in Sweden would only be the beginning of her jourbaney back toward normalcy. Gradually reunited with family, Laura must come to terms with the loss of her community and her past. Rhodes, no longer an Italian territory, cannot be the home she seeks. A fierce determination drives Laura to build a new life and to carry on the legacy of the lost Juderia of Rhodes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275963460
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/30/1999
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

LAURA VARON, a native of Rhodes, survived the horrors of the concentration camps and vowed to keep alive the history and the memory of the Jews of la Juderia, a scant hundred of whom lived through the war. After recuperating in Sweden, Laura eventually settled in the Congo. Years later she immigrated to the United States. She is a frequent lecturer on the Holocaust at schools in the Seattle Tacoma area. This is her first book.

Table of Contents

Joy
War
Uncertainty
Brutality
Despair
Redemption
Reunion
Direction

Editorial Reviews

The author, a native of Rhodes, survived the horrors of the concentration camps and vowed to keep alive the history and the memory of the Jews of , a scant hundred of which lived through the war. Driven by her promise to look after a younger sister, she learned to cope in a world where human kindness was extremely rare. After her liberation and gradual reunion with her family, she had to come to terms with the loss of her community and her past. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

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