Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir, by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie is a work of non-fiction that imparts a story of family, poignancy and courage under the most adverse of situations.

The memoir is one written by the daughter, Leslie, but also includes her mother’s story (Rita), as told to her daughter by Rita, relatives and other individuals involved with the family during the Holocaust.

Rita was five years old when her family members were ordered by the Gestapo to report to the train station near their residence of Urzejowice, Poland, and from there they were going to be deported. They immediately fled their home, in order to escape and find safety somehow. Therein comes Stashik Grajolski, a family friend.

Stashik was more than a good friend, and he and his wife hid Rita and almost one dozen other family members in their attic, a cramped area with a four and a half foot tall ceiling. He made makeshift toilets out of barrels which he or his wife would empty every day. This is not to say that the Gamss family did not have to pay for their stay. Stashik’s wife expected some form of payment, either with jewelry or other items the family had. Yet, without the continuing help from Stashik and his wife, the Gamss family and their extended family would never have survived. Stashik and his wife risked their lives. They were hidden for two years inside the attic, and within those two years, Rita lost her mother and a brother. Rita also became extremely ill with tuberculosis.

At times her father, Isaac, or her uncle would sneak out of the attic at night in order to try to find extra food. They were taking their lives into their hands. Stashik or his wife were only able to give them potatoes, and once in a while soup or some other small amount of food. There was no such thing as a full meal.

They eventually emigrated to America, and began a new life. Here is where the memoir takes a unique turn, and where Leslie tells her side of the story, a story of a child of Holocaust survivors. Her story includes her own daughter, Mikaela, and her experiences. Leslie evokes extreme emotion, yet is direct and forthright in telling what it was like to grow up as a child of Survivors. The emotional damage that was done to her mother was reflected in her own life. Rita’s fears become Leslie’s fears, and the symbiosis of mother and daughter remained strong, throughout Leslie’s childhood and adult life.

Leslie’s fears manifest themselves within her daughter, Mikaela, and the cycle continues, although Leslie tries to break the ongoing cycle.

Bending Toward the Sun is much more than a Holocaust memoir, and much more than an accounting of events that took place during the Holocaust. It is a book that delves into the post-war effects on a generation of children born of Survivors. It details explicitly the ongoing emotional turmoil that the family endured, and how every action was done to ensure the safety of the family unit, not only during the adverse events of the Holocaust, but also post-Holocaust.

The emotional damage done to Rita during the two years in the attic, shaped how she raised her children, and shaped how they raised their own children. Bending Toward the Sun is written with sensitivity, yet is as harrowing and horrifying as it is beautiful and illuminating. It is a book that is layered with the psychological damage that Holocaust Survivors carry with them. These layers, in turn, shaped successive generations of family members. The emotional impact is astounding to read.

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie demonstrates the courage that her mother and their family had, and their strength and will to survive. It is a memoir that fully encapsulates the resulting trauma, and its affect and effect on children of Holocaust Survivors. It is thought-provoking on many levels, and one must read it themselves in order to fully absorb the contents.

I highly recommend Bending Toward the Sun, by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie. In my opinion it belongs in every personal library.
~~~~~~
© Copyright 2007 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission.

Sunday October 4, 2009 – 16th of Tishrei, 5770