Book Club: Where She Came From: A Daughter's Search For Her Mother's History, by Helen Epstein

Franci and Helen Epstein — Franci Rabinek Epstein and daughter Helen Epstein. New York. c. 1950s. (Courtesy of Helen Epstein).

Cablegram, Helen Epstein — Cablegram from Franci Solar (née Rabinek) in Prague to her cousin Peter in the US informing him that she is the only member of the family who survived. October 25, 1945. (Courtesy of Helen Epstein).

A scene in the Theresienstadt Ghetto shows a crowd of Jews with bundles walking to the railroad station for deportation into the unknown, in truth the Auschwitz extermination camp. On the left, a Nazi officer walks on an elevated rampart above the deportation scene taking place. Transport by Joseph Spier. 1944. (Leo Baeck Institute).

Tag/Uhrzeit: Di, 7 Jun 2022 14:00 -0400
Format: Online
Eintritt: Allgemein: Kostenlos

About the Book

After the death of her mother, author and journalist Helen Epstein set out to uncover her mother's past and to learn more about her grandmother and great-grandmother, victims of the Holocaust. The result is this compelling biography, both a chronicle of three generations of women and a social history of Czechoslovakia's Jews. We chose to read this book in conjunction with our exhibit about the Theresienstadt Ghetto, Last Stop Before the Last Stop.

Click here to watch a discussion with Epstein about her mother's life and survival in the Holocaust.

About the Author

We will be joined at our meeting by Helen Epstein. The first tenured woman Professor of Journalism at NYU, she is the author of numerous books about her family history. These include the trilogy Children of the Holocaust (1979); Where She Came From: A Daughter's Search for Her Mother's History and The Long Half-Lives of Love and Trauma (2018). She published her late mother Franci Rabinek Epstein's memoir, Franci's War in 2020-2021, in seven languages. Her latest book is Getting Through It: My Year of Cancer during Covid.

"In Epstein's expert and sensitive hands, truth becomes not only stranger than fiction, but more magnetic, wise and powerful." Gloria Steinem

Learn more at www.helenepstein.com.

Finding/Purchasing the Book

Helen Epstein is pleased to provide for purchase signed copies. The cost of $25.00 for a signed copy will be given as a donation to the Leo Baeck Institute. We thank her for her donation to us. This offer is only for within the United States.

To receive a signed copy please send a check or money order for $25.00, made out to the Leo Baeck Institute, to the following address:

Helen Epstein
31 Woodcliffe Rd.
Lexington, MA 02421

Be sure to include the address you wish your copy would be sent to if it is different than the address on your check or money order.

Other Purchase Options:

Plunkett Lake Press
Amazon (paperback)
Amazon (Kindle)
Helen Epstein's website, further purchase options