MAY 17, 2016 Review from Warsaw, Poland

Dear Karen,

I finished reading. This was without any doubts one of the most important book in my life. Not only because it is written with inner passion and with visible story-telling and writing skills, but rather because it shows also the essence of the story of my life.

I had a very difficult and dark childhood, with too strict, demanding and emotionally chaotic father who turned over years into a heavy alcoholic. I hated him so much, for who he was, for what he did to me, my sister and my mom. I was constantly afraid of him beyond my capabilities to deal with it. My life was a nightmare then. When I was a teenager I was already isolated from him. I built a shield, and I locked him outside my world. ...........I did not see that by doing this (and that could not be avoided at that time) I deeply hurt myself......,...my world turned up side down............ Now I can feel pure love for him, pure love to myself and every people, even those who did hurt me. I just let go. I let go my atheism, I know that there is a  divine power, I felt it and I keep feeling it. I am not a realigious person, but I let spirituality to my life and I understood that our material form of being is a temporary stage, we came from..... I did what you did, in my own world, I challenged my fears and hatred. And I triupmhed. I will have more challenges and happy moments but I am equipped now with a perspective on life that I think we share.

I believe your book is very important. I believe everybody should do in their life what you did in yours. I believe that we may get to the next level of our humanity if we all get what you and me understood and implemented.

Now, a young Polish guy was crying while reading many words you wrote. It was a cathartic read, as Professor Emman Chedade Randazzo stated (a Palestinian saying this... is so beautiful). I felt close to you and shared many feelings that you expressed in this memoir. I felt this obvious closeness to you, a Jewish woman from America, daughter of a man, who had to kill any love in his life in order to survive the nightmare of Shoah. And the reason he had to do that is related to evil people from my tribe, my nation. It opens up so much. I just want to say, never mind it sounds crazy, that I love you for what you did in your life to overcome what he felt about Polish murderers of his beloved ones and his own ability to love and share love.

I wish you all the best and you can be sure that there is at least this one man in Warsaw today, who is sending you the best energy all the way to Chicago and your life. I hope one day I will have a chance to meet you again .......And you can be sure I will send the same energy to Arie Kaplan, his spirit. Maybe this deed coming from a Pole, who belongs to Krystyna Franciska part of our community and opposes the Jablonski and Kordash part of our community, will bring your father's soul some calm.

J....

March 15, 2016    Rev. David J. Wood Senior Minister at the Glencoe Union Church   Karen is an outstanding speaker.  She communicates her story clearly and with great compassion.  She doesn’t just talk about forgiveness—she shows us what it means in real life.

Her story reminds us of why forgiveness is not just an ideal why it is essential to the reality of our lives and to knowing the fullness of life as God intended it to be.

She reminds us that forgiveness is costly—and why choosing not to forgive is even more costly.  Again, thanks for being with us.

Peace,

Rev. David J. Wood

Senior Minister at the Glencoe Union Church

MAY 2016  I Highly Recommend "Descendants of Rajgrod!"

I read quite a bit of history and  I don't usually read memoirs. But I am so glad I read this... you wrote it from the heart, it was hard hitting and very honest. Forgiveness is one of the toughest subjects for people to deal with, because of the personal damage that the hurt that was inflicted leaves in its wake! We as humans know how to treat a wound on our body, first thing we learn is don't pick at it and we don't and it heals. The wound to our psyche we love to pick at because we don't want to the wound to heal. We have been wronged, our pride is at stake, we have been lied about and in most cases we don't want to forgive... Only the weak forgive, when in truth only the truly strong forgive and move on...... As a Priest friend said to me one time; Priests, Ministers and Rabbis spend more time helping people deal with their emotional problems then psychiatrists do, and it's cheaper! "LOL" ......... For those of you who have not read this book, "Descendants of Rajgrod" all I have to say is that this  is a special kind of book, of a journey down the road to forgiveness.  Highly recommend it!  - Robert Snow 

MAY 18, 2016   A review from my speaking engagement at North Shore Senior Center

................We had a speaker yesterday who brought a message of forgiveness which was riveting and memorable. Karen L. Kaplan is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who inflicted on his family the suffering he had experienced. She wrote and self-published her memoir of a traumatic life and her escape from the torments of untold millions of Jews over the millennia. Her journey into wellness was successful because she learned to forgive. An important theme of her story is the epigenetic effect of those centuries of evil oppression on the DNA of a people. If you don’t know Karen, get in touch with her. The healing message she brought us is one which will greatly bless the people at Trinity. She lives in Highland Park and her email is karenkaplan@att.net. Her webpage is www.KarenLKaplan.com. She is a compelling and articulate speaker who brings a message which all the world should hear. 

John F Swenson

July 24, 2016

Lorna Cameron Tough .......I had always believed, Karen, that our bodies carried "our" trauma and I discussed with my therapist last week what you said in your interview and how I wondered whether I carried my father's ptsd. She was in agreement with you. Wake up calls galore for me so I am grateful to you for your validation of your own wounds. Namaste xx

.....I was moved by your experiences and your message... I too am a child of survivors and a teacher at the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, NY.     - Sandy R. 7-12-16

April 2015  A review from Greece

Dear karen,

what you went through  was not just a transformation. To me, it looks like a trip to hell. ........... Thank God you are back, alive and well. And thanks for sharing.

The book is not a simple memoir, in an era where pseudo-memoirs are in abudance. Your book is what I call in greek "katathesi phychis" or "soul submission" according to Google translation, though another exprssion such as "bare of soul" maybe more appropriate..........  

Txxxx

 

   

"Those who do not forgive are those who are least capable of changing the circumstances of their lives".

JANUARY 2015   Rotary Member of Highland Park            I just finished reading DESCENDANTS OF RAJGROD last night and I was moved as well as inspired by the message.... your story and your viewpoint are making me evaluate my own perspective and approach.  I come from a passionate Italian-American family with its own tendency to catalog and retain “transgressions”.  Coupled with being raised Catholic, through which we were always reminded that we were unworthy of those whose saintly suffering came before us, there’s a tendency to feel guilty or naïve about letting go of the past.

I cannot even begin to comprehend the brutality and hopelessness of your father’s childhood experiences.  I can appreciate how the circumstances created the man and I find his story inspiring yet tragic.

I can fathom how difficult it must have been for you to grow up amid the challenges related by the examples in your book.  That said, I apologize for appearing presumptuous enough to draw any parallels to my comparatively charmed upbringing.  Your message of forgiveness resonates with me.  Genuine forgiveness is about letting go of everything....and opening up my possibilities of greater things for my future.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and for writing the book.  I wish you nothing but peace and joy in your life.  I am sharing your book with my family and I want to thank you for inspiring me to go further and purer in my own personal and professional life.

Warmest regards,

Rotary Member of Highland Park

January 2016     Herbert Quelle,  German Consul General

“Karen Kaplan’s memoir "Descendants of Rajgród"  has moved me deeply. The author permits an intimate insight into her soul and the psychological burden that she has carried along as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She freely shares her family story, especially the difficult relationship with her father, embeds it into the history of the Jewish people constantly confronted with anti-semitism, and shows the reader in a carefully meditated way how she overcame her traumatization. Her private solution lies in forgiveness. Her effort of soul-searching is painful. Not everyone may come to the same conclusions. At any rate, reading her journey to freedom is inspiring and time well spent.”

Herbert Quelle,  German Consul General in Chicago

July 2, 2016

What a beautiful book you have written. Thank you for sharing your life and experiences. The relaxed, conversational prose pulled me right in. I felt as though I had met you and your family members because of the generous way you shared your stories. Although I was raised Catholic ( no longer a member) I  have never been able to fathom forgiveness. You have given me the determination to delve into this complex subject. Thank you and bless you!

Judith E. S.