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
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
April 2015 A review from GreeceDear 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
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