APRIL 2018ByJ. Goldmanon April 17, 2018This was an amazing book. I read it non-stop from start to finish. This was last year, but I find myself still thinking about it, and that's rare for me, so I figured it was worth my writing this review.
It's a very personal story, but it's also as universal as could be. To me, the book is about how a horrible history, which seems so long-ago, not only permanently warped a young man but continued to cause acute pain to the man's descendants, 60 and 70 years later. Reading about how the author figured everything out was absolutely fascinating. It was also inspiring. This is a story about history, family, being a detective in your own life, and the necessity and challenges of forgiveness.
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
November 2015 FILM DIRECTOR review
Hi Karen,
We met (briefly) in Evanston when I showed my film in November. I finally got around to reading your book and I must admit, I wasn't looking forward to it (I've read a LOT of Holocaust era memoirs), but I found it completely compelling and engaging. Your father sounds "typical" in some ways for survivors, but rather extreme in certain colorful ways and your personal history of coming to terms with it all was very moving. And then after all that, the Epilogue … wow! A very moving book............
...........But on a more important level, your story was very moving and touching. Congratulations with it, and with getting it out there!I had just returned from a trip through Poland before I screens at the synagogue in Evanston, and ironically one of the screenings was in Bialystok, where I had never been before. I didn't know its history, how it had had a large Jewish population, and the recent book about it which painted a very intolerant image of the city, and which got a lot of press and attention in the country, In actuality it was, after 12 trips to Poland, one of the very first places I was at besides Warsaw and Krakow - there've been a few for brief trips, but my experience in Poland is deep, but narrow. I certainly found it fascinating on that level, but also what was, and what is.Also, I remember your saying you'd be going to Germany, I too am hoping to go there this spring, for a number of screenings. Looking forward!Once more thank you, and congratulations. Wish you well with it and do hope to stay in touch.All best,xxxxxx
.....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