How Young Holocaust Survivors Rebuilt their Lives: France, the United States, and Israel by Françoise S. Ouzan (review)

Françoise Ouzan's How Young Holocaust Survivors Rebuilt their Lives, a volume in Alvin Rosenfeld's Studies in Antisemitism series, of the twists and turns of life faced by young European Jews after the Shoah. Generally, Holocaust memoirs focus on the struggle to survive amidst atrocity. They depict a brief overview of prewar life in the home country and usually end with liberation and the end of the war, omitting the survivor's reinsertion into postwar life. In this work, Ouzan concentrates on the opportunities and decisions of Jews who chose to settle in France, the United States, or Israel in the aftermath of the war, presenting a picture that demonstrates the uniqueness of each person's experience. Her definition of "survivor is broad," including hidden children, partisans, those who fled to the Soviet Union, and those who assumed an Aryan identity, in addition to concentration camp survivors. Each group faced unique hardships that translated into different transitions into an ordinary life.

As she explains in her introduction, Ouzan conducted interviews in French, English, and Hebrew over several years and studied autobiographical writings, when available. Her methodology lies in a multidisciplinary approach, drawing upon history, sociology, anthropology, literature, and psychology. Ouzan's work interestingly reveals how survivors' experiences during the Holocaust affected their professional choices, and how these choices helped them regain a sense of dignity. Additionally, it also shows how spouses played an important role in the rehabilitation process, either as moral support or professional partners. In her examination, Ouzan finds three redemptive narratives that help explain the success of survivors: a social narrative, which highlights occupational and social achievements; an ideological narrative, in which the land of Israel and its establishment as a state in its own right offers a vital refuge; and a religious narrative, in which finding a connection to Judaism itself, whether a believer or not, contributes to the survivor's sense of meaning and purpose.

In chapter one, Ouzan provides the overall context for her work, including who counts as a survivor. She explains her interest in how survivors were able to make a new life and even be successful despite the hardships they had endured, and she notes the circumstances that impacted survivors differently, guiding them in their choice of homeland, career, and spouse. In addition, she outlines immigration policies and the way different countries recognized (or denied) the specificity of the Jewish Holocaust experience.

Chapter two highlights the lives of Jews who chose to settle in France, and includes a section on the survivors known as the Buchenwald boys as well as the famous politician Simone Veil. It discusses certain policies of the French government like the decision to allow Jews to change their name to assimilate more easily, and the fact that commemorations around the Holocaust did not specifically acknowledge the persecution of the Jews. In chapter three, the narratives remain in France but focus on the experiences of hidden children, depicting famous survivors like author Georges Perec, philosopher André Gluckmann, and Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfield.

Chapter four examines the lives of survivors who left Europe behind to cross the Atlantic and settle in the United States. Tibor Rubin's story is particularly fascinating, as he was considered a heroic and altruistic fellow service member in the Korean War, and politician Tom Lantos' story is also featured. Chapter five explores the fate of hidden children and refugees in the United States. Of particular interest is the tale of Manfred Mayer, who worked on the space program with Werner van Braun.

In chapter six, the reader travels to Israel to learn about the survivors who played a role in the establishment of the Jewish state. Chapter seven presents Jewish perspectives on Israel and the diaspora, discussing the significance of the Jewish homeland there and abroad. It also includes a...