Surviving Despair; A Story About Perseverance
Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2007. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Trade paperback. [4], 277, [7] pages. Maps. Illustrations. Glossary. Foreword by Michael Berenbaum. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Comments on books by Herman Taube: "His vision roams over many continents, countless diverse subjects, and a variety of characters. Everywhere he finds a word, an expression, a sound, a thought, a proper noun and together they start singing and form a poem. These poems belong to the never-to be-forgotten witness literature of our time." - ELIE WIESEL "Some poets make of this world a tragedy. Others, like Herman Taube, do not. They look for every spark of light. It is not that he comes singing happy songs - there is a great deal of sadness in his poems. But there is a wonderful strength that rises out of the sadness. But that is not all of this work - for his is not only our poet of the Holocaust in the way that Elie Wiesel is; but he is the poet of the ordinary human being - you and me - who has been to hell, whose life has been irrevocably shaped by the Jewish experience of World War II, but who lives in the world of today, like to rest of us." - MERRILL LEFFLER "His collective works, which span decades, continents and cultures, constitute an eloquent and powerful chronicle of the Jewish experience in our time. It is a record at once intensely personal and universal. And it is, as is his life, a voluble and vibrant legacy, a model of the highest standard for Jewish artists of all ages." - MICHA LEV "Herman Taube has the unique ability to make inanimate objects come alive. Herman Taube was, a novelist, poet and longtime Washington correspondent. Born on February 2, 1918, in Lodz, Poland, Taube was orphaned at a young age and was raised by his grandparents. In an interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum he described how he began writing poetry for his school newsletter, and at age 15 his work was published by the Yiddish poet Moshe Broderzon, who lived on the same street as his grandfather. Taube studied nursing and became a medic in the Polish Army shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. After retreating from invading German forces, he was captured by the Soviet Army and sent to Siberia. He was released in June, 1941, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and worked as medic with the Second Polish Army in Uzbekistan. In 1944 he was wounded when his ambulance drove over a land mine during the Kursk offensive, and following his recovery he worked at the Majdanek hospital, treating former prisoners of the recently liberated Majdanek concentration camp. After the war Taube married Susan Struass, a Holocaust survivor from Vacha, Germany, who had survived the Riga ghetto and Kaiserwald concentration camp. The couple emigrated to the United States in 1947. Taube began writing for the Forverts almost as soon as he arrived, after being interviewed for the paper by another writer, Isaac Metzker. He continued to serve as the newspaper’s Washington and Baltimore correspondent for nearly 60 years, covering everything from the White House to the founding of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In addition to journalism, Taube earned a master’s degree in literature and creative writing from American University, and wrote more than 20 books of fiction and poetry. His work often depicted his wartime experiences and life as an immigrant to the United States. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Holocaust, Survival, Poetry, Anti-Semitism, Jews, Discrimination, Michael Berenbaum, Lask, Poland, Baluty, NKVD, Resistance, Prisoners, Concentration Camps
ISBN: 9781434348463
[Book #73801]
Price: $35.00