Shush!

Shush! Growing Up Jewish Under Stalin : A Memoir - The S. Mark Taper Foundation Imprint in Jewish Studies

Hardback (05 Aug 2008)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Many years after making his way to America from Odessa in Soviet Ukraine, Emil Draitser made a startling discovery: every time he uttered the word "Jewish"-even in casual conversation-he lowered his voice. This behavior was a natural by-product, he realized, of growing up in the anti-Semitic, post-Holocaust Soviet Union, when "Shush!" was the most frequent word he heard: "Don't use your Jewish name in public. Don't speak a word of Yiddish. And don't cry over your murdered relatives." This compelling memoir conveys the reader back to Draitser's childhood and provides a unique account of midtwentieth-century life in Russia as the young Draitser struggles to reconcile the harsh values of Soviet society with the values of his working-class Jewish family. Lively, evocative, and rich with humor, this unforgettable story ends with the death of Stalin and, through life stories of the author's ancestors, presents a sweeping panorama of two centuries of Jewish history in Russia.

Book information

ISBN: 9780520254466
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Pub date:
DEWEY: 305.892404772092
DEWEY edition: 22
Language: English
Number of pages: 301
Weight: 590g
Height: 235mm
Width: 159mm
Spine width: 22mm