One woman's national, political, ethnic, social, and personal
identities impart an extraordinary perspective on the histories of
Europe, Polish Jews, Communism, activism, and survival during the
twentieth century. Tonia Lechtman was a Jew, a loving mother and
wife, a Polish patriot, a committed Communist, and a Holocaust
survivor. Throughout her life these identities brought her to
multiple countries--Poland, Palestine, Spain, France, Germany,
Switzerland, and Israel--during some of the most pivotal and
cataclysmic decades of the twentieth century. In most of those
places, she lived on the margins of society while working to
promote Communism and trying to create a safe space for her small
children. Born in Lodz in 1918, Lechtman became fascinated with
Communism in her early youth. In 1935, to avoid the consequences of
her political activism during an increasingly anti-Semitic and
hostile political environment, the family moved to Palestine, where
Tonia met her future husband, Sioma. In 1937, the couple traveled
to Spain to participate in the Spanish Civil War. After discovering
she was pregnant, Lechtman relocated to France while Sioma joined
the International Brigades. She spent the Second World War in
Europe, traveling with two small children between France, Germany,
and Switzerland, at times only miraculously avoiding arrest and
being transported east to Nazi camps. After the war, she returned
to Poland, where she planned to (re)build Communist Poland.
However, soon after her arrival she was imprisoned for six years.
In 1971, under pressure from her children, Lechtman emigrated from
Poland to Israel, where she died in 1996. In writing Lechtman's
biography, Anna Muller has consulted a rich collection of primary
source material, including archival documentation, private
documents and photographs, interviews from different periods of
Lechtman's life, and personal correspondence. Despite this
intimacy, Muller also acknowledges key historiographical questions
arising from the lacunae of lost materials, the selective
preservation of others, and her own interpretive work translating a
life into a life story.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
