This compelling and candid memoir by Mindy Weisel, an internationally acclaimed artist and author, traces her search to find beauty in her life, which began as a child born in the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Person's Camp to parents who had survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. This is not her parents' story, rather, it is a courageous and honest portrait of her struggle to understand the black hole she was born into. Her successful journey in becoming an artist with her own voice, and an unshakable will to live with beauty, is most inspiring. By weaving an eloquent tapestry of her art, narrative, poetry and journals, Ms. Weisel offers moving insights into her life and work, especially her deep-seated conviction that beauty and love can overcome tragedy. AFTER: The Obligation of Beauty immerses the reader in Mindy's astonishing body of paintings and glass works that explore the subtleties of color as a means in expressing emotion. The "second generation," as her generation of survivors' children are referred to, were faced not only with the tragedy their parents had endured but also with their own feelings of guilt and despair. The process of creating art not only became an antidote to the pain and suffering she witnessed and felt, but it also became an "obligation" for finding joy and love in the face of pain. Each chapter of AFTER is accompanied by paintings relating to different periods of Mindy Weisel's life - a life filled with accomplishment, meaning, love and fulfillment, personally and professionally.

This is a collection of twelve essays written by daughters of Holocaust survivors. The women -- artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, a photographer, a musician, and an actress -- have found a strong voice through their work, and their work has been both a life force and a lifesaver. The editor, too, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors; her parents survived Auschwitz. The contributors include Helen Epstein, author of Children of the Holocaust; Aviva Kempner, the filmmaker who produced The Partisans of Vilna and The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg; and Rosie Weisel, the Israeli graphic artist who is the editor's sister-in-law. The introduction is by Eva Fogelman, author of Conscience & Courage: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. A number of poignant black-and-white photographs of family members appear in this book of personal accounts of growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust. "Mindy Weisel and the other daughters of Holocaust survivors have provided us with extraordinary insights. The solemn beauty of their sagas and the triumph over the past is a gift to their parents, who survived and rebuilt their lives, and to those millions who did not." -- Susan Tumarkin Goodman of the Jewish Museum New York "Each in her own genre, these 'daughters of absence' trace -- with great skill, great courage, and great candor -- their journey from a ghost-ridden past to a fulfilling present." -- Peter Novick, author of The Holocaust in America, professor of history at The University of Chicago