Keepers of Memory

Jennifer Rich is director of the Rowan Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and assistant professor of sociology at Rowan University in New Jersey.

With each passing of another survivor of the Holocaust, a void is left in our collective memory. Rich (Rowan Univ.), a sociologist and scholar of the Holocaust, seeks to overcome this loss by providing readers with a vivid account of generational memory in her new study, Keepers of Memory. In this thought-provoking work, she seeks to explain how parents and grandparents conveyed the horrors of the Holocaust to their children and grandchildren in order to maintain a link between past and present. Given that memory is fragile and that memories fade over time, the author rightly believes that it is imperative to save those recollections that are conveyed to second- and third-generation survivors to remind future generations of the horrors of the past. Rich designates this as post memory, namely, memory separated by generational distance from the events recalled. Maintaining those post-memory accounts is crucial in order to communicate experiences and memories between survivors and their descendants. Keepers of Memory is an important source for understanding how our collective memories sustain our firsthand knowledge of the Holocaust. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

• IntroductionPart IChapter 1: Understanding My RoleChapter 2: Holocaust Memory in SocietyPart IIChapter 3: Storytelling, Silences, and DreamsChapter 4: The Inheritance and Ownership of MemoryChapter 5: Religion and Family LifeChapter 6: CommemorationConclusion