EASTERN EUROPEAN HERITAGE
Presented by Dr. Lois Silverstein, Author
A fictionalized story rich with genuine testimony, When Crying Stops gives us a perspective, both immediate and long-ranging, of Jewish culture and some possible ways for each of us to pursue a realistic, if not perfect peace.
Writing When Crying Stops: Echoes of War in Romania taught Lois Silverstein more than she expected about Jewish identity, war, and reconciliation. The seeds were planted during her upbringing in a New York Jewish family during World War II, but they began to grow when she moved to Montreal for graduate school, befriending several survivors and documenting their stories. Soon she realized that writing about the tragedies alone limited her views of what was. From looking into Jewish life in Romania during the early 20th century, she became aware that survival happens not only because fighting and imprisonment stop.
The talk will introduce “The Glattshteyns of the Bukovina”, in vivid and lively dialogue, a historical view of an earlier world some of which we now call Ukraine, and glimpses of Chernowitz, through the eyes of a young writer during the forced occupation and deportation, 1941-1944.
Registration for this talk is no longer open. You can enjoy the recording and many others on our Program Recording Archives.
A New Yorker born and bred, Dr. Lois Silverstein received her B.A. and M.A. from Barnard College and Hunter College respectively, and her Ph.D. from McGill University, Montreal, the first Ph.D. in English they granted. In San Francisco, she taught literature and writing classes at university and colleges and ran a private practice in Expressive Arts Therapy and Creativity Development.
She has written four novels, including “Daughter”, “Dol: The Crime Against Her”; a one-woman multi-media show on a woman freedom fighter and the fall of Danzig, 1939, and which she performed in San Francisco, “VALIA: The Story of a Woman of Courage”; five books of poetry; memoir, i.e., “Bloodletting” and “Crown Us with Laurel.” She regularly writes opera reviews for Operawire.com. Her newest novel, When Crying Stops: War Echoes from Romania, has just been published by KTAV Publishing House in 2024.
We extend a special thank you to Andrew R. Ammerman for sponsoring our Spring 2025 program lineup. He dedicates the semester’s learning in loving memory of Josephine and H. Max Ammerman and Stephen C.