About the Book
Twelve voices, one inheritance
Over two years, twelve children of Holocaust survivors in Vancouver came together to write the lives they had carried in silence — and discovered, again and again, the same feelings beneath their very different stories.
Voices of Resilience gathers their poems and personal stories. Their families began in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, scattered by catastrophe and re-gathered, a generation later, in language. The writing moves through unspoken expectation, inherited grief, antisemitism, and the care of aging survivor parents and arrives, at compassion, renewal, and what psychologists call post-traumatic growth.
What began as a six-week guided-autobiography course for six writers grew into an anthology of twelve. “Through laughter and tears,” writes editor Deborah Ross-Grayman, who joined Vancouver's Second-Generation Group in 1993 and now co-facilitates it, “we marveled at the similarity in our felt experiences.”
The book carries a foreword by Dr. Robert Krell; child survivor, psychiatrist, and founding president of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre; and a historical overview by Professor Chris Friedrichs.
The Visual Heart of the Book
Two maps, one journey
The anthology opens with two maps. The first marks where the survivors were born. The second marks where their children — the authors — were born. Between those two constellations of place lies the whole subject of the book.
Where our parents began
Where we were born
Readers & communities
A moving work of memoir and memory
for anyone drawn to family history,
inheritance, and the quiet aftermath of
great events.
An accessible, first-person entry point
into second-generation experience —
with two maps that open a lesson on
memory and migration.
Educators & students
Clinicians & scholars
Primary-source reflection on
intergenerational transmission and post-traumatic growth, framed by Dr. Krell's foreword.
Who it's for
A book that speaks to many rooms
FROM THE BOOK
Words from these pages
“Until that moment, I had no idea that there was a name for these feelings.”
— Olga Campbell, contributor
“Through laughter and tears, we marveled at the similarity in our felt experiences.”
— Deborah Ross-Grayman, editor
“We offer our stories as a source of hope and the possibility of resilience in the aftermath of trauma.”
— From the afterword
The contributors
The twelve writers
Second-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors, brought together by Vancouver's Second-Generation Group.
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Fran Alexander
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Olga Campbell
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Esther Chase
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Barbara Gard
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Gabriella Klein
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Jane Heyman
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Deborah Ross-Grayman
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Henry Ross-Grayman
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Agi Rejto
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Marianne Rev
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Sidi Schaffer
-
Marg Van Wielingen
Foreword — Dr. Robert Krell
Child survivor, psychiatrist known for pioneering clinical work
with survivors and their families, and founding president of the
Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
Historical overview — Prof. Chris Friedrichs
A historical context for the stories, situating twelve family
journeys within the wider history they inherit.