Kurzweil, Arthur. The Persistence of Memory: My Father’s Ukrainian Shtetl–a Holocaust Reckoning. Ben Yehuda Press, 2022, 364 pp., $24.95 pb.
Writing the Past (WTP): What motivated you to write The Persistence of Memory?
Arthur Kurzweil (AK): My father was a great storyteller, and his stories about the town of his birth, Dobromyl–in Ukraine–captivated me. Since childhood I had the urge to visit the town. The Persistence of Memory is largely about both my failed and then my successful attempts to visit Dobromyl. When Ukraine was occupied by the Soviet Union, they refused my request for a visa to visit the town. After Ukraine became independent, I was able to visit the town of my father’s birth and the other small villages where relatives lived. I also knew that hundreds of my relatives were murdered during the Holocaust. I felt a deep emotional need to visit the places where they lived. I felt it was a story worth telling. Also, I have done extensive research on my family history. It eventually became time to visit the locations where my family lived and died in Eastern Europe.
WTP: How did you develop the flow of the narrative?
AK: Each chapter in the book was written independently of all the others. When I finally said everything I wanted to say, I gave the chapters an order. In a few cases, I repeated myself for the sake of the story, so I edited those passages.
WTP: Please describe your writing process.
AK: I generally write in the morning, but I never have a set schedule. If I’m not in the mood, I skip a day without guilt. Often, when I get an idea I immediately throw it away. If the story returns to my mind, I throw it away again. It’s only when a chapter seems to insist I write it that I put it into words. I work a lot in my head. Sometimes I sit down simply to type out what I have fairly developed in my mind.
WTP: What were the challenges and satisfactions in writing this book?
AK: The major challenge writing this book was deciding how much I would tell the reader. There were, for example, many details of Holocaust murders that I learned about, but I wished I had never pictured them in my mind. Ultimately, in many cases, I decided to spare the reader. Some of the details I included are horrible enough. Others I left out as a kindness to the reader. My greatest satisfaction is my hope that others like me will be inspired to visit their ancestral towns. But I didn’t just go to the towns and villages; I made many friends along the way who I learned to have deep affection for. I want to break the cycle of hatred and bitterness, “us” verses “them.”
WTP: How has researching and writing your family’s history changed you?
AK: I stood at the very spot in the forest where my relatives were shot and killed. I discovered the house where my father and his family lived. I became a good friend of the mayor of the town of Dobromyl, and connected in a deep way with many of the children in the school in he town. It was not only Jews who suffered in Dobromyl. Many gentile families also suffered greatly. I ultimately came to see that the only response to outrageous hatred is outrageous love. Jewish genealogy has also shown me how easily it would have been for me not to have been born. Since I am, in a sense, a survivor of Jewish history, I feel a huge obligation to continue the Tradition.
WTP: You’ve been sometimes called “The Father of Jewish Genealogy.” What challenges and satisfactions does that moniker present?
AK: There are many people who know far more about Jewish genealogical research than I do. But when my book From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy was published, I received literally hundreds of invitations in the 80s and 90s from synagogues, college campuses, Jewish Federations, and other Jewish organizations to speak on the subject. For five years in a row, the Jewish Lecture Bureau said that I was the most popular Jewish speaker on the circuit in the U.S. Thousand of people across the United States heard me given an impassioned, motivational talk on how and why to do Jewish genealogical research. So lots of people began doing it because of me. In that way, I may be the “father” of Jewish genealogy in America. But again, many people know far more about sources than I do. But I’m a good researcher so I’ve had lots of success. I am profoundly humbled by the impact my work seems to have made.
(Editor’s Note: From Generation to Generation inspired me to pursue my Jewish family history and provided consistent motivation.)
WTP: Do you have any advice to those who want to write their family’s history?
AK: I’d just say “Do it now” Don’t put it off. While the records survive, people don’t. It’s important to talk with relatives who may have some clues for research. And old family photographs. I’d also urge people to join one of the dozens of Jewish Genealogical Societies throughout the U.S. (I was a cofounder of the first one.) The research other people have done will be inspirational and instructive.
WTP: What’s next for you?
AK: In the early 70s I lived in a little fishing village on the southern coast of Spain. For several reasons, during those months, seeds were planted which ultimately led me to become a religious Jew. I want to tell that story. I’m in the midst of writing it. Also, my wife and I have 11 grandchildren, so I’m suddenly an ancestor. In a gentle way, I need to pass things along to them.
For more about Arthur Kurzweil, please visit his website.
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