The full impact of the Shoah cannot be fully known because so many people’s stories have been lost. Many of them will never be told, but some, though fading, are still available and waiting to be inscribed. It has been a singular blessing to be involved in recording this one.
—Kim Dana Kupperman
Clarksville, Maryland
A NOTE ABOUT THE SPELLING OF NAMES AND WORDS
PLACE NAMES
Poland / Czech Republic
The German place name Teschen is used for a city that now comprises two towns, one Polish (Cieszyn), the other Czech (Český-Těšín, also called, colloquially, Czech Teschen).
The Polish or Czech place and street names are used for, respectively, Cieszyn and Český-Těšín. This permits readers who visit the area to more easily navigate the streets mentioned in the narrative. However, I’ve omitted the abbreviation ul. (short for ulica, the Polish word for “street”), which precedes most Polish street names.
For the Olza River, the Polish name is used because locals call/called it the Olza, regardless of the speaker’s nationality.
Soviet Union / Central Asia / Iran
Place names in the former Soviet Union, Central Asia, and Iran are spelled according to American English used in online sources (i.e., Google maps).
Street names in Tehran and Shemiran are those used before the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
TRANSLITERATION OF WORDS FROM FARSI
If a word used in Farsi, Persian, or Arabic appears in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (e.g., kebab), that spelling is used. Otherwise, transliterations of Farsi words are italicized, and spelled according to the following sources:
Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij: for names of most Persian dishes mentioned in the narrative
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, edited by David Yeroushalmi: for words and names particular to Persian Jews
Esther’s Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews, edited by Houman Sarshar: for words and names particular to Persian Jews
Encyclopedia Iranica (online): general words and names not found in any of the above sources
NOTES ON TESCHEN
THE TOWN OF TESCHEN, today called by its Polish name, Cieszyn, is located on both sides of the Olza River and sits at the bottom of the western Silesian foothills, in the Beskidy Mountain region. Teschen is the heart of the historical region called Teschen Silesia, the southeastern-most part of Upper Silesia. From 1653 until the end of the First World War in 1918, Teschen was the capital of the Duchy of Teschen, a territory of the Habsburg Empire. Prior to 1653, the town was called by its Polish name, Cieszyn, and was governed by the Polish Piast Dynasty. In 1920 Cieszyn Silesia was divided between the two newly formed republics of Poland and Czechoslovakia, with the smaller western suburbs of Teschen becoming part of Czechoslovakia as a new town called Český-Těšín. The larger part of the town joined Poland as Cieszyn. Three bridges connect the two towns.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MANY PEOPLE ASSISTED WITH THE MAKING of this book. Most important were the contributions from the family members descended from the Eisner and Kohn families of Teschen and the Cohen family from Iran.
For reading drafts and making wise editorial suggestions and/or for contributing photos, reminiscences, conversation, expressions of goodwill, and generous, unparalleled kindness and hospitality, I thank: Joan and Edward Cohen, Denise and Houshang Soufer, Doritte and Alfred Cohen, Tricia and Jason Pantzer, Lisa and Richard Cohen, Virginie and Mark Cohen, Negar and David Soufer, Lina and Farshid Pournazarian, Sima and Ramin Azadegan, Oriana and David Fink, Diandra Cohen, Amanda Pantzer, Lauren Pantzer, Caroline Pantzer, Aria Pournazarian, Tina Pournazarian, Kayla Pournazarian, Daniel Azadegan, Dana Azadegan, Matthew Soufer, Yasmin Soufer, Susan and Iraj Cohen, Farideh and Dr. Massoud Cohen-Shohet, Farhad Kohanim, Philippe Cohanim, Simin Nemen, David Foruzanfar, Ebrahim Victory, David Eshagian, Rhonda Soofer, Karen and Roger Kohn, Pedro Kohn, Janie and George Emerson, Rita and Steven Emerson, Silvia and Efraim Halfon, Claudio Uberti, Livia and Rodolfo Cassini, Marina Uberti, Eva Szuscik, Silvie Szuscik, Beata Szuscik, Margaretha Talerman, Dokhi Monasebian, Beatrice Simkhai, and Benny Simkhai.
Those outside the family who contributed time and expertise to this project include: Ronnie Ross and Nayelis Guzman; Philip Warner and his team at Family Archive Services, with particular gratitude to the persistent and lovely Ewa Pękalska; the family of Eric Better (with special mention to Erica [Better] Heim); Colonel Kris Mamczur; Sean Carp; Igor Derevyaniy at the National Museum and Memorial to the Victims of Occupation in Lviv; Professor Janusz Spyra and the Muzeum Śląska Cieszyńskiego in Cieszyn; Rabbi Zvi Dershowitz; Rabbi Yoni Greenwald; Daniel Tsadik; Richard Pipes; Carol Leadenham, Irena Czernichowska, and Maciej Siekierski of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; staff of the national archives in Prague; my friends and colleagues Penelope Anne Schwartz, Mary Lide, Eugenia Kim, Rachel Basch, Howard Norman, Baron Wormser. My husband, Sami Saydjari, provided unconditional love and support as I finished this novel.
Finally, this book would not have been possible without the work of other writers, chroniclers of the war, and historians specializing in the Shoah, the Gulag, military aspects of the two world wars, Poland, and Iran. I am particularly humbled by those survivors of the Gulag and the Nazi terror whose memoirs or testimonies have ensured that future generations will never forget.
For educational materials connected to this book, including a teaching guide with bibliography, as well as author appearances, please visit www.legacyeditionbooks.org
The mission of the SUZANNA COHEN LEGACY FOUNDATION is to collect, preserve, publish, and teach the life stories of men and women who marshaled exemplary resilience in the face of forced displacement, and to honor the bravery and generosity of those who provided compassion and assistance to refugees, exiles, and persecuted peoples. Proceeds from the sales of this book benefit the work of the foundation.
KIM DANA KUPPERMAN is the author of two works of literary nonfiction, The Last of Her: A Forensic Memoir and I Just Lately Started Buying Wings: Missives from the Other Side of Silence. She is the editor of You: An Anthology of Essays Devoted to the Second Person and founding editor of Welcome Table Press. For more information, please visit: www.kimdanakupperman.com.
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