17 March 2007

Our ancestors' world in translation

Isaac Metzker (1900-1984) was a Workmen's Circle/Arbeiter Ring teacher as well as a Jewish Daily Forward journalist. He edited the very popular A Bintele Brief. The transplanted Galitsianer stowed away on a ship from Bremen, arriving in 1924.

He was a proponent of Yiddish culture and wrote "Grandfather's Acres," which was set in Galicia during the 1880s to 1922. His book, translated into English by Gefen, helps make the world of our ancestors a bit more accessible to those interested in family history.

The focus is on Orthodox Jewish farmers in Metzker's home shtetl of Yanovitz. The book is dedicated to his father, his sisters and their families, who all perished in the Holocaust.

I'm adding this book to my must-read list as well. When will I get the house ready for Passover if I read all the books on this growing list?

Read the review here.

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