- Summary
- "Part of the Legacies of War series, The Last Letter is a family memoir that spans events from the 1930s and Hitler's rise to power, through World War II and the Holocaust, to the present-day United States. Karen Baum Gordon's gripping narrative opens on her father Rudy Baum's attempted suicide in 2002 at the age of eight-six and unfolds in an investigation of generational trauma within her extensive German Jewish family. Gordon grounds her research in eighty-eight letters written mostly by Julie Baum, Rudy's mother and Gordon's grandmother, to Rudy between November 1936 and October 1941. Gordon examines pieces of these worn, handwritten letters and other archival documents in order to recreate the fatal journeys of her grandparents in the camps and ghettos of the Third Reich and trace her father's efforts to save them an ocean away in America. Doing so, Gordon discovers the forgotten fragments of her family's history and a vivid sense of her own Jewish identity"-- Provided by publisher.
- Variant Title
- Father's struggle, a daughter's quest, and the long shadow of the Holocaust
- Series
- Legacies of war
Legacies of war.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Gordon, Karen Baum, 1956- author.
- Published
- Knoxville : The University of Tennessee Press, [2021]
- Locale
- Texas
Dallas
Germany
Frankfurt am Main
United States
Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
États-Unis
- Contents
-
Dallas, 2002
Frankfurt before 1933
Germany and America, 1933-1936
Frankfurt and New York, Late 1936
Frankfurt and New York, Early 1937
Frankfurt and New York, Late Spring and Summer 1937
Germany, 1937
Zurich and Frankfurt, August-September 1937
Frankfurt, October-December 1937
Frankfurt, January-March 1938
Germany, Early 1938
Frankfurt and Dresden, April-June 1938
Germany, Summer and Late 1938
Birmingham, 193
Germany, 1939
Texas, 1939-1941
Germany and America, 1940 and 1941
Frankfurt, October 1941
Fort Sill, Fort Logan, St. Louis, Camp Lee, Camp Ritchie, and Camp Sharpe, 1941-1944
London, Normandy, Paris, and Trier, 1944-1945
Frankfurt, 1945
Buchenwald, 1945
Marburg and Palestine, 1945
Dallas, 1959
Dallas, 1961-1963
Frankfurt, 1972, and Dallas, 1990
Dallas, 1991
Frankfurt, 1991
Berlin, 2000, and Dallas, 2002 and 2005
Dallas and Houston, 2008 and 2009
My Search Begins, 2009
A Trip to Frankfurt, 2010
A Trip to Poland, 2010
The Stolpersteine at Reuterweg 73, 2011
The End of One Journey and the Beginning of the Next, 2013.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references.
Dallas, 2002 -- Frankfurt before 1933 -- Germany and America, 1933-1936 -- Frankfurt and New York, Late 1936 -- Frankfurt and New York, Early 1937 -- Frankfurt and New York, Late Spring and Summer 1937 -- Germany, 1937 -- Zurich and Frankfurt, August-September 1937 -- Frankfurt, October-December 1937 -- Frankfurt, January-March 1938 -- Germany, Early 1938 -- Frankfurt and Dresden, April-June 1938 -- Germany, Summer and Late 1938 -- Birmingham, 193 -- Germany, 1939 -- Texas, 1939-1941 -- Germany and America, 1940 and 1941 -- Frankfurt, October 1941 -- Fort Sill, Fort Logan, St. Louis, Camp Lee, Camp Ritchie, and Camp Sharpe, 1941-1944 -- London, Normandy, Paris, and Trier, 1944-1945 -- Frankfurt, 1945 -- Buchenwald, 1945 -- Marburg and Palestine, 1945 -- Dallas, 1959 -- Dallas, 1961-1963 -- Frankfurt, 1972, and Dallas, 1990 -- Dallas, 1991 -- Frankfurt, 1991 -- Berlin, 2000, and Dallas, 2002 and 2005 -- Dallas and Houston, 2008 and 2009 -- My Search Begins, 2009 -- A Trip to Frankfurt, 2010 -- A Trip to Poland, 2010 -- The Stolpersteine at Reuterweg 73, 2011 -- The End of One Journey and the Beginning of the Next, 2013.
