Esther Safran Foer: I Want You to Know We're Still Here

This book was recommended to me by one of my teachers as a possibility for AP. I didn't end up going with it, and I don't think I still will, but I very much enjoyed the memoir.

I Want You to Know We're Still Here is Esther Safran Foer's memoir about life after the Holocaust. She describes how her and her parents came to the United States following the end of WWII, and her life following. She is obsessed with discovering her family's history. She describes traveling to Israel and Ukraine to meet with people who knew her family, particularly her father's family. She eventually is able to track down the Ukrainian family who helped hide her father during the war. Through this family, Foer was able to learn about her half sister, who her father had never mentioned. This connection to family is so incredibly important to the author.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. The family history side of it particularly drew my attention. In my religion, there is a big focus on families, and researching as many generations as possible. It was incredibly intriguing to hear her journey through her own family history, and how complicated it all was. Foer didn't even know her grandparents, who were all killed in the Holocaust. I was surprised throughout the whole story of how hard it was to track anything down about Jews killed in WWII. I think in America, we're taught about the Holocaust almost as if it's something that should be remembered, and we get the sense that it is all well documented. Essentially, it's over; all in the past and the world has moved on. I'm not sure that's the case. From Foer's story, it's clear that the Holocaust isn't well-documented. It's difficult to find family members - even just their names. And as more and more time passes, fewer and fewer people will be able to remember and document those murdered.

I was so touched by Foer's journey to Ukraine to walk the places that her family had walked. I think that ending was the best part. I can't believe the luck she had to find someone who knew her father and his family. She was able to fill in so many gaps in what Foer knew about her own father, and it was a beautiful way to end the story.

I don't think I knew anything about what post WWII was like for the Jews. Just because the Holocaust happened didn't make it better for the Jews overnight, again, a perspective that we ignore in the United States. Jews were sent to Displaced Persons camps that were sometimes even worse than the Nazi concentration camps, and were often in the very same places as those camps. The world didn't forget anti-Semitism over night, in fact it still lingers in parts of Europe, and even in the United States. Even though millions of Jews were killed in the war, the U.S. and other countries seemed hesitant to take in Jews displaced by the war. It was difficult to reunite with families. Property had been seized by the Germans and either destroyed or given to other people. Both villages where Foer's family came from had been burned to the ground by the Nazis, particularly the Jewish parts, but even the Ukrainian parts. 

While some efforts have been made to mark sites of mass graves, Foer's story tells that there is still much to do. She describes several memorials as small, difficult to find, and often unkempt.

Overall, this was a beautiful story of family and how important that family history and connection is.

I rated this book: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

PG - Foer didn't leave out the reality of the atrocities of the Germans. I would keep that mature lens while reading.