Say the Name: A Survivor's Tale in Prose and Poetry

By Judith H. Sherman

Book Overview

The experiences of a fourteen-year-old girl imprisoned in the Ravensbruck concentration camp during World War II. Illustrated with drawings made secretly by other camp inhabitants.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826334326
• ISBN13: 9780826334329
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Unm Press
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

A woman's perspective

Judith Sherman's Say the Name is a survivor's account of a teenage girl's struggle with God and humanity in Ravensbruck concentration camp during the Holocaust. Sherman, now a wife, mother and grandmother living in the United States, writes her memoir some 50 to 60 years after the Nazi's carried out their "Final Solution." Sherman's poetry and prose in this book reflect a loss of people, places and things that make up the fabric of a person's life, culture and beliefs. She is, at turns, angry and bewildered. She demands an accounting for these atrocities. But ultimately Sherman's quest for survival and her insistence on remembering the names of women who were killed conveys a sense of humanity and even of hope. This is Sherman's first book, and she is not a polished writer. She writes in fragments and one has the sense of poetry scribbled on napkins over the years and then included in the memoir. Her book is all the stronger for this.

An Important Book For Holocaust Studies And Vivid On Personal Level

We know that some people survived the Holocaust. But a key question in Humanities is the question of how someone would survive. And not just survive at the time of the Holocaust but afterwards. For the effects continue on and on. How does a person survive the aftermath. How do they go on to live a productive life and fulfilling life? This becomes an analysis of the human spirit. What can the human spirit survive? What can it do? One of the things that makes this book interesting is that it gives you a personal view into the life of a woman who was in a Nazi concentration camp at age 14 and went on to survive. She survived to have a family and do meaningful work in family therapy. Also compelling is the fact that the story is intespersed with her powerfull poetry. This is no dry read though. I reccomend this book to all librarians and individuals that have an interest in these questions.

Best Personal Account of the Holocaust I Ever Read

"Say the Name" is a compelling account of the unspeakable horror of the Holocaust, experienced by a sensitive child, who speaks for herself in retrospect as an adult. It is as if Anne Frank had survived and was recounting her ordeal with the insight of a mature woman. Fortunately, the author (Judith Sherman) did survive to tell her story as a talented writer with a special gift as a poet. The narrative, interspersed with poetry is truly a work of art. The book is the best personal account of the Holocaust I have ever read. It informs us of the resilient human spirit and the endurance of unyielding personal courage. Every literate person should read this book.

If You Read Only One Holocaust Story, Read "Say the Name"

Having read Holocaust literature by authors as disparate as Corrie ten Boom and Primo Levi, I found Judith Sherman's "Say the Name" to be one of the most engaging and thought provoking accounts I've ever read. Why another Holocaust book? Because the full story can't be told by one book or one author; six million unique stories could be written. However, if you are only going to read one, read "Say the Name." With profound, yet startlingly simple poetry and narration, Judith shocks us into the brutal reality of the camps and the insanity of the era, without trying to be shocking. Somehow, the fourteen-year old Judith remains the story teller through the voice and wisdom of the adult Judith. With poise and intelligence she describes, questions, indicts and prays us through her story. With no hint of self pity, she declines the role of victim and presents an air-tight case for the prosecution of evil and depravity. For Christian readers, the questions she poses to the Almighty might at first seem disturbing, but I found them to be an honest response to an encounter with absolute evil. Perhaps God is not offended by such questions.