One Generation After

By Elie Wiesel and Wiesel, Elie,

Book Overview

Twenty years after he and his family were deported from Sighet to Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel returned to his town in search of the watch--a bar mitzvah gift--he had buried in his backyard before they left.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805207139
• ISBN13: 9780805207132
• Release Date: September 1987
• Publisher: Schocken Books Inc
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

When will they every learn?

"One Generation After" came on the heels of Wiesel's novel "A Beggar in Jerusalem" which focused on the same concerns about the aftermath of WWII and the Six Day War. "One Generation After" is a series of collected thoughts, some fashioned as dialogues, others as stories, about the place of Jews in the world twenty-five years after the Holocaust. The events of WWII are very much alive in Wiesel's writings, and in the world in general, as he explores what it means to be a Jew and the place that Israel holds within the world and the factors that shape identity. Perhaps one of the most moving stories in this book is Wiesel's account of returning to his hometown in search of the gold watch he received for his bar mitzvah. Before his family was taken to the concentration camps, they buried their valuables in their yard; but upon returning to a village that is no longer the same and digging up the corroded watch, he realizes he cannot take it with him. He never returns to his village. But not all of the tales are memories of Wiesel's alone. He talks about people he met during the war and after, whose lives were forever altered. He offers his thoughts into issues of the day that still resonate in today's world. His thoughts on why Israel is so scorned by the world are insightful and sadly, dead on. And he offers a compelling explanation for why so many who survived the camps have struggled with faith. Elie Wiesel is a talented and intelligent writer, whose voice the world may never have heard if it wasn't for his experience in Auschwitz. He has spent his life as a witness, testifying to what he has seen, and keeping the memories of those who did not survive. "One Generation After" may seem disjointed and rather diary-like, but it offers great insight into the ways of the world, even if twenty-five years after the Holocaust the lessons haven't been learned. Unfortunately even now, over sixty years later, those lessons haven't been learned, but Wiesel offers hope that it is possible.