Shush! Growing up Jewish under Stalin: A Memoir

by Emil Draitser

Book Overview

Many years after making his way to America from Odessa in Soviet Ukraine, Emil Draitser made a startling discovery: every time he uttered the word "Jewish"―even in casual conversation―he lowered his voice. This behavior was a natural by-product, he realized, of growing up in the anti-Semitic, post-Holocaust Soviet Union, when "Shush!" was the most frequent word he heard: "Don't use your Jewish name in public. Don't speak a word of Yiddish...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B09QF5K32F
• ISBN13: 9798502345538
• Release Date: January 2022
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Shush!

I highly recommend Shush!. My whole book group loved it. The book is a wonderful window into exactly what was going on in the USSR during the 1950's under Stalin. It is a first hand account from a child's point of view, fresh and unobscured by pre-existing adult ideas. I loved that the book talked about how the atmosphere of our childhood affects who we become as adults. Draitser's childhood was a confusing mix of a loving Jewish family, who were obviously viewed with distain by Stalin's Russia. In our book club we talked about how Emil's parents did not contradict what school and Young Pioneers was teaching him in order to protect him from abuse. His parents were obviously very intelligent and very brave.

Identity

Emil Draitser's Shush! gives a first-person voice to the many Jewish emigres from what we know as the former Soviet Union. Having spoken to some of these emigres I've learned that what they take for granted we can only imagine. But with the help of Shush! and similar books (and they are few and far between) we can get a clearer picture. Much of what we know about life under Stalin comes from the survivors of members of the Soviet elite which was gradually consumed by Stalin's orders. Their stories are history with a capital H. However, history does not just belong to historical figures, but to all of us. Shush! tells the story of a family with out those connections, a family that was mostly able to stay under the radar screen. The family offered a refuge, which vanished when one left the apartment and went to school or work or shopping... But this is also the story of growing up and finding one's identity. Emil struggled to create an identity in the face of unremitting anti-Semitism and Russification. Russia's culture with its literary and other heavyweights was seductive for good reason. Emil's Jewish identity was hidden by the Soviet system at every turn. Until Emil left the Soviet Union, he knew almost nothing about his Jewish background. American Jew's face a similar struggle to hold onto to their Jewishnesses in the face of American culture compounded by ignorance or superficial knowledge of their own heritage. This struggle for learning who we are applies to all of us. Although there is nothing new about cultures swallowing each other up, when a culture disappears a tear is shed. Shush! is a universal story about how the past and present speak to each other. And the fact that it can be written is a sign of hope. Thank you, Emil Draitser!

Fascinating and Insightful Portrait of Persecution

This is an eye-opening memoir. It is a compelling story. It provides a rare insight into not just the tragedy of the persecution of the Jewish people in the Soviet Union after World War II (and for centuries before by the Russians), but also gives a rare glimpse into the often bitter harshness of post-World War II life in the Soviet Union under Stalin's regime. Must reading.

Growing up . . Despite Stalin

Imagine a young Jewish boy now an adult, who still utters the word "Jewish" only sotto voce. The subtitle of Emil Draitser's heartwarming and heartbreaking memoir Shush! Growing up Jewish Under Stalin explains why. Multiply the ordinary difficulties of childhood and adolescence exponentially to comprehend what happened to Jewish families (not to mention others) in Russia. Certainly this book will strike a chord with readers who have had similar experiences. And perhaps these readers with direct experience of the atrocities of the Stalinist regime will need as much courage to read it as the author must have had to write it--people are generally inclined to relegate painful memories to the past and avoid resurrecting them. It has obviously taken the author years to sort through the dire circumstances of his childhood and to reclaim his identity and roots--an affirmation of the strong values that somehow survived and a credit to his parents and extended family. In circumstances that could justifiably bring out the worst in people, what shines through in this family are pride, dignity, and principles. Draitser's visual and well-paced writing balances the sad with the humorous. His descriptions of his parents' mannerisms made me laugh out loud. But then, the opposite effect occurs; for example, there's a photo of a young couple--the author's aunt and uncle, the parents of three small children--looking bright-eyed, and, one imagines, forward to life--and suddenly you read that the entire family perished! I am not Russian or Jewish. I was not raised in a repressed society or discriminated against. But this book has a much broader appeal--don't be fooled by the title. It also reminds us how profoundly marked we are by our childhood impressions, and evokes anyone's painful first days as a young school pupil. Jewish, Russian, black, white, Asian, whatever--kids are mean! My mother occasionally packed leftover "ethnic" food in our lunch boxes. This never failed to attract the attention and derision of the kids sitting nearby eating their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We begged our mother to please stop packing the stuff. It's no fun being the brunt of jokes. This is a fine memoir, well-written and courageous--an inspiring book for readers of all backgrounds and ages.

Prejudice....and Pride

Shush is Emil Draister's memoir of growing up a Jew, in Russia , during Stalin's time. It is the story of a boy's search for pride in his Jewish identity. Historical events are seen through the eyes of the author, a member of the "Young Pioneers", indoctrinated in communist propaganda, and through his parents and family, as they try to survive under a Russian regime threatening to Jews. Draitser, as a child, unquestioningly accepts his inferior status. He looks different, his name is unusual and he is the victim of his classmates' cruelty and, as a voracious reader, finds even his favorite authors portraying Jews as evil. I felt his pain, his parents' fears, and the specter of prejudice-something I never experienced growing up in U.S. as an American-born, Russian, non-religious Jew in the 1950's and 1960's. This was the first book that ever made me laugh out loud. Draitser mixes humor, poetry, prose and suspense, enveloping the reader in the culture and events of Russia , particularly Odessa in the 1940's and early 1950's. In addition, the stories of the author's grandparents give the reader insight into Jewish life during pre-revolutionary Russia , from where my own father and grandfather fled. It is a must read for every Jew born in this country, practicing or not, yet it also goes beyond the Jewish experience. It is a story for everyone who has been the victim of prejudice.