Our Holocaust by Amir Guttfreund

By Hagit Galatzer

ourHIf you kept a diary and documented every single day of your childhood, including what you had for lunch and what you played in recess every day at school, the result would probably be a not-so-interesting grocery list. In his novel “Bishvila giborim afim” (Heroes will fly for her) Amir Guttfreund takes such a list and turns it into a delicious novel, documenting both his and the young state of Israel coming of age story. Of course this is only expected from someone that managed to write an amusing Holocaust story, ok, maybe not amusing, but not only sad. In his highly acclaimed novel: “Our Holocaust”, Guttfreund tells a young boy’s and his cousin’s quest to decipher the secrets of their family and neighbors, all Holocaust survivors that live, along with their personal demons, in a small neighborhood in Israel. In the secrets and stories that unveil, vast historical deeds are reflected through a personal perspective. You will cry but also laugh getting to know the fictional characters and their real, or almost real, stories. read more

Catch the Jew! By Tuvia Tenenbom

By Hagit Galatzer

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In the Israeli section of the Redmond library, the lower shelf is dedicated to political books, biographies and other boring books. Usually I don’t even bother giving them a second glance. To me books are a gateway to different worlds and a chance to forget my own troubles for an hour or two. But something in the cover, maybe the combination of the smiling face of Yaser Arafat and the title “Catch the Jew!” caught my attention. A closer look reviled that this is a journey in modern-day Israel, “trying to capture the inner soul of the state of Israel”… read more