Troubled Memory, Second Edition: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana (Second Edition, with a New Preface by the Author)

Lawrence N Powell

Book cover for Troubled Memory, Second Edition: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana (Second Edition, with a New Preface by the Author)
Book cover for Troubled Memory, Second Edition: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana (Second Edition, with a New Preface by the Author)

Troubled Memory, Second Edition: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana (Second Edition, with a New Preface by the Author)

Troubled Memory, Second Edition: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana (Second Edition, with a New Preface by the Author)

Lawrence N Powell

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Description
This powerful book tells the story of Anne Skorecki Levy, a Holocaust survivor who transformed the horrors of her childhood into a passionate mission to defeat the political menace of reputed neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. The first book to connect the prewar and wartime experiences of Jewish survivors to the lives they subsequently made for themselves in the United States, Troubled Memory is also a dramatic testament to how the experiences of survivors as new Americans spurred their willingness to bear witness. Perhaps the only family to survive the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto as a group, the Skoreckis evaded deportation to Treblinka by posing as Aryans. The family eventually made their way to New Orleans, where they became part of a vibrant Jewish community. Lawrence Powell traces their dramatic odyssey and explores the events that eventually triggered Anne Skorecki Levy's brave decision to honor the suffering of the past by confronting the recurring specter of racist hatred.

Critical Reviews

"Powell tells this tale with wonderful narrative grace and moral force. He deftly explores ethical compromises and nuances."--Walter Isaacson, Time

"A harrowing book. . . . Combines the sweep of history with the intimacy of memoir."--Chicago Tribune

"This is a beautifully written, deeply researched, and heart rending narrative of the events triggered by a chance meeting between a Holocaust survivor and David Duke in 1989. . . . Powell is to be commended for this generally insightful analysis."--American Historical Review

"Troubled Memory is the riveting story of a not particularly famous woman, Anne Levy, and the ways history shaped her life. . . . [It] is a good example of a piece of writing that proves that 'history matters.' . . . A fine piece of historical scholarship on both Poland and the United States and on the larger context of Jewish history. . . . A story of an American hero . . . . Worthwhile reading for anyone interested in using personal history to analyze larger events, Troubled Memory is also an inspiring story about standing up against evil."--Journal of American History

"A vivid story. . . . [Powell] has succeeded in capturing a fascinating slice of American history along with providing a vivid portrait of how racist demagogues can succeed if alert citizens and watchdog groups remain silent."--Jewish Book World

"A formidable scholarly and narrative achievement. . . . Wondrous proof of the transferability of historical skills. . . . [Powell's] retelling is brilliant. . . . Even readers who are knowledgeable about the Holocaust should be warned: Troubled Memory has the power to sting."--American Jewish History

"Powell . . . is that all too rare and happy combination -- a careful scholar and a gifted stylist. The tale he relates is by turns heart-rending and inspiring, but at all times fascinating."--Mobile Register

"An important and riveting book."--CHOICE

"Compelling. . . . Superb. . . . Powell mediates on the behaviour of survivors burdened with traumatic memories, considering the ways in which they have confronted their pasts and the consequences of repressing them. . . . Successfully ties the story of one family to the need for vigilance against the likes of Duke."--Journal of American Studies

"The majority of this long, intricate, and compelling narrative follows the Skoreckis from near extinction to a new life as successful émigreés in New Orleans. . . . Powell's analysis of Duke's meteoric career is the most sophisticated account yet published, and sure to be the benchmark for scholars who revisit the 1991 gubernatorial election. . . . Powell illuminates an epic story of trauma and recovery through the lives of everyday people, anything but ordinary"--Louisiana Cultural Vistas

Publishing Information

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Pub date: 2019-02-01
Length: 622 pages

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