'Memories of a Jewish Childhood" is a unique book. It is an American story. Detailing an almost exclusively Jewish neighborhood in the northeast during the 1950's, the neighborhood becomes a Jewish haven for arriving survivors of the Holocaust. Stories from the Holocaust abound, but this is not a Holocaust book. Rather it addresses the impact of those tales of horror told behind closed doors and the influence of those stories on the identities of Jewish children who grew up in America in the shadow of the Holocaust. It will reveal a life that most Americans have never experienced, becoming a window into Ashkenzic Jewish life and assimilation. The book is touching and terrifying, but with quite a few laughs as well. There is a lesson in every story which is suitable for young readers as an introduction to life after the war and even the Holocaust itself. Teachers in public schools have requested the book for their classroom discussions. Jewish Day Schools and Sunday schools have found a feeling, poignant aid to their curriculums. "Memories of a Jewish Childhood", written in a conversational narrative tone lends itself for a teacher or parent to read aloud. It has captivated audiences of young and old. Jewish values and traditions are demonstrated in simple everyday living. The Christian community has applauded the book recognizing that it gently demonstrates much insight into the Jewish holidays and beliefs which adds more understanding of universal Christian-Judeo practices. The book will resonate with "baby-boomers", of the 1950's era. Readers have shared that they could not put the book down and came away with much to consider and much to remember. "Memories of a Jewish Childhood" is a slim little volume that packs profound messages...a must read for people who want to feel, laugh and cry, but most of all learn.
About the Author: Harriet Ottenstein was born in Newark, New Jersey. Back in the 1950"s Newark was a crumbling city, especially the insulated poor Jewish neighborhood many Holocaust survivors and American Jews called home. Harriet details her early years, growing up in this ethnic world. She takes us to the suburbs with the question, "Did the American dream really hold the promise that Jews could move on to better lives, free from all the cruelties visited upon our people in every generation?" Ms.Ottenstein is a classical pianist-composer and a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York. At Manhattan School of Music she was encouraged by her Columbia University English professor to pursue a career in writing. The professor's comment was, "You have a voice, a style. Writers spend their entire careers trying to have one and you do. I always recognize you as the writer of anything you submit. That is a gift you need to pursue." Ms.Ottenstein continued teaching and performing as a concert accompanist, which brought her to Carnegie Recital Hall and other concert halls of note, but she never stopped writing. Entering her story, "Shav" in a Houston Chronicle competition, she was thrilled to win a prize. She then submitted another story featured in the "Jewish Herald Voice" of Texas. She went on to write a monthly "Newsletter" for her predominantly Christian neighbors, colorfully explaining the Jewish holidays and submitting stories. The column was such a success that strangers sought her out to come to the door to meet the author behind the stories...then cancer struck. She realized that many of her stories were stuffed in notebooks, handwritten scribbles...left like that, a legacy would be lost. As she convalesced she assembled and re-worked the stories that make up this book, "Memories of a Jewish Childhood". Her children and many Americans would now be able to read the documentary and memoirs of an era that shaped so many lives. David Abramowitz, Torah classmate, accepted the task of editing the book. Together the book came into being with the tremendous help of the CreateSpace professionals. Ms.Ottenstein is also a registered honors graduate nurse and the mother of seven children. A life-time member of Hadassah, she is a member of Congregation Jewish Community North in Spring, Texas where she is an active member of the Sisterhood and directs the Children's Choir. She lives in Spring, Texas, now married to her editor, David Abramowitz, CPA.