| Category: | Biographies and Memoirs |
|---|---|
| Author: | Mitchell Raff |
| Publisher: | River Grove Books |
| Publication Date: | November 3, 2023 |
| Number of Pages: | 236 |
| ISBN-10: | 1632997630 |
| ISBN-13: | 9781632997630 |
Little Boy, I Know Your Name by Mitchell Raff is a personal and emotional exploration of the
author's journey as a Holocaust survivor's son. The book is a powerful
exploration of the trauma and pain that can be passed down through generations
and the author's struggle to come to terms with his own identity and sense of
self. The book is divided into Part One, “A Mother's Betrayal,’ and Part Two, “The
Inheritance.” The first part is a detailed account of the author's childhood
and his relationship with his parents, who were both Holocaust survivors. The
author's parents, Moshe and Giza, were both survivors of the Holocaust, and
their experiences had a profound impact on their lives and their relationships
with their son. The author's mother, Giza, was particularly traumatized by her
experiences during the war, and her behavior towards her son was often erratic
and abusive. The author describes how his mother would usually lash out at him,
physically and emotionally, and how he would feel like he was walking on
eggshells around her. The young boy is torn from her home, whipped with a belt,
denied food, and kidnapped to Israel at the age of ten. This is the story of a
boy who has been systematically taught to hate himself and who eventually
breaks free from trauma to become the man he has always wanted to be.
Despite the challenges he faced in his childhood,
the author's parents did their best to provide for him and give him a stable
home. They were both hardworking and loving, but their demons and struggles
also haunted them. The book's second part is a more introspective exploration
of the author's experiences as a Holocaust survivor's son. The author describes
how he struggled to come to terms with his own identity and sense of self and
how he felt like he was living in the shadow of his parent's experiences. The
author explores the theme of silence and secrecy in his family and how it was
often used to cope with the trauma of their experiences. He describes how his
parents rarely talked about their experiences during the war and how this
silence created a sense of mystery and shame around their past. The sophistication
in the characters of his parents is brilliantly conveyed in this narrative. The
author describes his father as a broken man and cleverly captures the psychological
troubles of his mother. The prose is crisp — lyrical — and filled with
emotionally rich, albeit disturbing passages. Mitchell
Raff is a great storyteller who succeeds in capturing the most complex of human
emotions, finely drawing a portrait of a dysfunctional family while pulling
readers into the darkness inhabiting his inner world. Moments like when the
author’s mother sees him for the first time after she
abandoned him at an orphanage are profoundly moving — the mixture of sadness
and longing and her sense of desperation are impeccably written. Little Boy,
I Know Your Name is a memoir that reads like fiction, emotionally rich and
transporting. It is a story of being broken and then walking towards healing
and freedom, and readers will enjoy the role played by Marie in the author’s
journey.
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