In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union

FAIN: RQ-292486-23

University of Washington (Seattle, WA 98195-1016)
Sasha Senderovich (Project Director: November 2022 to present)

Preparation for print publication of an annotated translation into English of ten Yiddish and Russian short stories written in the Soviet Union about the Soviet Jewish experience of World War II and the Holocaust. (24 months)

In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union (under advance contract with Stanford University Press) provides researchers, educators, students, and general readers with a critical, annotated translation into English of Yiddish and Russian works written in the aftermath of the most significant Jewish tragedy of the 20th century. The volume recovers a body of literature whose very existence has been denied because of prevailing attitudes about the lack of Jewish culture in the USSR. The stories show that Soviet Jews profoundly engaged fundamental questions about the Holocaust: how to witness and provide testimony, how to remember victims, and how to live on in the face of overwhelming destruction. The anthology brings readers into an encounter with language, settings, images, events, memories, and experiences that are utterly distinct and yet also shared by communities everywhere that have suffered mass public violence, dislocation, and loss.