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Missing Pieces: Stories
A collection of short stories studies elderly Polish Jews who live in nursing homes and who are afflicted by their memories of the Nazi ghettos and concentration camps
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 16, 2016
Amazingly, I am the first person on GR to rate or review this book!
This is a collection of stories about Jews in post-World War II Warsaw. Of course most Jews in Poland, particularly those in Warsaw, were killed in concentration camps. The few that escaped death tell their miraculous stories of survival. Many of them “looked German” and managed to disguise their true identities. Others were fortunate enough to somehow hide or find a Good Samaritan to help them through the war.
Many of these stories are linked stories connected by the apartment building in which these folks live. Certain floors of the apartment building function as a kind of hospital and as a ward for patients with psychiatric problems.
In one story Jews from New York come to see a local rabbi who is developing a reputation for healing. In another story, a crippled girl wants her boyfriend to convince her that the horrendous events of the war didn’t really happen.
In another story, an older man takes care of a younger man with intellectual disabilities. The older man drinks to forget. When that happens, their roles reverse.
A woman social worker and her husband pass as Germans by pretending to be brother and sister. But the brother plays the part of the single man and the German too well. He finds a girlfriend and is eventually killed after being drafted into the German army.
A woman patient dreams of the man in the room next door. She has never seen or met him but she can hear him. In another story, a woman is about to lose a second man to the same woman she lost a man to before the war.
There’s an Anne Frank story. A German soldier helps a Jewish woman hiding in an attic by bringing her food and treats. He turns out to be the only love of her life. After he is caught the woman realizes she saw him for a total of only eight stolen hours.
Three Jews return to their old village. The woman in the group discovers she can only tell her traumatic tale to the dog.
A Jewish man tracks down an old friend by phone but discovers he wants no contact with those who would remind him of the past traumas. Another man talks about “concentration camp syndrome” with his doctor.
A blind man gets a friend to take him to the old neighborhood and he relives and describes the experience as if he were still living in the prewar world.
A former Warsaw couple were fortunate to live in Brooklyn during the war. They return to Warsaw and struggle with relating to people because they did not go through the horrific events those that stayed behind endured.
A German husband and wife barter with a family of Jews in hiding. They both help them and exploit them. They call them “the sewer people.”
These are engaging stories. Some are horrific. They are very condensed: seventeen stories in less than 160 pages, so each packs a powerful punch.
This is a collection of stories about Jews in post-World War II Warsaw. Of course most Jews in Poland, particularly those in Warsaw, were killed in concentration camps. The few that escaped death tell their miraculous stories of survival. Many of them “looked German” and managed to disguise their true identities. Others were fortunate enough to somehow hide or find a Good Samaritan to help them through the war.
Many of these stories are linked stories connected by the apartment building in which these folks live. Certain floors of the apartment building function as a kind of hospital and as a ward for patients with psychiatric problems.
In one story Jews from New York come to see a local rabbi who is developing a reputation for healing. In another story, a crippled girl wants her boyfriend to convince her that the horrendous events of the war didn’t really happen.
In another story, an older man takes care of a younger man with intellectual disabilities. The older man drinks to forget. When that happens, their roles reverse.
A woman social worker and her husband pass as Germans by pretending to be brother and sister. But the brother plays the part of the single man and the German too well. He finds a girlfriend and is eventually killed after being drafted into the German army.
A woman patient dreams of the man in the room next door. She has never seen or met him but she can hear him. In another story, a woman is about to lose a second man to the same woman she lost a man to before the war.
There’s an Anne Frank story. A German soldier helps a Jewish woman hiding in an attic by bringing her food and treats. He turns out to be the only love of her life. After he is caught the woman realizes she saw him for a total of only eight stolen hours.
Three Jews return to their old village. The woman in the group discovers she can only tell her traumatic tale to the dog.
A Jewish man tracks down an old friend by phone but discovers he wants no contact with those who would remind him of the past traumas. Another man talks about “concentration camp syndrome” with his doctor.
A blind man gets a friend to take him to the old neighborhood and he relives and describes the experience as if he were still living in the prewar world.
A former Warsaw couple were fortunate to live in Brooklyn during the war. They return to Warsaw and struggle with relating to people because they did not go through the horrific events those that stayed behind endured.
A German husband and wife barter with a family of Jews in hiding. They both help them and exploit them. They call them “the sewer people.”
These are engaging stories. Some are horrific. They are very condensed: seventeen stories in less than 160 pages, so each packs a powerful punch.
June 27, 2023
Missing Pieces is a collection of short stories about the residents of a Jewish community home in Poland after World War Two. The two most compelling to me were "On The Corner" and "49 Visits". All are told with respect and empathy, and the collection is worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews