Tell the Children, Letters to Miriam

by Dora Apsan Sorell

For almost forty years after the end of the war Dora struggled to put the past behind her and placed all her energies into building a new life, a family and a career. But the birth of her first grandchild, Miriam, reawakened in her the memories that had laid barely beneath the surface. Dora began to realize that unless she told her story, the new generation, born in America, would grow up not knowing anything about their past, their ancestors, the traditions they followed in a small town in Northern Transylvania, the destruction brought by the Holocaust, and the oppressive life in post-war communist Romania. Dora began to write letters to Miriam whenever something in the present evoked images from the past. Each letter is a vignette, a story about people she has known, family members who have disappeared, events she has witnessed and places she has been. What emerged after a few years was the chronicle of a Jewish family against the backdrop of the main historical events of 20th century Europe.

Genres: Nonfiction, Holocaust

324 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

Reviews

[Amy]

I got this book at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. back in 2003. The author Dora Apsan Sorell was there autographing the books. She was such a sweet lady and had an amazing story to tell I couldn't resist buying her book. I look forward to reading it.

[Chauna R.]

Such an amazing book. A must read!!!!

[Sally]

A family member's co-worker (who happens to be Dora's grandchild, Gabriel, mentioned in this book) loaned us Tell the Children, Letters to Miriam.

In short, Tell the Children contains Dora Apsan's memories of life before, during, and after WWII, retold in loving letters to her granddaughter, Miriam (later to include all her grandchildren, and ultimately all readers of her published book). Each letter begins with a current event in the 1980s that triggers a memory of Dora's: growing up and coming of age among her family's Jewish extended family and community in Romania, loss of the same as she passes through the gates of Auschwitz, and struggles of rebuilding of her life under communist Russia, Brazil, and the United States.

Seven times Dora started her life over! Each time she overcame physical and mental turmoil, language barriers, and her quest for family and a sense of belonging. Her letters reveal her strength of character and offer personal encouragement for readers. Yet, tucked in-between the lines of hardship are gems of love, faith, and charity.

I especially enjoyed Dora's insert of her father, Herzl Apsan's writing:

Whole camps, just like the pillar of cloud in the days of our Teacher Moses, travel through distant places and strange lands, all covered by the stars in the sky; nobody knows whence they come and where they go so late in the night" (p 208).

Read the entire piece in the book. It's truly poetic and such a treasure. Her father was believed to have been led to the crematorium along with her mother, brother, and other relatives and neighbors, shortly after being separated from Dora at the gates of Auschwitz.

Because these events are told to her grandchild, they are told with tender love. Some readers note Dora's letters are less gruesome than other Holocaust stories. But perhaps it is the baton of hope for her grandchild's future in which relays her past with great love and humanity.

Many thanks to my family member's co-worker, Gabriel, for the loan of his book, and to his grandmother and family for sharing these letters with the world. I highly recommend Tell the Children, Letters to Miriam. Dora Apsan Sorell's book is a must read for those who wish to know about the Holocaust.

[Joanne Kwan]

Dora once visited my high school to speak. She told us a few of the stories recounted in her book. Despite the difficult subject matter, her words were filled with warmth, as a grandmother imparting wisdoms to her grandchildren. This book is no different. Each section is a vignette and because of the style of writing, it's intimate and familiar. It's as if one stumbled across one's own family letters, which is its greatest aspect. Statistics and large numbers breed apathy, but that can be mitigated when there is a human connection to the loss, putting faces and emotions to the numbers. As survivors of one of the darkest times in human history pass on, it's critical to preserve their accounts, lest we forget. Even now, 15 years since her visit, I still remember the name Dora Apsan Sorell.

[Mary G]

This book was beautifully done with each chapter being a letter to her granddaughter. It was a difficult story to hear but didn't have all of the gruesomeness of some other holocaust books. It was so uplifting to see what she survived and what she became despite of al of the horror in her life.

[Nicole Donald]

I think this was a very good book. The desciptions of everything were really interesting, and I learned a lot of stuff I didn't know. It was very easy to read. I'm glad that there was a map, so I didn't have to go for an atlas every five minutes. A pronounciation guide would also have been helpful, because I'm fairly certain that I butchered a lot of those Romanian names. I'm just amazed at the detail of everything.

[Amy]

A friend gave me this book to read, after I returned home from traveling to Poland and visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau. Most of all, however, I learned about what it was like to live in Communist Romania after the war, and all of its limitations and frustrations.

Dora Sorell does a great job telling about her life and history, and has done us all a great service by sharing her story with us.

[Beth]

This was a different perspective of WWII that I hadn't read before. I would have given it a higher rating, but I kept getting confused on who was who and therefore had a hard time getting into the other characters. Amazing story - I'm glad I read it.

[Becky]

I heard the author speak at our high school last year. Her Holocaust story was spell binding. In an auditorium full of teenagers, there was no whispering, shuffling, snickering, or cell phones. You could hear a pin drop.

[Amy]

Good book. Inspiring. It's more touching, when you've meet the author.

[Farkas Library]

29 mc9