Dear Friends, I am pleased to announce the publication of my translation into English of three Yiddish-language memoirs (*Di vos zaynen nisht geblibn*/*Those Who Didn't Survive*, *Di antloyfers*/*The Fugitives*, and *Fun gsise tsum lebn*/*From Agony to Life*) by Rachmil Bryks under the collective title, *May God Avenge Their Blood: a Holocaust Memoir Triptych*. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work so closely with the texts of this extraordinary writer and am grateful that this book is now out in the world. There are many people to thank for helping this project come to life, and my acknowledgments in the book are extensive. In this email, I would like to thank the author's daughter, Bella Bryks-Klein, a Yiddishist and a tireless advocate for her father's work, for her support of my translation project and for contributing a beautiful afterword to this book; the editors who published excerpts from the book in their publications; all of those who responded to my language queries; the staff at Lexington Books; the scholars whose blurbs are below; and the faculty, staff, and translation fellows of the Yiddish Book Center for their support of this project. I am deeply indebted to the YBC for all they do to nurture translators and the art of Yiddish translation.
Bella and I welcome opportunities to speak about the book at virtual meetings. The book is available for purchase in ebook and hardbound print formats through Rowman & Littlefield as well as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers. The cost is $95. That is the price of academic books published under the Lexington Books imprint. I realize that the cost is steep. The only way a more affordable paperback version will be released is if there are enough ebook and hardbound sales. Please also consider asking your institutional and public library to purchase a copy. Thank you for your understanding. For review copies, please email revi...@rowman.com. <revi...@rowman.com> Thank you for your interest and support and for spreading the word. Please stay well and safe during this difficult time. All my best, Yermiyahu Ahron www.yataub.net Bryks, Rachmil. Trans. from the Yiddish by Yermiyahu Ahron Taub ; afterwords by Bella Bryks-Klein and Yermiyahu Ahron Taub. *May God Avenge Their Blood: a Holocaust Memoir Triptych*. Lanham ; Boulder ; New York ; London: Lexington Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. Series: Lexington Studies in Jewish Literature. ISBN: cloth: 9781793621023; ebook: 9781793621030. Advance Praise for *May God Avenge Their Blood* A searing set of memoirs that illuminates life in a twentieth century shtetl and the Jewish struggle for survival in wartime Łódź and in the camps. Yermiyahu Ahron Taub’s sensitive translation provides English-language readers with an opportunity to wander the same memoryscapes that Yiddish readers of Rachmil Bryks have long inhabited. –Justin Cammy, Associate Professor of Yiddish and World Literatures, Smith College *May God Avenge Their Blood* isn’t the same as other Holocaust memoirs. Rachmil Bryks describes his experiences in the camps but also offers an evocative description of the Jewish community destroyed by the Nazis. Bryks’ warm portrayal of Jewish life in Skarżysko-Kamienna reveals a society rich in tradition while in the midst of significant change. Tales of Talmud study stand alongside stories of elopement and entrepreneurship. Bryks’ depiction of the first weeks of the war, the second and longest section of this triptych, is unforgettable. Notably, Bryks describes everyone he encounters – Jews, Poles, Germans, peasants, writers, and others – with a deep empathy. *May God Avenge Their Blood *is perhaps most useful for anyone interested in interpersonal relations. Bryks’s stories often confirm the deep antisemitism among many Poles but they also show many examples of human kindness. Bryks offers no analysis or final judgements, simply a description of what happened. Taub’s achievement as a translator is more than the rendering of a text into a language more of us understand; it is an offering of a neglected source as a guide to a tragic past. –Sean Martin, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio Rachmil Bryks was one of the most talented young poets and authors who survived the Łódź ghetto and concentration camps. Author of poetry and short stories, Bryks uses his writing to recreate and evoke the beauty, struggle, humor and tragedy of Jewish life in prewar and wartime Poland. Describing the numerous members of his extended family and their neighbors, he paints them realistically and warmly and not uncritically, so that the reader becomes invested in those hardworking, talkative, pious, humorous and argumentative Jews, who were virtually all brutally and cruelly murdered by the Germans and their henchmen. This is a short, but very worthy, sampling of Bryks's writings that have not been previously available in English. Highly recommended. –Robert Moses Shapiro, Brooklyn College, translator of Isaiah Trunk, *Łódź Ghetto: A History* Rachmil Bryks's memoirs contain masterful storytelling about the author's experiences during the Second World War ranging from meeting with the famed lyricist and poet Mordecai Gebirtig to dark depictions of his days in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. He shares not only his own story but also that of countless other individuals who he encountered during the war. Yermiyahu Ahron Taub has rendered a beautiful translation, which really retains the lyrical quality of Rachmil Bryks's writing. –Helene Sinnreich, Director of the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies, University Of Tennessee, Knoxville Read an earlier version of excerpts from the book: "The Ne'er-Do-Well and the Heretic" in *InTranslation: the Brooklyn Rail*: https://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/yiddish/the-neer-do-well-and-the-heretic/ "This is How It All Began" and "Fugitives" in *Empty Mirror:* https://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/personal-essay/rachmil-bryk-memoir-translation "A Gas Nightmare" on the Yiddish Book Center website: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/language-literature-culture/yiddish-translation/gas-nightmare "At Home with Mordecai Gebirtig" in *In Geveb*: https://ingeveb.org/texts-and-translations/at-home-with-mordecai-gebirtig
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