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The Holocaust robbed them of their stories; this artist is bringing them back to life

JL;DR SUMMARY Ken Krimstein's latest graphic nonfiction book, "When I Grow Up, the Lost Autobiographies of Six Yiddish Teenagers," revives the untold stories of six Jewish teens from Yiddishuania (now Poland/Lithuania) whose writings were nearly lost during World War II. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

HolocaustVilnaYiddish CultureJewish TeensYivo InstitutePaper BrigadeKen KrimsteinGraphic NonfictionYiddishuaniaAutobiographies

Places mentioned

Vilnius, Lithuania
"More than 700 entries were submitted, then read and judged by YIVO staff in Vilna."
Poland
"these Yiddishuanian teens wrote their essays looking ahead to their future, a future we now know nobody could have imagined, and nobody can still quite comprehend: the complete and utter annihilation of Yiddishuania, its towns, its cities, its stories, its treasures, its language, its people."
Israel
"He shows how one young boy unceasingly writes letters, trying to emigrate to Palestine and the U.S. after Jews were no longer allowed to attend school."
United States
"He shows how one young boy unceasingly writes letters, trying to emigrate to Palestine and the U.S. after Jews were no longer allowed to attend school."

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