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Journey
to a Nineteenth
Century Shtetl
The Memoirs of Yekhezkel Kotik
Edited with an Introduction and notes by David Assaf
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A
masterpiece of modern Yiddish literature, the first volume of memoirs by
Yekhezkel Kotik, is now available in English. Originally published in Warsaw
in 1913, this beautifully written memoir offers a panoramic description
of the author's experiences growing up in Kamieniec Litewski, a Polish shtetl
connected with many important events in the history of nineteenth-century
Eastern European Jewry. Although the way of life portrayed in this memoir
has disappeared, the historical, cultural, and folkoric material it contains
will be of major interest to historians and general readers alike.
The English edition includes a complete translation
of the first volume of memoirs and contains notes elucidating terms, names,
and customs, as well as bibliographical references to the research literature.
The book not only acquaints new readers with the talent of a unique storyteller
but also presents an important document of Jewish life during a fascinating
era. |
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"The
memoirs of Yekhezkel Kotik are a unique and invaluable part of modern Yiddish
literature and Jewish autobiographical/memoiristic literature. The lack
of availability of this work has long been bemoaned by experts in Jewish
literature and Jewish history, and David Assaf's translation and edition
of Kotik was a most welcome, and appropriately well-received volume."—Michael
Stanislawski, Columbia University
David Assaf is a professor of Jewish history at Tel
Aviv University. |
