Synopses & Reviews
Yiddish-speaking Jews thought Cuba was supposed to be a mere layover on the journey to the United States when they arrived in the island country in the 1920s. They even called it andldquo;Hotel Cuba.andrdquo; But then the years passed, and the many Jews who came there from Turkey, Poland, and war-torn Europe stayed in Cuba. The beloved island ceased to be a hotel, and Cuba eventually became andldquo;home.andrdquo; But after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, the majority of the Jews opposed his communist regime and left in a mass exodus. Though they remade their lives in the United States, they mourned the loss of the Jewish community they had built on the island.
As a child of five, Ruth Behar was caught up in the Jewish exodus from Cuba. Growing up in the United States, she wondered about the Jews who stayed behind. Who were they and why had they stayed? What traces were left of the Jewish presence, of the cemeteries, synagogues, and Torahs? Who was taking care of this legacy? What Jewish memories had managed to survive the years of revolutionary atheism?
An Island Called Home is the story of Beharandrsquo;s journey back to the island to find answers to these questions. Unlike the exotic image projected by the American media, Behar uncovers a side of Cuban Jews that is poignant and personal. Her moving vignettes of the individuals she meets are coupled with the sensitive photographs of Havana-based photographer Humberto Mayol, who traveled with her.
Together, Beharandrsquo;s poetic and compassionate prose and Mayolandrsquo;s shadowy and riveting photographs create an unforgettable portrait of a community that many have seen though few have understood. This book is the first to show both the vitality and the heartbreak that lie behind the project of keeping alive the flame of Jewish memory in Cuba.
Reader Guide (http://rutgerspress.rutgers.)
Review
“This work provides a provocative analysis of the relationship between modernity and state policy through the mechanism of genocidal social practice. A seminal contribution from a major scholar in the field.”
Review
andquot;Traversing the island, Behar becomes a confidante to a myriad of Jewish strangers. Through one-on-one interviews and black-and-white images taken by her photographer, Humberto Mayol, she uncovers the diasporic thread that connects Cuban Jews....This diligent recounting and pictorial collage of interviews with adolescents, the aging, the impoverished and the political by Behar preserves in memory the people and places that make up Cuba's Jewish story.andquot;
Review
andquot;Hidden Genocides is a penetrating scholarly searchlight illuminating an important and previously obscured landscape.andquot;
Review
andquot;By problematizing, both theoretically and empirically, the canon of genocide studies, thisand#160;collection makes an important contribution to an underdeveloped field.andquot;
Review
"Genocide as Social Practice makes its English language debut after successful publication in its original Spanish. Feierstein provides a critical analysis of the genocidal policies of Nazi Germany and the Argentine junta. Feierstein shows that the terror brought forth by the junta, often referred to as the 'dirty war,' shared many goals with the terror of perpetrators of the Holocaust. Feierstein has established himself as a go-to voice on the Argentine genocide, which is solidified here. Recommended."
Review
andquot;Hidden Genocides is a timely collection of critical essays that effectively engages scholars in rethinking the way we conceptualize, approach, and teach genocide studies. A must-read for a wide-range of scholars.andquot;
Review
"[An] outstanding contribution to Caucasus studies. Richmond makes an important contribution to the understanding of the contemporary problems in the Caucasus, one that suggests that the deep-rooted wounds of the past do not cure themselves and do not simply go away with time but are still waiting to be resolved, even after a century and a half. All students and scholars, as well as policy makers, interested in the history and contemporary politics of the Caucasus will benefit from reading this excellent study."
Review
"Richmond provides a well-researched history of the deportation and destruction of the Circassians. This guide to the destruction of the Circassians, an often-overlooked tragedy, is valuable for a wide range of audiences. Recommended."
Review
"Richmond's work is a ground-breaking contribution to the history of Russia, the Caucasus, and genocide. For the first time it sheds light on this hidden tragedy on the frontier between Russia and the Middle East."
Review
andquot;Hinton, La Pointe, and Irvin-Erickson offer a useful prism through which to examine and weigh conventional accounts of genocide. It reveals cover-ups and makes the invisible visible.andquot;
Review
"Walter Richmond's The Circassian Genocide is a timely work that masterfully investigates the ninteenth-century Russian policies over the Circassian lands, shedding light on one of the least-known and first genocides of modern history."
Review
andquot;Hidden Genocides collection is an essential guide to the latest scholarship on genocide studies from an international and comparative perspective.andquot;
Synopsis
As a child growing up in Cambodia, Ronnie Yimsut played among the ruins of the Angkor Wat temples, surrounded by a close-knit community. As the Khmer Rouge gained power and began its genocidal reign of terror, his life became a nightmare. In this stunning memoir, Yimsut describes how, in the wake of death and destruction, he decides to live.
Escaping the turmoil of Cambodia, he makes a perilous journey through the jungle into Thailand, only to be sent to a notorious Thai prison. Fortunately, he is able to reach a refugee camp and ultimately migrate to the United States, where he attended the University of Oregon and became an influential leader in the community of Cambodian immigrants. Facing the Khmer Rouge shows Ronnie Yimsutandrsquo;s personal quest to rehabilitate himself, make a new life in America, and then return to Cambodia to help rebuild the land of his birth.
Synopsis
Genocide not only annihilates people but also destroys and reorganizes social relations, using terror as a method. In
Genocide as Social Practice, Argentinean social scientist Daniel Feierstein looks at the policies of state-sponsored repression pursued by the Argentine military dictatorship against political opponents between 1976 and 1983 and those pursued by the Third Reich between 1933 and 1945. He finds similarities, not in the extent of the horror but in terms of the goals of the perpetrators.
Synopsis
Ruth Beharandrsquo;s An Island Called Home is a kaddish, an offering, dedicated to the exiles and to the children of the exiles and for those wandering still, searching for their homes. May they andlsquo;not be given up for lost.
Synopsis
Why are some cases of genocide prominently remembered while others are ignored, hidden, or denied? In this collection, contributors approach the question from a variety of perspectives and case studies, including the suppression of discussion about indigenous populations in the Americas and Australia, the reasons why the genocide of the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks long remained out of sight, and the violence that was the precursor to and the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Synopsis
Circassia was a small independent nation on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. For no reason other than ethnic hatred, over the course of hundreds of raids the Russians drove the Circassians from their homeland and deported them to the Ottoman Empire. At least 600,000 people lost their lives to massacre, starvation, and the elements while hundreds of thousands more were forced to leave their homeland. By 1864, three-fourths of the population was annihilated, and the Circassians had become one of the first stateless peoples in modern history.
Using rare archival materials, Walter Richmond chronicles the history of the war, describes in detail the final genocidal campaign, and follows the Circassians in diaspora through five generations as they struggle to survive and return home. He places the periods of acute genocide, 1821–1822 and 1863–1864, in the larger context of centuries of tension between the two nations and updates the story to the present day as the Circassian community works to gain international recognition of the genocide as the region prepares for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the site of the Russians’ final victory.
About the Author
ALEXANDER LABAN HINTON is the director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights and a professor of anthropology and global affairs at Rutgers University, Newark. He is the author of the award-winning Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide and six edited collections.
THOMAS LA POINTE is a member of the Center for Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation and an assistant professor of literature and composition at Bergen Community College. He has taught at the Shanghai International Studies University, China, and served as a journalist at the Institute for Central American Studies, Costa Rica.
DOUGLAS IRVIN-ERICKSON is an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights at Rutgers University, Newark.
Table of Contents
Foreword, by David P. Chandler, Ph.D.
Preface: Between Worlds
Acknowledgments: A Book Is Born
Family Tree of Ranachith (andquot;Ronnieandquot;) Yimsut
Chronology
1. Childhood Idyll: Siem Reap
2. Bamboo in the Wind: Regime Change in Siem Reap
3. An Uncivil War: Heavy Shelling in Siem Reap
4. Shocks and Surprises: Angkor Wat and Domdek
5. A Time of Plenty: Back Home in Siem Reap
6. An Era Is Ended: Siem Reap under Siege
7. An Empty Village: Kroby Riel and Siem Reap
8. A Great Leap Backward: Keo Poeur, Kok Poh, and Kork Putrea
9. The Death of Dogs: Tapang
10. Miracle at the Temple: Wat Yieng
11. Dead Weight: Ta Source Hill and the Massacre Site
12. Kill or Be Killed: Korbey Riel, Dorn Swar, and Prey Roniem
13. Barefoot Escape: Srae Noy, Resin Mountain, and the Deep Northern Jungle
14. Alien Worlds: Din Daeng, Sisaketh, Buriram, and Aranya Prathet
15. Urban Jungle: Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Oregon State
16. Back to the Past: Oregon State, Siem Reap, and Phnom Penh
17. Back in Time: Oregon State and Phnom Penh
18. Turning Point: Elections in Phnom Penh
19. Facing the Khmer Rouge: Siem Reap, Ta Source Hill, the Massacre Site, and Pailin
20. Lights: Siem Reap and Phnom Penh
Epilogue
Afterword: The Healing and Reconciling Process, by Daniel Savin, M.D.
Notes
Glossary
Index