“Although we must be on guard against the picture-book cliches of the shtetl world…what cannot be denied is that it was a complete world”
there are glimpses documents an extended conversation between Paula Kolar, Curator of Contemporary Practices at Holocaust Centre North, and Martin Kapel, Holocaust survivor, reflecting on and commemorating shtetl life.
In Yiddish, shtetl is the diminutive/small version of a shtot (city). Beyond its literal meaning, it evokes a lost way of life for Eastern European Jews, before shtetl were destroyed and their inhabitants killed in the Holocaust.
After the Holocaust, with so few survivors able to share their first-hand experiences, shtetl life and culture were increasingly romanticised. In popular media and collective memory, what remains is often an idealised vision of the past. This zine is conscious of that history, offering only glimpses.
Martin’s survivor story is available on our website here.
Preview a sample of the zine below:
Please note there are limited copies of this zine available for purchase.
Product Details:
- Publisher: Holocaust Centre North
- Published: April 2023
- Product Type: Zine
- Length: 26 pages