What Savta Told Me (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781954176768)

The book follows two families, one a family of Italkim (Italian Jews) back to the 17th century and perhaps earlier; the other an Austro-Hungarian family dating back to 1875. It is a story of deep-rooted traditions, perseverance and rebirth. The author says that the book was written because, although her parents lived through horrific times, they never spoke of them. Growing up in Israel in the late fifties and early sixties, she learned at school about the Jewish partisans and their heroic operations, but very little about the atrocities of the Shoah. She now feels strongly about it and wants her grandchildren to know what being Jewish meant in other times and places. Chapters cover the Levantine connection, Kalonimus, the Spanish connection, the Italian Shoah, Switzerland, and the family in Israel and Montreal. The book uses archival documents to shed light on the family stories, and includes family heirlooms, information about traditions and holidays, and family recipes. It is illustrated throughout.