Post Holocaust Baby: Soundscape of a Secondhand Survivor

Post Holocaust Baby is the true story of an immigrant family struggling with the insurmountable grief at the loss of their families to the Nazis in World War II while, at the same time, trying to build a life in a new country. It is the story of two war weary adults, their two small children and the difficulties of caring for themselves and adjusting to a foreign culture without the succor of family or friends. It is a memoir of one family's neediness and personal angst. We follow Ronit, the main character, as she grows up and her consciousness awakens to the reality of her mother's depression and her father's violent behavior. She tries to mature in an environment where there is little love amidst the despair. She and her sister are torn apart by their parents' neglect and incapacity to nurture their children. Though Ronit aches with the family's pain, she seeks ways to comfort them and herself through music. She copes with abandonment by seeking out music, friends and educational pathways to success. Throughout, Ronit grapples with her sister's self destructive tendencies and her father's random brutality. Her mother, Lena, who strives toward a college education for her daughters, vacillates between detachment and hyper vigilance. Ronit tries to love her family despite these disturbing episodes and setbacks. In adulthood, Ronit struggles to reconcile her sister's sudden accusations against their father, while caring for both father and mother as they descend into sickness and old age. The continuing turmoil this causes finally motivates Ronit to reconstruct a personal narrative and move forward.