Remembrance, Resilience, and Reconciliation in Alicia Appleman-Jurman’s and Anita Ekstein’s Memoirs

A Literary Analysis of Narrative Strategies

Bibliographic Data

ID21389839
AuthorsYakiv Bystrov (0000-0002-6549-8474, Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume73
Issue11
Pages43-59
Publication date2025-12-19
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRoczniki Humanistyczne (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0035-7707 • E-ISSN: 2544-5200
PublisherTowarzystwo Naukowe KUL (PUBLISHER • PL)
DOI10.18290/rh257311.3
OpenAlexW7116854933
LanguageEN
References cited9

The present research explores the narrative strategies that foreground the themes of Holocaust remembrance, resilience, and reconciliation in Alicia Appleman-Jurman’s Alicia. My Story (1988) and Anita Ekstein’s Always Remember Who You Are (2019), two first-person accounts of Holocaust survivors in World War II who grew up in western Ukraine (then southeastern Poland). Through a comparative literary analysis, the study highlights how each author constructs their narrative to convey the trauma of the Holocaust, the lingering resentment toward perpetrators, and the diverse ways toward reconciliation, which result solely from the complete remembrance of past trauma. The article argues that while both self-narrations share common themes of memory and the creation of a Holocaust survivor’s identity, the authors employ different narrative techniques reflecting their personal experiences and perspectives. The analysis of the core themes reveals that Appleman-Jurman’s autobiographical narrative emphasizes resilience and survival, while Ekstein’s memoir foregrounds intergenerational memory and the ethical imperative of remembrance

Holocaust survivors · Memoir · Narrative · Narrative inquiry · Narrative structure · Resentment · Storytelling · The Holocaust · Forgiveness and Related Behaviors · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Oral History, Memory, Narrative Analysis

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Open DOIOpen Access