Bliss, John. Jewish Migration.

Bliss, John.  Jewish Migration.     Heinemann (Capstone), 2012.   32p.  $29.00

ISBN 978-1-4109-4075-9  elem  VG-BNes          

     The Jews have wandered the world since before Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt and the Great Babylonian Diaspora, almost always in fear for their lives.  In this book, Bliss concentrates on four individuals who offer first-person information about their travels.  It begins with the emigration of a young Golda Mabovitch, later known as Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel, from Russia to the U.S. in 1901.  Then it continues with the true stories of German Ralph Rehbock and his family escaping from Berlin in 1938, Austrian Kurt Fuchel on the Kindertransport in 1939, and Russian Alona Poupeseva to Israel in 2001.  Each chapter contains primary-source accounts of their journeys, statistical details, a picture of their daily lives, and a view of the adult persona of each child.  Well researched and clearly written, the use of first-person accounts lends an intensity to the stories and helps readers relate to the individuals.  The text is enhanced by the inclusion of primary-source quotations, color and black-and-white photographs, and maps.  The book is library-bound and ends with a glossary, a bibliography of books and Internet addresses, and an index.

     The series is entitled Migration, and it includes titles that offer insight into the lives of migrant children throughout the world.  Books in the series cover Jewish migration, Middle Eastern migration, migration from Africa, 19th-century migration to America, and pioneer travels to the American West.

Subject: Jews-Europe-Migrations

Susan Ogintz