Since Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg's non-fiction book, Needle in the Bone: How a Holocaust Survivor and Polish Resistance Fighter Found Each Other and Beat the Odds (University of Nebraska Press), was published in 2012, Caryn brought this story of the Holocaust and Polish Resistance to dozens of small towns and cities throughout Kansas. This autoethnographic book (blending memoir, history, oral history, and more) tells a tale close to home: the twined stories of two best friends -- Holocaust Survivor Lou Frydman and Polish Resistance fighter Jarek Piekalkiewiz  -- as well as Caryn's experience grappling with the weight and meaning of their stories.

This presentation at the LJCC -- Caryn's home congregation -- closes years of presentations on this book, encompassing an expansive book tour, an Osher Institute class offered throughout Kansas and via Zoom, a Humanities Kansas's Speaker's Bureau tour, and as an invited keynoter for everything from the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education to a Colby Public Library senior citizen program.

Caryn will both present her Humanities Kansas talk, "Holocaust Stories of Resistance and Resilience," and talk about what she discovered by going into far reaches of Kansas, sometimes as the first Jew people in the community met. Her experiences span the poignant, the unexpected, and even the surreal at times (with more than a little humor involved) serving -- as she joked about with Humanities Kansas -- as a roving scholar porta-Jew. Through the lens of Lou and Jarek's stories, she was able to engage with hundreds of people hungry to learn more about the Holocaust and Polish Resistance, concerned about anti-Semitism and other forms of othering, and inspired by what it means to survive and make a new life in a new land.

Needle in the Bone was awarded as a Kansas Notable Book. 

Funding for this program was provided by the Lindenbaum Fund for Holocaust Education and the Humanities Kansas.

Join the Zoom Room for this event

Speaker's Bio: Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Ph.D., the 2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate, is the author of 24 books, including How Time Moves: New & Selected Poems; Miriam's Well, a novel; and The Sky Begins At Your Feet: A Memoir on Cancer, Community, and Coming Home to the Body. Founder of Transformative Language Arts, she offers writing workshops, coaching, and collaborative projects YourRightLivelihood.com with Kathryn Lorenzen, Bravevoice.com with Kelley Hunt, and TheArtofFacilitation.net with Joy Roulier Sawyer.  CarynMirriamGoldberg.com.