Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World, by Jane Ziegelman

 

Publication Jan. 20, 2026

Although I had heard of the Yizkor  books, I had no real knowledge of their history. As the author explains early on, it's long. Even the Biblical book of Lamentation, I believe credited to Jeremiah,  might be considered the first example of what might be called "Jewish disaster literature". It tells of the destruction of the Temple and an era of Jewish exile. To be simplistic, these books attempt to capture the history and times as well as the individual names of those caught up in disaster. They tend to run from 400-800 pages when complete and provide the link that connects past to present and, yes, future. The objective, as directed by scripture, is remembrance. While names of those killed or passed are certainly given, they also capture a snapshot of the life these people and/or village lived. 

Ironically, I started this book just before the Bondi Beach attack, so one has to imagine that event will eventually make its way into a vizkor book. The author's focus, however, is largely on the now long-gone town of Lubomi, Poland, where many of her ancestors came from. She knew little of that story growing up but not just Lubomi but many other villages disappeared during WWII. Totally. They are remembered, however, by the presence of Vizkor memories captured in writing. While the author detours away to other places at times, her focus remains on her family's past hometown. Besides names, it includes memories of personal life, one of my favorites being the time-consuming baking of a huge amount of bread. Their ordinary lives remind us not to forget. As you read, a community seemingly erased by history comes to life. The people are no long mere statistics but living, breathing people. People who were part of the author's family.

I'm not going to detail the stories, that would be unfair to not just the reader but the subjects, but it's very human and obviously heartfelt. While I did feel the pace slowed here and there, perhaps that was actually a good thing as it gave my mind time to process all I was reading. The author's occasional detours to other sites is also a reminder that Lubomi wasn't an isolated, one time instance. It is part of history and deserves to be remembered. Thanks #StMartin'sPress for this early look at such a meaningful book.