Zagare: Litvaks and Lithuanians Confront the Past
A superb storyteller, Manobla draws the reader in brilliantly as she herself transforms from someone disconnected with her past into a kind of Jewish Sherlock Holmes, uncovering the horror of the Holocaust and the heroism of a few families while harboring a sense of hope for the future. Zagare is a book that should be read not only by Litvaks and Lithuanians, but by anyone interested in the history, present and future of the relationship between Lithuania, Israel and the Jewish people. --STEVE LINDE, Jerusalem Post, Weekend MagazineThe call of ancestral voices drew British-born Sara Manobla from her home in Israel to the Lithuanian country town of Zagare, where a long-established shtetl community met its end in 1941, massacred in the town square and nearby forests. Seven decades later, her mission was the erection of a memorial in that once blood-soaked square. Although local collaborators had joined in the Nazi killing, she rejected "thoughts of revenge or a settling of accounts" in favour of "accepting, acknowledging, remembering and educating." At the memorial's unveiling ceremony, attended by the President of Lithuania, she did not back away from the sensitive issue of local collaboration, but went on to pay tribute to the heroic few who risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbours. Thanks in no small way to her efforts, Yad Vashem has honoured them as Righteous among the Nations. Manobla's book chronicles her journey from initial genealogical curiosity to a healing conclusion in which the whole town participated. Writing in a spirit of reconciliation, she brings much-needed light to the darkness of the past. Zagare has hope at its heart. It is an uplifting story. --THEO RICHMOND, Author of Konin a QuestI have just finished this wonderful book. Although not a Zagarean, I was moved to tears, especially in the last chapter of the insight and understanding. I read it almost holding my breath, although clearly knowing the outcome in general. Beautifully written, with passion and felicity. And that's not for an official comment-- just my own feelings and knowledge of how close I am to the issue after looking at my own family's past. The author is a historian who doesn't easily give up the fight to get to the truth. And yes, now's the time for latkes and tzimmes. Zai gezunt un shtark --ZVI PANTANOVITZ, Broadcaster, Kol Israel