Suddenly Jewish
Subtitle: Jews raised as Gentiles discover their Jewish roots
By: Barbara Kessel
Series: Brandeis series in American Jewish history, culture, and life
Publisher: University Press of New England; Brandeis
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Hanover, N.H
Language: eng
Number of pages: 130
Subjects: Jews -- Identity; Children of ex-Jews -- Interviews; Marranos -- Interviews; Jewish children in the Holocaust -- Interviews; Children of Holocaust survivors -- Interviews; Adopted children -- Interviews; Adoption -- Religious aspects -- Judaism; Judaism -- 20th century
Genres: Interviews
Description: ""What is it like to find out you are not who you thought you were?" asks Barbara Kessel in this volume, based on interviews with over 160 people who were raised as non-Jews only to learn later on that they are of Jewish descent.".

"Kessel's subjects discuss the trauma of refashioning their self-image and, for many, coming to terms with deliberate deception on the part of parents and other family. In Poland and other areas of eastern Europe, for instance, many Jews adopted by Gentiles as infants to save them from the Holocaust are only now learning of their heritage through the deathbed confessions of their adoptive parents.".

"For many, the discovery of Jewish roots confirms long-held suspicions or even, in some cases, a deep attraction toward Judaism. Crypto-Jews in the southwestern United States (descendants of Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition) find clues to their heritage in certain practices and traditions handed down through the generations - rituals that remained mysterious until their Jewish origins came to light."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references