Gypsy Tears: Loving a Holocaust Survivor
by Cora Schwartz
A beautifully written and important first novel by Cora Schwartz, based on the true story of her life living with a holocaust survivor. In a magical and haunting style, Ms. Schwartz weaves an intense love story that answers the question asked so many times since her husband’s death: “What was it really like living with a holocaust survivor?” As Ms. Schwartz carries us along in a grand sweep through Yugoslavia, Russia and Romania in the 1960s, the depth of her relationship with Rudy becomes a tragic work of art as she allows us a peek into the soul of a holocaust victim in an artful and deeply moving way.
What others are saying:
This racy tale of love, sex, and cross-cultural mysteries is reminiscent of the enigmatic relationships in Goethe's 1809 novel Elective Affinities. Autobiography and biography are mixed in often luridly gripping encounters between our Bronx-raised Jewish author and her Ukraine-raised Jewish lover, the hard-drinking, gambling, erratic but strangely steady, Nazi camp survivor, Rudy. Their "elective affinity" for each other [happens] against all the odds of differences in background and outlook . . . Even without Ms. Schwartz's breathless story telling, her Gypsy Tears would be a cliff-hanger. H. David Kirk, Author of Shared Fate and Adoptive KinshipCora Schwartz has written a provocative novel of unforgettable faces and locales that will deeply move even the most diehard cynic. She lures her compelling characters to crawl under the reader's skin and settle in for a long winter's nap. I will be remembering Rudy for a long time to come. Linda Bergman, Bergman Entertainment “So You Think Your Life’s A Movie”
A remarkable love story set in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Cora Schwartz has captured the strain of living with a survivor and trying to grasp the unfathomable. It's a film waiting to happen. Francine Silverman Radio host of "Book Marketing with Fran"
As someone who has written a memoir in novel form, I am well aware of the difficulty of this task . . . Cora Schwarz has done a magnificent job of surmounting all these difficulties and giving us a memoir/novel that is highly significant in itself, yet engrossing and fascinating. As the book goes on, I found that it became more and more compelling and so will any reader who comes to it with a mind open to the unfamiliar, but alive with vibrant humanity, as Cora and her story richly are. I recommend it in the highest terms. Do read it. It will be a powerful experience and at the same time a great treat! Maurice Friedman, Author of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Elie Wiesel: You Are My Witnesses
A moving and spirited story of love and loss, told with passion and a commitment to heal the world. Marianne Hirsch, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
I'm a Holocaust survivor, and in my childhood in 1941–1944 I went through what Rudy did. . . when I read the book tears filled my eyes . . . We have to remember it and never forget it. We have to tell it to other people and let them know how it was . . . The book is a work of fiction, but it is based on real facts. That is why I confirm that it is a very useful book, and people have to read it. Yakov Goldfedib, Holocaust survivor
About the Author
is a photo journalist and behavioral psychologist who lives and writes in South Fallsburg, New York. Her essays and short stories have been published in journals and periodicals. Her book, The Forgotten Few, was written and photographed to fulfill a promise she made to her husband, Rudy, to bring humanitarian aid to the remaining survivors in Mogelov. The Forgotten Few has been described as a small book with a huge impact. With only a few pages of text, the book presents photographs of holocaust survivors. They are images that will haunt the reader forever. The Forgotten Few is currently used in classrooms around the world.
Ms. Schwartz also owns and operates a retreat in upstate New York for writers. It was founded in the spirit of a Ukrainian writer, Olga Kobylianska, who is considered one of the first feminists in Eastern Europe. Ms. Schwartz discovered the work of Olga Kobylianska on a trip with Rudy to his hometown, Chernivitsy.
Ms. Schwartz is currently working on the sequel to Gypsy Tears. She is expanding on Olga Kobylianska’s philosophy, revolutionary at the time, that “we are all God’s children, whites and gypsies alike.” In an effort to authenticate this sequel, Ms. Schwartz is planning an extended stay in a cottage in a suburb of Chernivitsy where some of the best Roma musicians reside in peace with their neighbors.
256 pp, Hardcover
ISBN 978-0-9760896-9-8
Price $21.95
Publication Date: June, 2007
For international orders, we will send you an additional invoice for $15 for up to 2 books for First Class International Mail. For bulk orders, please inquire by e-mail first.
Listen to the story behind the story on Radio Catskill, a public radio station: MAKING WAVES, November 19, 2007.
