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Arwen Donahue

A look at the lives of nine Jewish Holocaust survivors after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, when they settled in rural Kentucky.

At the end of World War II, many thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors immigrated to the United States from Europe in search of a new beginning. Most settled in major metropolitan areas, usually in predominantly Jewish communities, where proximity to coreligionists offered a measure of cultural and social support. However, some survivors settled in smaller cities and rural areas throughout the country, including in Kentucky, where they encountered an entirely different set of circumstances. Although much scholarship has been devoted to Holocaust survivors living in major cities, little has been written about them in the context of their experiences elsewhere in America.

This Is Home Now: Kentucky’s Holocaust Survivors Speak presents the accounts of Jewish survivors who resettled outside of the usual major metropolitan areas. Using excerpts from oral history interviews and documentary portrait photography, author Arwen Donahue and photographer Rebecca Gayle Howell tell the fascinating stories of nine of these survivors in a unique work of history and contemporary art. The book focuses on the survivors’ lives after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, illuminating their reasons for settling in Kentucky, their initial reactions to American culture, and their reflections on integrating into rural American life.

Praise for This is Home Now

“Until Donahue and Howell turned their recorders and cameras on these well-chosen survivors living in Kentucky, no one had taken the time to ask how these solitary transplants made new lives for themselves and their children in rural middle America. The stories and images reproduced in this book are both moving and arresting. We owe Donahue and Howell a great debt for rescuing them before they disappeared down the trapdoor of historical memory.” —Lawrence N. Powell, author of Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana

“Each of the stories can stand on its own as a fascinating example of what has transpired for Jews outside of New York City.” —David Wallace, Community (Jewish Community Association of Louisville)

“This Is Home Now focuses on the overlooked stories of Holocaust survivors who relocated to the commonwealth.” —Lexington Herald-Leader

The University Press of Kentucky

Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series

This is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak

Jack Wilson

Angene Wilson

Francis Musoni

Iddah Otieno

“A rich blend of narrative history, personal recollections, and heart-wrenching oral testimonials . . . powerful.” —Imali J. Abala, author of The Dreamer

With an introduction that provides a historical and theoretical overview of African immigration, the heart of this book is built around oral history interviews with forty-seven of the more than twenty-two thousand Africa-born immigrants in Kentucky.

A former ambassador from Gambia, a pharmacist from South Africa, a restaurant owner from Guinea, a certified nursing assistant from the Democratic Republic of Congo—every immigrant has a unique and complex story of their life experiences and the decisions that led them to emigrate to the United States. The compelling narratives in this book reveal why and how these immigrants came to the Bluegrass state—whether it was coming voluntarily as a student or forced because of war—and how they connect with and contribute to their home countries as well as to the US.

The immigrants describe their challenges—language, loneliness, cultural differences, credentials for employment, ignorance toward Africa, and racism—and positive experiences such as education, job opportunities, and helpful people. One chapter focuses on family—including interviews with the second generations—and how the immigrants identify themselves.

“Compelling . . . a must read for anyone seeking the substance behind the newspaper headlines and statistics.” —Frank X Walker, author of Affrilachia

Voices of African Immigrants in Kentucky: Migration, Identity, and Transnationality

Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series - The book series

Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series - The book series

Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series books in order

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