BROADCASTS.com

b'

Novelist and playwright, Nava Semel, passed away in December 2017. There are writers that you plan to read and never do, and then, when they pass away, you regret not having read them in their lifetime. Nava Semel is one of these writers.

Her work was the first to address the topic of the so-called \\u201cSecond Generation\\u201d\\u2014 children of Holocaust survivors.\\xa0And The Rat Laughed\\xa0is a five-part novel dealing with the horrors of the Holocaust and the influence of this harrowing chapter of human history; on humanity\\u2019s relationship with God; on the understanding of human nature; on the need to forget in order to survive; and on the need to remember, nonetheless.

Here is an excerpt from the novel:

If you were going to hand me over to strangers, why did you bring me into the
world?

Where is \\u201cthere\\u201d?

Who\\u2019s going to help me with my homework \\u201cthere\\u201d?

Whose bed will I go to \\u201cthere\\u201d?

And who will be with me \\u201cthere\\u201d?

Who else will be \\u201cthere\\u201d?

Why isn\\u2019t \\u201cthere\\u201d here?

Text:
\\u201cAnd The Rat Laughed\\u201d by Nava Semel. Translated by Miriam Shlesinger (Hybrid Publishers 2008)

Links:
The Sound of Her Steps
The One Facing Us: Ronit Matalon\\u2019s Family Album
Tale of Two Friends: \\u201cBliss\\u201d by Ronit Matalon
In Memory of a Life: Aharon Appelfeld\\u2019s \\u201cThe Story of a Life\\u201d

Music:
\\u05e9\\u05dc\\u05de\\u05d4 \\u05d0\\u05e8\\u05e6\\u05d9 \\u2013 \\u05d1\\u05d2\\u05e8\\u05de\\u05e0\\u05d9\\u05d4 \\u05dc\\u05e4\\u05e0\\u05d9 \\u05d4\\u05de\\u05dc\\u05d7\\u05de\\u05d4