(reviewed by JD Jung)
“Force is the only way to resist force, and one must be prepared to kill.”
This Israeli PhD History student wasn’t prepared for what he was about to embark on. Trying to figure out the topic of his dissertation, he wanted to avoid modern history as it reminded him of a “terrifying waterfall running with awful ferocity”. He just wanted to lead a calm, peaceful life.
However, as a married man with a baby on the way, he had to pay the bills. He accepted a fellowship and agreed to study German death camps during WWII. To supplement his income, he also worked as a tour guide at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.
To complete his research, he had to go to Poland to visit the actual sites. He was offered money to conduct tours in that country and found himself spending more time in Poland than back with his family in Israel.
Our unnamed researcher initially thought that he would be immune to the emotional effects of this history, but nothing would prove to be further from the truth. In fact, he was unaware of how these horrors were affecting him, as he began to lose perspective of everyday life. This was whether he was in Poland or back in Israel with his family.
The Memory Monster is a short, dark novel that I couldn’t put down. The translated prose is both powerful and eloquent. Though it gives us graphic, emotional descriptions of the Holocaust, the study’s effect on our researcher isn’t portrayed as over-the- top. I appreciate how he was full of contradictions, both obsessive and detached. In fact, I understood his actions.
In a broader sense, the story raises the question for readers to ponder: How can individuals and society move forward, without forgetting the past?
