A Jewish Refugee in New York: Rivke Zilberg's Journal (The Modern Jewish Experience)

by Kadya Molodovsky

Anita Norich (Translator)

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Book cover for A Jewish Refugee in New York

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Rivke Zilberg, a 20-year-old Jewish woman, arrives in New York shortly after the Nazi invasion of Poland, her home country. Struggling to learn a new language and cope with a different way of life in the United States, Rivke finds herself keeping a journal about the challenges and opportunities of this new land. In her attempt to find a new life as a Jewish immigrant in the US, Rivke shares the stories of losing her mother to a bombing in Lublin, jilting a fiance who has made his way to Palestine, and a flirtatious relationship with an American "allrightnik."


In this fictionalized journal originally published in Yiddish, author Kadya Molodovsy provides keen insight into the day-to-day activities of the large immigrant Jewish community of New York. By depicting one woman's struggles as a Jewish refugee in the US during WWII, Molodovsky points readers to the social, political, and cultural tensions of that time and place.

  • ISBN10 0253040760
  • ISBN13 9780253040763
  • Publish Date 1 April 2019
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Indiana University Press
  • Format Paperback (US Trade)
  • Pages 202
  • Language English