I got to know author Lev Raphael quite by accident. I admit that I was searching for friends on Facebook who were fans of Germany  and might be able to speak German. So after typing up “Germany” in the Facebook search, I found Lev. Or rather his book, “My Germany”. Intrigued, I read a few of the comments and then became more intrigued. Lev is a Jewish writer of distinction—for more reason than just publishing a lot of books—although he’s certainly done that, too. He stands as the premier writer who writes about the Second Generation, about the children of Jews who survived the Holocaust.

Sufficiently impressed and feeling some of the outlandish boldness that sometimes accompanies being a journalist, I friended him. If memory serves, I think I also suggested that I do a story on him and his book. He was open to the interview and promptly gave me the information I would need to get a copy of the book from the publisher, Terrace Books, the University of Wisconsin Press.  

An Old-Fashioned Good Read

I was captivated by this get-lost-in-good-read in a way that I hadn’t been for a long time. For one thing, it brought up things that I’d never thought about before, not even as a university student who studied German. Things like, how can you trace your family history when few if any photos exist and no one—even the ones who were alive—talked about them. Or spoke about them very little at least. I wondered what I would do, if commanded with the task, as Raphael had been in grade school, to create a family tree. How would I explain to my teacher that it didn’t exist or rather that my family tree plus a whole lot more in the arboretum had been destroyed? These are the issues that Lev Raphael explores in the book.

It’s a book dealing with sadness and emptiness to be sure, but also of hope and a return to self. And even though the book ends on a happy note, I never expected Lev Raphael to be quite as funny and charming as he happened to be when I first did a phone interview and as forgiving as he is when I had to admit—rather sheepishly—that a computer virus ate my first interview and would he mind doing a second?

A Writer’s Writer

But that’s Lev Raphael. A study in contradictions, a fascinating person, and a good sport. But mostly he’s a writer cut from a mold that has long since been thrown out, one that’s been substituted by a new mold making a new crop of writers who don’t have nearly his gift of rearranging words and making you think about things you should know about. Call it the gift of a writer who writes honestly about the Second Generation, who writes honestly, period. 

 

Explain the Second Generation.

That’s the term for those whose parents in one way or another survived the Holocaust, whether as refugees, as people hidden by others doing the war, as partisans, or as internees in concentration camps. It means you grow up with a black hole at the center of your family, with knowing that people murdered your relatives and tried—but failed—to murder your parents. This is quite literal: my father for instance survived three different attempts to kill him.

Describe growing up. When did you realize that your family was very different from other families? What were some of the signs of this?

I knew from around first grade. We had few family photos, nothing from “the old country, and worst of all, no relatives. So there was always a cloud hanging over us, of mourning, of dread, of difference.

Tell me about the experience of writing this book.

It was a pure joy, but then I’ve loved every book I’ve written, from mystery to memoir, or I never would have done it. I’m not one of those writers who moans about how hard it is to write, and how much agony it is. To me, writing is almost as much fun as sex, and half as messy.

Tell me about some of your other books—how might they have led up to you writing “My Germany”?

I’ve written other memoirs, so that helped, and I’ve written a mystery series and that was amazingly helpful because I had to follow lots of mysteries around the world to write this book.

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How was writing this book different than the others you’ve written?

Much of it was written in response to my three trips to Germany, one for research, two for book tours, so it felt very immediate in ways that other books of mine haven’t. In addition, I had to do research in various countries and archives and have work translated or translate it myself.  

Did you write while you were in Germany or wait until much later after you’d had time to think about it?

Absolutely, but not the book. I kept a journal and took careful notes every day, sometimes more than once a day, especially after important conversations. I wanted a record of my impressions and experiences, even before I knew I had a book ahead of me.

What surprised you about the experience?  

The most surprising was that I almost always felt like an American in Europe, similar to how I’d felt in France, Beligum, Italy, Holland, England—as opposed to feeling like a Jew among Germans.

Tell me about the upcoming tour for the book in Germany.

It’s being organized by the American Embassy in Berlin and at the end of October and beginning of November I’ll have two weeks of speaking in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hannover and several locations in Sachsen-Anhalt: Dessau, Halle, Magdeburg.

What kinds of responses have you gotten about this book? Did any surprise you?

I’m most surprised and pleased when Germans or people of German descent write to me and share their experiences and their responses to the book and thank me for writing it. A number have praised my “courage,” which is flattering, but it honestly never felt brave to me to write this book, it felt necessary.

How do you spend your days as a writer?

It depends on whether I have a deadline or not! If I do, I am pretty dedicated and everything else gets pushed to second place. Otherwise, I need a lot of time off to muse, which means going to the gym, drinking coffee, reading, walking the dogs, cooking, watching a good movie. Everything is stimulating in one way or another and feeds my muse.

What new projects are you working on?

I’ve been touring so heavily that I’ve decided to take 2010 off from working on a book, and perhaps 2011, too. I do a regular column for Bibliobuffet.com and also review for a public radio station in Michigan, but that’s the extent of my “work.” After publishing 19 books, I think I deserve a little time off, no?

Any follow ups to “My Germany”?

I’m going to write about the next tour as a new Epilogue to the book. I’m also, surprisingly, thinking of a memoir about my mother, very different from what I’ve written about her in My Germany. But that’s still just a very tentative idea.

You’ve also written non-fiction and crime novels. How is the preparation different for those books than your Second Generation books? Or is it?

Every book has its own path, its own pleasures and problems, and of course comes at a different time in your life. I think the mysteries are most different because they demanded starting at the end: who was killed and why, and working out the motive and means. Then you unveil the detection of the crime. But with the mysteries, I was always putting together a puzzle, and that’s part of what I’ve done in My Germany.

You’re learning German. What’s that like?

Es geht langsam aber sicher! (It's going slowly, but surely) It’s a very hard language, but I love the challenge.

What do you think makes a successful book tour?

Authors need to realize that the relationship between author and audience changes dramatically on tour. You’re no longer dealing with a private experience, whether book, ebook or audio book. The event is now public, and first and foremost it’s a performance, which means the author has to be aware of the audience, and the author must rehearse the material. To do anything less is unfair to the people who have come to hear you and meet you. I’m an extrovert, I had acting experience, and also taught for many years, so I’m comfortable with a crowd. And speaking of crowds, something authors must never forget is that it doesn’t matter whether you have five people there or five hundred—your performance has to be at the same level. And yes, when there are fewer people, you have to work harder, but if you’re not prepared to do so, you shouldn’t tour.

Talk about some of the things you’ve learned as a writer over the course of your career.

I’ve learned that writing is a very up and down career, that the things you hope for don’t always happen, but things you never expect can be more wonderful. I’ve sold my literary papers to Michigan State University; I’ve spoken at Oxford University and The Library of Congress; I’ve met amazing writers; I’ve done readings in countries I never thought I’d travel to; I’ve written books whose genesis was a total surprise to me. Sometimes it’s a rollercoaster, and sometimes you don’t feel securely belted in. And sometimes it’s like a night-time ride on one of the bateaux mouches on the Seine, with Paris in all of its lustrous splendor gliding by.

***Listen to an excerpt from the book: