Arnold Daghani's Memories of Mikhailowka: The Illustrated Diary of a Slave Labour Camp Survivor

Arnold Daghani (1909-1985) was a German-speaking Jew living in Romania who was emprisoned in the Mikhailowka labor camp upon the invasion of the Nazis. An artist, Daghani worked on watercolors while imprisoned that depicted life at the camp, some 50 of which he managed to smuggle out during his escape with his wife in July 1943. After reaching Bucharest, Daghani also composed a narrative of events at Mikhailowka in the form of a diary that was first publish in Romanian in 1947 and in English in 1961 as The Grave is in the Cherry Orchard (a special edition of the literary magazine Adam: International Review. This volume reproduces the diary and a few dozen of the watercolors (on color plates) and the editors (both of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies, U. of Sussex, UK) add articles discussing Daghani's artistic and literary production in terms of memory and creativity and discussing his testimony as compared to other testimonies of Mikhailowka. Also included is a memorial list composed by Daghani of those who died at Mikhailowka and chronology of his life. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)