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Shulem's relatives are caught up in the Holocaust. His mother, sister
and family, who remained in Poland, are transported to the Treblinka death
camp. He doesn't know the fate of his brother and family who lived in
Hamburg in Germany. But after the Jewish Hagganah in Palestine accidentally
sink the Patria, a British deportation ship, another brother and family,
escaping from Danzig, are deported to the island of Mauritius in the Indian
Ocean for the duration of the war.
Despite all these traumatic historical events, 'From Here to Obscurity'
is an uplifting tale of human warmth, humour and solidarity in the midst
of overwhelming global forces.
Yoel Sheridan, author of 'From Here to Obscurity', was born in the East
End of London in 1928. Some years ago, whilst watching television, he
saw Joseph Burg, the then Israeli Justice Minister, on a visit to his
one-time home town in Germany, pointing to an undamaged building and saying
that that was where he had lived prior to being forced to leave Germany
due to the rise of Nazism. "I turned to my wife Tova and said how
strange. Why strange? She asked. Well, I said, I cannot visit my previous
abode in the East End of London, because it was totally destroyed by the
German bombers in world war two. Not only was my house destroyed, but
the whole street. Destroyed too, were my infant and senior schools, the
Synagogue in which I had my barmitzvah and the infrastructure of the thriving
Jewish Yiddish speaking community that lived there prior to the outbreak
of the war." So began, Yoel's research into the history of the Yiddish
speaking East End between the wars, and finally this novel that faithfully
re-creates that community and its demise, through the eyes of one family.
Yoel has lived in Israel since 1973.
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REVIEWS
Location Location Location by Emma Klein, London Jewish Chronicle,
22-02-02
"Yoel Sheridan's meticulous reconstruction of the Yiddish-speaking
East End of 1933-1945..... certainly succeeds in breathing life and vibrancy
into a locality and a way of life which, the author asserts, have largely
been consigned to oblivion, both by the German bombers and the absence
of written records.... Shulem and Rivka .... are characters who earn the
reader's sympathy. So too does their youngest son, Yulus..... However....
it is not the characters but the pulsating vigour of the East End and
the era itself which are the protagonists of what may be described as
a memoir of time and place.... The rise of Nazism and the Second World
War are major background events. Nearer home, the assertiveness of the
local Fascists is well drawn in a comprehensive description of the so-called
"Battle of Cable Street".... (From Here to Obscurity)
is a serious tale which will be of considerable interest to any student....
of the old Jewish East end."
A London Jewish world that is no more by Alexander Zvielli, Jerusalem
Post, 30-11-01
"This is a well-executed historical novel about London's Jewish East
End, covering the 1933-1945 period......Sheridan is successful in portraying
the character types that we could just as easily find in Lodz or the Lower
East Side of New York....... From Here to Obscurity is a historically
perceptive and exciting chronicle that gives us a moving fusion of history
and literature. Local author Yoel Sheridan does a good job of bringing
us the ambiance, lifestyle and nostalgic humor of London's East End. Indeed,
I found the historical descriptions absorbing."
Download full Jerusalem Post review text as Word
Document (22K)
A look back at life in the East End by Joe Swinburne, Essex Jewish
News, March 2002
"From Here to Obscurity (is) the story of a family of
Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe living in the East End of London
during the 1930s and 1940s. (It) is the base from which the author projects,
in much detail, the events of those years... The struggles through poverty,
typified by overcrowded tenement housing, low wages and frequent unemployment,
are described in a sensitive and absorbing manner... the author shows
an incredible determination throughout to include a ....detailed description
of events..... from Hitlerite Germany to the games played on the streets,
from the evacuation of children from the city to a typical seder night,
from the horrors of the Blitz to the equipping of a boy about to start
at Jews' Free School in Bell Lane - all are recounted with perception
and compassion....Yoel Sheridan has performed a service to the history
of the Jews in this country.... From Here to Obscurity is an accurate
and fascinating chronicle of life in the Jewish East End during the 1930s
and 1940s that fills a gap that has existed for too long."
An accurate portrayal of London's East End that no longer exists by
Rachel Regan, New Zealand Jewish Chronicle, June 2002
This semi autobiographical historical novel takes you through the
years 1933-45 in the Yiddish-speaking area of the East End of London.
Having lived there through these years, this book to me is a treasure.
Everything is so true and brilliantly told, I felt as though I had been
transported back there again. The friendship - menschlichkeit - of the
folk is something to recall with a sense of loss for the good old days
while family life is portrayed with compassion and made so easy to understand.
The author translates Yiddish phrases immediately - no need to constantly
refer to the back pages! Jewish traditions and holidays celebrated are
detailed so accurately I could picture myself sitting round the 'seder'
table. Looking back, life in the East End was never easy, but it was a
life where you were surrounded by caring, hospitable people........The
family life of the main characters, Shulem and Rivka, are warmly told.
Their efforts to adjust to a strange country where they didn't speak the
language, whilst worrying about family left behind in Germany and Russia,
was typical of the concerns of many of the residents. It is an accurate
portrayal of the Jewish East End that no longer exists and is well worth
a read. It's absorbing, enjoyable and so wonderfully told, that I'll be
continuing to refer to my copy whenever I'm feeling nostalgic.
 Sheltered
from the War, Ely Standard, 27-12-2001
For full review as a jpg image (155k) click on image.
Beneath the big shadow of war - Touching but funny account of an East
End Jewish family by John Rennie, East End Life, July 2003
.... It's grim, but it's funny and touching too .... it's called a
novel, but it's probably the most 'real' book about the East End of the
thirties and forties that you'll read this year.
American Association of Jewish Libraries' Newsletter - September/October
2003 by Suzanne Smailes, Wittenberg University
"Yoel Sheridan writes a novel that appears to be close to his heart.
This is a book about the East End in London during the years 1933-1945,
where forty percent of Jewish Londoners lived. The story follows Shulem,
a master tailor, and his family during these crucial years of Hitler's
rise to power, the rising anti-semitism in London, and the purposeful
bombing of the Jewish section of London by the Germans. The story follows
the ups and downs of pre-war and wartime life in the Yiddish community
of London. Shulem, his wife Rivka and their youngest son Yulus are the
eyes and narrative voices for the story. This is a well-researched and
interesting novel of Jewish life in a city that is not often mentioned
in Holocaust studies....Recommended...."
A
London Jewish world that exists only on paper by Marilyn H Karfeld,
Cleveland Jewish News, 8-12-2003
Carbon
copy of his life in Yoel Sheridan's book by Les Bentley, Cleveland
Jewish News, 15-01-2004
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HOW
TO ORDER
For orders in the UK see 1. below; for orders in USA see 2. below;
First Published by Tenterbooks 2001. Printed in the UK. UK Price £10.99
plus p&p (see
below). Contact Tenterbooks
Distributed by Central Books Ltd, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN, England.
Tel No. (+44) (0)208 986 4854.
ISBN 0-9540811-0-2
1. The book can be ordered in the UK from:
a) Any good bookshop
b) Now Available on Amazon.co.uk
c) From Central Books Ltd, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN - Make cheques
payable to Central Books. Add P&P (see g below)
Tel No. (+44) (0)208 986 4854
d) By Credit Card from Central Books. Email mo@centralbooks.com.
Please include all Credit Card details - Card Type, Name on Card,
Card Number, and Expiry Date. And don't forget your delivery address!
or Tel No. (+44) (0)208 986 4854
e) Booksellers, please contact sales@centralbooks.com
or Tel No. (+44) (0)208 986 4854
g) Postal Rates*:
UK & Ireland: Add £2.00 per book for P&P
Europe: Add £2.50 per book for P&P
World Zone 2: This includes Australia, NZ, Japan. Add £4.50 per
book for P&P
World Zone 1: All other places not included above. Includes USA, Canada,
South Africa. Add £4.00 per book for P&P
If unsure which Postal Zone you fall into please contact mo@centralbooks.com.
*These may have changed so please check with Central Books
2. USA: Henry Hollander, Bookseller, 843
Twenty-Fourth Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121
http://www.hollanderbooks.com
- Tel: 415-831-3228 - Fax 415-831-3226
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