Gaps & Silence

There are gaps and silence in my story—most prominently, what is not known about the Marcovici family, in particular, the story of Brucha Marcovici.   There are also many stories of strength, survival and connection—the Weisman sisters, Speranza, Rebecca and their brother Bernard’s son Traian.  When I searched for the stories about their experiences during the war, I found silence.  However, significantly, I found stories of strength and continuance in the next generations.   For myself, I have uncovered a family history—complex, nuanced, and in my writing and in the art on these pages you have found my own family conversation.

The photo album spoke to me over decades and generations, without words because wno longer had the language. I turned over the silence in my mind, and pursued its source. Perhaps my cousin Emil Nicolae Nadler’s poem speaks more clearly of its impact:

Freedom of speech

If there’s no beauty

no truth

no faith

no love

no light

 

it does not necessarily follow

that there will be ugliness

there will be lies

there will be betrayal

there will be hatred

there will be dark

 

if words die

it does not necessarily follow

that we will have silence

Emil Nicolae Nadler