Elena G. Makarova

Erna Furman was an outstanding child psychoanalyst who was a pivotal member of Hanna Perkins Child Development Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Erna Furman treated children and their parents, taught students and supervised psychoanalysts in training for fifty years. She published eight books and over 200 articles on parental bereavement, normal and pathological child development, parenting, and early personality growth.
This book is a collection of interviews and memorabilia having to do with Erna Furman’s young life in Vienna, then in an orphanage in Prague, and finally, Terezin (Theresienstadt concentration camp). The author, Elena Makarova, a Russian art teacher who now lives in Israel, was the curator of an exhibit on the life and work of Friedl Dicker Brandeis, an art teacher from Vienna who worked with children in Terezin. Brandeis died at Auschwitz. Through Edith Kramer, art therapist and author, Makarova learned that Brandeis’ student, Erna Furman, was living in Cleveland, Ohio. Makarova was excited to meet Erna Furman and discuss Brandeis’ method of using art to work through childhood trauma. Makarova thought that Erna Furman’s memories and artifacts would add significantly to the Brandeis exhibit.
Erna Furman rarely spoke about her experiences in the holocaust. In one of the letters included in this book, she explains how very difficult it is for some survivors to discuss their experiences, especially with strangers.
But Makarova was patient. Makarova and Furman first corresponded in 1988, and then did not communicate again for ten years. The DVD that accompanies the book records the initial meeting of Edith Kramer, Bob and Erna Furman, and Makarova in Atlanta in 2001. At this time Furman gave permission for her drawings and calendars to become part of the Brandeis exhibit. The 96 pages of interviews were recorded later, over four days in Cleveland in February 2002, just six months before Erna Furman’s death.
The calendar entries are almost entirely simple recitations about camp activities. There were lectures, performances, and classes. But the death of Erna Furman’s mother, grandmother, and her aunt’s transport to Poland are noted with cryptic one and two word comments. The author has annotated these entries to supply needed background. As the title implies, Erna Furman discusses the experiences that shaped her, “You can say that I grew up in Vienna, I grew up in Prague, and I grew up in Terezin. Those were my ways of growing up. Coping with life. Not overwhelmed by the holocaust but deeply affected by it.” The interviews tell the story of an extraordinary childhood and adolescence filled with uncertainty, deprivation, loss, and resilience. More than once Erna Furman avoided being transported to another concentration camp by amazing presence of mind, intelligence, and courage. Erna Furman went to Terezin with her mother, grandmother and three aunts. Erna was the only one who survived.… (mais)

Erna Furman was an outstanding child psychoanalyst who was a pivotal member of Hanna Perkins Child Development Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Erna Furman treated children and their parents, taught students and supervised psychoanalysts in training for fifty years. She published eight books and over 200 articles on parental bereavement, normal and pathological child development, parenting, and early personality growth. Recently, Kay McKenzie a member of the Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center and Hanna Perkins discovered a new book about Erna Furman’s early years and her experiences in the Holocaust.

This book is a collection of interviews, and memorabilia having to do with Erna Furman’s young life in Vienna, then in an orphanage in Prague, and finally, Terezin (Theresienstadt concentration camp). The author, Elena Makarova, a Russian art teacher who now lives in Israel, was the curator of an exhibit on the life and work of Friedl Dicker Brandeis, an art teacher from Vienna who taught Erna Furman in Terezin. Brandeis died at Auschwitz. Through Edith Kramer, art therapist and author, Makarova learned that Erna Furman, Brandeis’ student was living in Cleveland, Ohio. Makarova was excited to meet Erna Furman and discuss Brandeis’ method of using art to work through childhood trauma. Makarova thought that Erna Furman’s memories and artifacts would add significantly to the Brandeis exhibit.

Erna Furman rarely spoke about her experiences in the holocaust. In one of the letters included in this book, she explains how very difficult it is for some survivors to discuss their experiences, especially with strangers.

But Makarova was patient. Makarova and Furman first corresponded in 1988, and then did not communicate again for ten years. The DVD that accompanies the book records the initial meeting of Edith Kramer, Bob and Erna Furman, and Makarova in Atlanta in 2001. At this time Furman gave permission for her drawings and calendars to become part of the Brandeis exhibit. The 96 pages of interviews were recorded later, over four days in Cleveland in February 2002, just six months before Erna Furman’s death.

The calendar entries are almost entirely simple recitations about camp activities lectures, performances, and classes, but the death of Erna Furman’s mother, grandmother, and her aunt’s transport to Poland are noted with cryptic one and two word comments. The author has annotated these entries to supply needed background. As the title implies, Erna Furman discusses the experiences that shaped her, “You can say that I grew up in Vienna, I grew up in Prague, and I grew up in Terezin. Those were my ways of growing up. Coping with life. Not overwhelmed by the holocaust but deeply affected by it.” The interviews tell the story of an extraordinary childhood and adolescence filled with uncertainty, depravation, loss, and resilience. More than once Erna Furman avoided being transported to another concentration camp by amazing presence of mind, intelligence, and courage. Erna Furman went to Terezin with her mother, grandmother and three aunts. Erna was the only one who survived.… (mais)