On Writing

Here's an article that describes why family relationships are important and how to reconcile after estrangement.

· The German publisher of Mutterland (Motherland) has posted this message on the homepage of its website: "We mourn Edith Westerfeld – the protagonist of our book Motherland... Beyond the Holocaust. A Mother/Daughter Journey to Reclaim the Past by her daughter, Fern Schumer Chapman." #HolocaustEducation #HolocaustRemembrance #memoir #bookclub

A reader posted her story on my blog: I confronted my mother with her immensely controlling abusive behavior and sexualized attachment to me in 1986. I had to get away so desperately to find myself that I cut off everyone in the family. Lucky for me, my father corroborated my experience but since he too was utterly dependent on her he could not continue to be in contact with me. ...

    Honored to be featured in this New York Times article!  

  Siblings respond differently to parents' Holocaust trauma, causing estrangement. KEY POINTS Children of Holocaust survivors either remain enmeshed with their families or alienated from them. Parents either exposed children to personal horror stories or said nothing about their experiences. Children of survivors became “parents” to their own parents, soothing their anxieties and allaying their fears. Genocidal trauma not only kills family members; it also ruptures the family for generations ...

  The Stockstadt's Evangelical Church's most recent newsletter honestly recounts my mother's early life in Germany in its obit for her. In 2014, the Church apologized to my mother and me for not protecting her during the Holocaust. Here is the translation: Oldest Jewish woman from Stockstadt dies Edith Schumer-Westerfeld died on Sunday, January 14, 2024. Edith Therese Westerfeld was born in Stockstadt in 1925. Her parents were respected citizens. ...

My son, Keith Chapman, wrote this beautiful obituary to honor his grandmother.

In her 98 years, my mother always had a foot in two worlds. “Oma,” who fled Nazi Germany for America, learned to embroider in school in Stockstadt am Rhein. In her last years, she colorfully embellished hand towels for family and friends. Many people around the world now have these special tokens to remember her. She taught me how to stitch, and I have shared this skill with the women ...

Research on attachment reveals why the betrayed stay in a state of denial.

New article that captures the essence of sibling relationships and their challenges.