“Sidonia’s Thread” by Hanna Perlstein Marcus (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2011)

Sidonia Perlstein was the sole survivor of the Holocaust within her immediate family. In 1949 she was able to immigrate to the United States with her 2-year-old daughter Hanna. Sent to Springfield, Mass., Sidonia made a life for the two of them. Because of her talent as a gifted seamstress, within a few years Sidonia found work in a dress manufacturing factory. Hanna began school, and the process of Americanization began.

In a memoir of her mother’s life, Hanna Perlstein Marcus crafts the story of a woman who kept certain aspects of her life secret, like the hidden seams in the beautifully tailored clothes she made, but created a beautiful life for herself and her daughter in the new world to which they immigrated. Using the chapter headings from “Coats and Clark’s Sewing Book,” the author constructs the various aspects of her mother’s life. Whether it’s the experiences of Sidonia and her sister Laura in Birkenau described in the chapter entitled “Clipping,” or a description of their 1983 visit to Hungary to see the town in which Sidonia grew up in a chapter entitled “Backstitch, ” Marcus displays a gift for linking sewing techniques to her mother’s experiences. Yet while Sidonia never kept secrets from Hanna about her Holocaust experiences or about her early life in Dámósc, Hungary, one huge secret lay between them. Who was Hanna’s father?

Bit by bit Hanna pieces together the information about her father, and in the chapter “Buttonholes” finally makes contact with him. This telephone call, however, does not lead to an emotional meeting or reconciliation, but it does lead to a greater understanding of her mother. Yet, it is not the secret that is the most important aspect of the book or Hanna and Sidonia’s lives. What is important is the artful way Sidonia stitched together a good life for herself and her daughter having, initially, only scraps with which to work. “Sidonia’s Thread” is a story of triumph over the most horrendous adversity. Sidonia’s motto, “Stand up straight” should be a directive for all of us.

Author to speak Nov. 27

The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education will present award-winning author Hanna Perlstein Marcus at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27. She will discuss her memoir, “Sidonia’s Thread.” Marcus’s mother Sidonia Perlstein was the cousin of Kansas City resident and Holocaust survivor Olga Rothstein, whose son Steven still lives in the area.

The program will take place in the Social Hall on the Jewish Community Campus. The author talk will be followed by a book signing and light dessert reception. This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested at 913-327-8196 or .