A sequel to the classic memoir, The Scent of Snowflowers

Book: And Morning Has Come

Author: R.L. Klein

Publisher: Feldheim

Mrs. Rivka Leah Klein, Hungarian Holocaust survivor and author of the classic memoir The Scent of Snowflowers wrote And Morning Has Come as a sequel, covering the end and aftermath of World War II. It was published after her passing by her family. This interview was conducted with her daughters Faigy Goldberger and Perry Brier.

Why The Scent of Snowflowers is such an important Holocaust memoir

My mother wanted people to know about the Holocaust, but her memoir is not about Auschwitz and the murders. It’s not so horrifying that you can’t sleep for a week after reading it — and that was part of its success.

My parents were hidden by non-Jews. Their experiences were painful, but they remained an intact little family. The book is never gory and often uplifting, so everyone can read it, including teenagers, although they may cry through some parts.

Also, it was published in 1989, early for its genre. My mother was very proud that her book was considered an appropriate text for the New York State Regents and that it stood on a shelf in the public library.

How our mother discovered the power of writing

Our mother was an intellectual. As a child, she wrote her classmates’ compositions. Her father, Rabbi Avrom Einhorn, was the dayan of Szombathely, in the Hungarian Oberland; nevertheless, local government representatives came to their door to ask that she be sent to a gymnasium (secular high school) as they felt she had a future as a Hungarian poetess.

When my mother arrived in America, she had three small children, so it took her a while to get her English up to book-publishing standard. She asked us to speak English at home to help her learn it. Eventually, she began to write.