In this flashback, coming-of-age novel, author and SOAR member, George Erdstein, explores the excitement and cutthroat world of a “mountain rat” summer, where Jewish college boys struggle to earn money by working in the Catskill Mountain resorts. Phil Dechter, a naive, Jewish pre-med student, reluctantly finds work as a busboy, unaware that the adventure will bring him to grips with his tenuous connection to the Holocaust. His exposure to the stoic presence of vacationing refugees from Hitler’s Europe causes him to grow in insight and compassion, a transformation that ultimately alters his intended direction when a life-changing crisis arises. Erdstein’s book and lecture highlight New York culture of the 50s and an appreciation for life in a post-Holocaust world.

In-person at the Hawk - Recorded