“Arthur Horwitz has written an amazing book. A child of a survivor, this could be called a Holocaust memoir. And it is, but it is so much else as well. Horwitz also survived the destruction of a distinctly Jewish neighborhood – due to misguided urban renewal and highway construction in his hometown of New Haven. It is an American Dream, immigrant family drama, but one of multiple identities: Eastern European and American, town and gown, son and family historian, assimilation and preservation. I was emotionally moved many times while reading this beautifully rendered and deeply personal narrative.”
Peter Salovey
President Emeritus, Sterling Professor of Psychology, Yale University
"A compelling and gripping exploration of intergenerational trauma. Using the iconic photograph of a little boy raising his hands in the air, an image of his murdered uncle that both was and wasn't really him—as a lens, the author captures how the Holocaust's trauma rippled through generations, shaping relationships between survivors, their children, and grandchildren, while molding each generation's self-perception and expectations. More than a family memoir, this beautifully written book explores universal themes of intergenerational trauma, remembrance, and renewal that will resonate with anyone grappling with inherited grief and the search for meaning in trauma's wake."
Dan Porat
Author, The Boy: A Holocaust Story
“I’m a tough man to please when it comes to memoirs, but Arthur Horwitz’s touching, searching new book left me pleased—very pleased. With warmth and candor, he tells his story of growing up in a loving family in New Haven, then spreading his wings throughout the media world from Baltimore to Detroit. Along the way, we meet a murderer’s row of athletes, politicians, cigar-chomping editors, and other lovable eccentrics. I can honestly say the book made me homesick for his home, and nostalgic for memories that aren’t even mine. A thoroughly compelling read!”
Mark Oppenheimer
Former Beliefs Columnist, The New York Times; creator and founding host, “Unorthodox” podcast; author, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood, Judy Blume: A Life
“Arthur Horwitz is a great story teller. The riveting narrative of Dual Identities illuminates his journey toward becoming a leading Jewish journalist who strives to strengthen the community after the Holocaust.”
Eva Fogelman
PhD, psychologist, filmmaker and author of the Pulitzer Prize nominee, Conscience and Courage: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust, and the award-winning Breaking the Silence: The Generation After the Holocaust
"Once I started reading Dual Identities, I could not put it down. Moving, memorable and so very interesting.”
Michael Berenbaum
Former project director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; former CEO, Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation; Academy Award-winning producer; author and editor of 18 books
“Arthur Horwitz’s insightful memoir reads like the script of a moving television series. I fell in love with the whole story.”
Aviva Kempner
Award-winning filmmaker and documentarian, including The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg and Rosenwald
“The people in Arthur Horwitz’s moving memoir all won my heart as they navigated Jewish life in America a generation after the Holocaust. Their humanity, their determination to survive and thrive, left me with hope in a newly challenging time.”
Paul Bass
Founding editor, The New Haven Independent; co-author with Douglas Rae, Murder in the Model City: The Black Panthers, Yale and the Redemption of a Killer
"This captivating and wonderfully written memoir by Arthur Horwitz, the son of a Holocaust survivor who grew up in post war America, is compelling and especially relevant today."
Samuel Kassow
Author of Who Will Write Our History, visiting research historian at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the Charles H. Northam Professor of History Emeritus at Trinity College
“A poignant look into the emotional challenges of being raised with the constant awareness that the author’s mother sees in him the little brother who perished in the Holocaust. Arthur Horwitz skillfully blends his personal story of family life and professional success as a journalist and publisher. His mother would be proud.”
Gary Rosenblatt
Pulitzer Prize finalist and former editor of The Jewish Week (New York) and the Baltimore Jewish Times
“With candor, intelligence, and clarity, Dual Identities explores a life in journalism as informed by the legacy of the Holocaust, giving readers a moving and personal perspective on what it means to grow up in the shadow of history.”
Aaron Hamburger
Author of Hotel Cuba
“As the child of a Holocaust survivor, Arthur Horwitz doesn’t merely carry forward the old stories but he bravely asks new questions of them and finds new and universal meanings for the generations to come.”
Neil Theise
Author of Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connectivity, Consciousness and Being
“Among the many books written about the Holocaust, Dual Identities stands out with a unique and thoughtful perspective about its impact on the children of survivors.”
Mike Smith
Former director, Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University; former principal archivist, Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan
“A heart-warming – and at times heart-wrenching – story told with utmost skill, insight and sensitivity, Dual Identities takes readers on an inspiring journey of recovery from tragedy and the importance of memory, love and compassion.”
Berl Falbaum
Author of Shanghai Remembered and others
