In the Land of Armadillos (34 page)

T
his book wouldn't exist without the devoted efforts of many extraordinary people.

I am indebted to my wonderful agent, Jennifer Weltz, for her insight, wisdom, and guidance. Thanks to the rest of my team at JVNLA, Ariana Philips and Tara Hart, for so many reasons. A special heartfelt thanks goes to Jean Naggar; without her faith and dedication, I wouldn't be a writer.

Great armloads of thanks to my eagle-eyed editor, Liese Mayer, for her vision, passion, and inspiration. Thanks also to Beth Thomas, my indefatigable copy editor. Many thanks to Katie Monaghan and her fabulous PR team, and to all the talented, marvelous people at Scribner for bringing
Armadillos
to life.

My unending gratitude to
The Kenyon Review, Gargoyle, 2 Bridges Review, Danse Macabre,
and
JewishFiction.net
, where these stories first appeared. Without their support and encouragement, the entire collection would still be sitting in a file on my desktop.

Many of the events in these pages were handed down to me by my mother, Brenda Soroka Maryles, who reported her war experiences with pitiless accuracy. My dad, Barry Maryles, told me narratives of blinding courage and incomprehensible horror. I pass them on the only way I am able, through the filter of fiction.

I am deeply grateful to my uncle Philip Soroka, who tolerated my phone calls and answered my myriad questions, no matter how trivial. His sense of humor, his memories, and his knowledge of local history have contributed immeasurably to these pages.

My very warm thanks to Chaim Melczer, Paul Edelsberg, and Jack Pomeranc for sharing their Włodawa recollections with me. Joe Tenenbaum ignited my interest in partizans with a single sentence overheard at a Sukkot dinner: “So I jumped out of a tree, and I killed him with my knife.” I am grateful beyond words to Dieter Schlüter, stepson of Righteous Gentile Bernhard Falkenberg, for sharing his family's war experiences and his photographs with me. Thanks also to historian Peter Kamber, and to the research staff at the Bundesarchiv in Ludwigsburg, Germany.

For some of my Jewish folklore, I turned for inspiration to three wonderful books:
A Treasury of Jewish Folklore
, edited by Nathan Ausubel;
The Diamond Tree: Jewish Tales from Around the World
, selected and retold by Howard Schwartz and Barbara Rush; and
Chosen Tales: Stories Told By Jewish Storytellers
, edited by Peninnah Schram. For the title story, “In the Land of Armadillos,” I was inspired by the magical
The Street of Crocodiles
, by Bruno Schulz, and
“The Good Old Days”: the Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders
, edited by Ernst Klee, Willi Dressen, and Volker Riess.

Myriam Auslander, Ruchama King Feuerman, Leora Fineberg, Olivia Fischer Fox, Zalmie Jacobs, Deborah Landesman, Shelley Mendelow, David Naggar, Karen Benchitrit Naggar, Dan and Eileen Raab, Rena Bunder Rossner, Steve Kendall, Elana Maryles Sztokman, Deborah Tannenbaum, Bluma Katz Uzan, Michale Wacks, Avi Weiss, Deena Yellin, Larry Yudelson, and Eve Yudelson, thank you for taking time from your busy lives to read the stuff I send you, and for being brave enough to tell me when it still needs work.

To all Maryleses, Sorokas, and Shankmans, my circle of uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws: Life is a journey, and it is a much better journey because I share it with you.

To my sister, Bernice, and my brothers, Chaim and Sam, thank you for your unwavering support, in a thousand different ways.

To my children, Gabriella, Raphael, Ayden, and Jude, you are the brightest lights in my sky. Thank you for putting up with me.

And finally, to my sweet Jon: You are the greatest miracle that has ever happened to me.

ALSO BY HELEN MARYLES SHANKMAN

The Color of Light

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real
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First Scribner hardcover edition February 2016

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shankman, Helen Maryles.

[Short stories. Selections]

In the land of armadillos : stories / Helen Maryles Shankman. — First
Scribner hardcover edition.

pages cm

I. Title.

PS3619.H35474A6 2016

813'.6—dc23

2015023521

ISBN 978-1-5011-1519-6

ISBN 978-1-5011-1522-6 (ebook)