Book Launch: A New Identity

Join Anna Sput-Stern at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum on 5 March for the launch of her novel, A New Identity, exploring the complexities of identity, adjustment and survival after the Holocaust. Anna will appear in conversation with Melbourne Holocaust Museum Educator Soo Isaacs.

The war is over! Not one German soldier is to be seen in Krakow. The streets are full of people celebrating the end of the occupation. Janina Matiszewska watches from her bedroom window, her heart filled with equal measures of sadness and joy. Her hand touches the cross at her throat that has kept her safe for so long, a symbol her a new identity. But how safe is she? Can she reveal who she really is? Can she remain true and loyal to her family while keeping secrets from her husband?

Anna was born in Poland. She survived the Holocaust and migrated to Australia in 1948. As one of many homeless people who survived the war years, she has come to understand her experiences and has found solace in the life she lives.

Her previous publications, Images and Reflections and On the Other Side of the River explore the experience of civilians during World War II. She writes about love and hate, the pain of loss, the joy of growth of a family and misery that comes with the feelings of ‘Who am I and where do I belong?’ For some Jewish families it has meant living under assumed names for a life-time.