Unexpected Passages is a graphic memoir that tells the story of the author’s grandfather’s remarkable escape from the Holocaust—across Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and China—while reflecting on her own Jewish identity as the granddaughter of a survivor.
The book explore’s Rachel’s family’s Yiddish history and her mother’s decades-long effort to translate Irving’s Yiddish wartime letters, preserved for over fifty years. What emerges is a story filled with both discovery and unanswered questions about a young refugee’s life in exile.
This project was made possible by a Trailer Blaze artist residency and 4Culture grant.
Select pages below.
