Unexpected Passages is a graphic memoir that tells the story of my grandfather, Irving’s, remarkable escape from the Holocaust via Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and China, while reflecting on my own Jewish history growing up in the United States, as the granddaughter of a survivor. The book explores my family’s Yiddish history and my mother’s decades-long journey toward translating Irving’s Yiddish wartime letters. Kept for more than fifty years, the contents of the letters turned out to contain more questions than answers about her grandfather as a young refugee.
All images courtesy of the author
Rachel Scheer is a comics artist and elementary school teacher in Seattle, Washington. Rachel’s comics have been published by Edutopia, The Stranger, the Seattle Weekly, Fantagraphics and more. She is a recent recipient of a Trailer Blaze artist residency and 4Culture grant for her graphic novel Unexpected Passages.
