The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust
In the process of coming to this conclusion in the novel—and in keeping with his theories on the relation between mental illness and spirituality—Arieti examines the most profound spiritual questions that arise from the Holocaust.
www.farmersmarketmusic.com: The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust (): Silvano Arieti, Harold S. Kushner: Books. Editorial Reviews. From Library Journal. "Arieti's account demonstrates an important principle The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust Kindle Edition.
Pardo's friend Ernesto, in fact, believes that the mental illness is part of the Shechinah, of God's indwelling presence, that has descended upon the parnas. Because he sees meaning in his illness, the parnas does not believe that God has abandoned the world or the Jews. He hears his friend Angelo cry out, "What about the silence of God? Why is He mute?
The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust
Why does He permit these things to happen? Each crime bespeaks His lament, 'How far you are from Me! Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. A Scene from the Holocaust. A rare event in publishing: Pardo was a mentor to the author, and, indeed, he was a figure adored and celebrated not only by the Jews of Pisa but by the Christians as well.
He was learned and generous, but he was also profoundly phobic. But the parnas, despite a wealth of connections that could have helped him escape, was too phobic to flee Pisa. On the morning of August 1, , Nazi soldiers, searching for Pardo's fabled riches, entered his home. The soldiers found neither gold nor silver, but they did find the parnas, along with six fellow Jews whom he was sheltering and five Christian neighbors.
Arieti hopes to show "that tragic times have a perfume of their own, and smiles of hope, and traces of charm, and offer olive branches and late warnings that may not be too late. Arieti weaves his story so beautifully that to unravel it would mean losing its dramatic effect. Suffice it to say that God, Jews, Christians, fascism, cowardice, and bravery are discussed throughout the story in such a way that the reader is at once shaken and enlightened as the plot unfolds.
A Scene from the Holocaust by Silvano Arieti ,. A rare event in publishing: Pardo was a mentor to the author, and, indeed, he was a figure adored and celebrated not only by the Jews of Pisa but by the Christians as well. He was learned and generous, but he was also profoundly phobic. But the parnas, despite a wealth of connections that could have helped him escape, was too phobic to flee Pisa. On the morning of August 1, , Nazi soldiers, searching for Pardo's fabled riches, entered his home. The soldiers found neither gold nor silver, but they did find the parnas, along with six fellow Jews whom he was sheltering and five Christian neighbors.
Arieti hopes to show "that tragic times have a perfume of their own, and smiles of hope, and traces of charm, and offer olive branches and late warnings that may not be too late. Arieti weaves his story so beautifully that to unravel it would mean losing its dramatic effect. Suffice it to say that God, Jews, Christians, fascism, cowardice, and bravery are discussed throughout the story in such a way that the reader is at once shaken and enlightened as the plot unfolds. It is like a parable, suffused with the dignity of both the parnas and the author…a work of art.
- THE PARNAS: A SCENE FROM THE HOLOCAUST.
- The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust by Silvano Arieti.
- The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust.
- Silvano Arieti's novel The Parnas: a scene from the Holocaust..
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- The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust | www.farmersmarketmusic.com.
Pardo was the leading citizen of a small Jewish community that produced more that its share of distinguished Jews. He was a learned man, familiar with Bible, Talmud, and secular subjects.
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He was a wealthy man, and charitable to Jew and non-Jew alike. He ultimately met his death together with six fellow Jews and five gentiles who had sought the protection of his home. And he was a profoundly neurotic man, who had an irrational fear of animals, especially dogs. When he walked in the streets of Pisa—which was not often because of his fears—he would swing a cane from side to side behind him to drive away the imaginary animals.
The distinguished psychiatrist tells of his strange life and equally strange death. Paperback , pages. Published March 1st by Paul Dry Books first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Parnas , please sign up.
Lists with This Book. Last week I read an inspiring account about how the Israeli defense forces manages to stay one step ahead of its enemies by developing advanced intelligence. Later this week I have a Jewish themed historical fiction on tap. Silvano Arieti which meshes fact and fiction in an account of Jews of Pisa during the Holocaust.
Having my interest piqued, I decided to read this book for myself and was immediately captivated by this short gem of a book.
It was the fear that haunts all humanity in the wake of the Holocaust, not a fear of animals but a fear of the human being who has allowed himself to be transformed into an animal. Consequently, he hides out at his large home on Sant Andrea Street in Pisa along with both Christian and Jewish house guests. Due to his illness, Pardo was unwilling to leave his home. Quotes from The Parnas: Guiseppe Pardo, the parnas, was part of his inspiration to become a psychiatrist and study the mental state that kept Pardo homebound even when the German troops were pressing southward into Italy. The conversations about fear and humanity are powerful and disturbing, and make The Parnas worth reading. As the Germans try to torture the parnas into praising Hitler, Pardo persists in his adoration of God.
Silvano Arieti grew up in Pisa, Italy in a time of relative good relations between Jews and Italians. Immersed in the small Jewish community there, he names among his early influences Pietro and Guiseppe Pardo, both mentally ill people with immense gifts to offer to the world. Arieti went on to study both undergraduate and medical school at the University of Pisa, becoming a notable psychiatrist by the age of twenty four. At this point in the mid s, fascists had risen to power and Mussolini had entered into an alliance with Hitler.
The Jews' fate all but sealed, Arieti's grandparents obtained exit visas for him and his brother Giulio to immigrate to the United States in The author went on to become a leading psychiatric authority in the United States and was spared the fate of the subjects of this book. Guiseppe Pardo Roques was known as the parnas, the leading philanthropist of the Jews of Pisa. Having never married, he took university students under his wing and maintained relationships with many of them for their entire life.
He also suffered from a sometimes debilitating phobia which made him fearful of animals, especially dogs. Oftentimes adolescent boys would bark at Pardo from across the street to see what effect it would have on him, usually for the negative. A young Arieti was captivated by the parnas' condition and was determined to help him later in life, leading him into the study of psychiatry. Because of this condition, however, Pardo was unwilling to leave his home when the axis powers took over Pisa. Italy was fortunate in that only approximately Jews of a total population of 40, were killed during the holocaust.
Many Jews of Pisa, including Arieti's parents, went into hiding but Pardo remained in his home along with six Jewish and three gentile guests for the duration of the war.
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The events described in this novel take place over the twenty four period of July August 1, Years later Arieti returned to Pisa and interviewed neighbors who heard what had happened at Pardo's home and used his skills as a psychiatrist to piece together the conversations that take place in this novel. Due to his illness, Pardo was unwilling to leave his home. Because of his position as philanthropist, he had been spared, yet danger was always imminent. Knowledgeable in Judaic teachings and often quoting the book of Yeshayahu Isaiah , his guests felt safer around him than they would have had they chosen to go into hiding, one going as far as saying that the Shekinah, the holy presence, rested on Pardo's neshama soul.
His spirit uplifted all the guests of his home despite the danger that German forces could enter at any time, leading all of them to no longer fear death. While Arieti's writing is largely based on his medical teaching, I found myself moved by the story of the Parnas who faced his fears with dignity, leading both Jews and Christians alike to follow his lead. The Parnas is a study of the human spirit and shows that all people have much to offer regardless of their station in life.
Pardo may have suffered from an at times debilitating mental illness and phobia, but he used it to enlighten others around him at a time of grave danger to both himself and the Jewish people.
As I noted in another recent review, with most Holocaust survivors passing on, any manuscript either current or otherwise uncovered is a gift to its readers. Arieti has written a gem of a novel about the endurance of the human spirit. Thank you, Violet, for leading me in this direction. The Parnas is a hidden gem that should be widely read and is an uplifting account for me during these days of awe.