I began calling myself a Jewess at 6, in 1956, as a result of the introduction of antisemitism into my daily routine of abuse at the hands of my mother and stepfather. I figured I must be since the statement "Well, that's what the Jews went through" always followed whatever abuse was chosen for any given moment of any day. As a survivor and, after years of research, having learned more of my great-grandmother's family members whom I was forbidden to mention -- as was the case with Shoah history in Oklahoma up until 1970 - I began to use the title with proud, akin to being called "Mom'.
I began calling myself a Jewess at 6, in 1956, as a result of the introduction of antisemitism into my daily routine of abuse at the hands of my mother and stepfather. I figured I must be since the statement "Well, that's what the Jews went through" always followed whatever abuse was chosen for any given moment of any day. As a survivor and, after years of research, having learned more of my great-grandmother's family members whom I was forbidden to mention -- as was the case with Shoah history in Oklahoma up until 1970 - I began to use the title with proud, akin to being called "Mom'.