This tells the story of three generations of Rivka Cohen’s family, whose lives were turned upside down by the Holocaust. We learn about their travels from pre-World War I Hungary to post-World War II Israel though a series of personal stories.
The stories are illustrated with family photographs, which add to the narratives, and drawings of events, which I found unnecessary. There are occasional maps to help the reader understand the geography.
While I found the stories fascinating, I also found them difficult to follow. It was not always clear at the beginning of each story in what year, or span of years, the events took place. I also had to keep referring to the family tree at the front of the book to figure out about whom each story was written.
An appendix is provided explaining Hungarian Jewish history. This would have been beneficial at the beginning of the book to aid in understanding the context of stories.
All in all, “Journey to the Ends of the Earth” provides unique and personal insight into a land forever changed by the Holocaust and a family that survived to tell its stories.
