Recordings and Books
Hilda Stern Cohen
Words that Burn Within Me: Faith, Values, Survival
Edited by Werner V. Cohen, Gail Rosen, and William Gilcher
Translations from the original German by Elborg Forster
Here are the transcripts of my interviews with Hilda, combined with her own writing - poems and prose - to tell her story in full depth and detail.
If you appreciate my telling of “For Tomorrow,” you will find this book to be rich and compelling.
ISBN 13: 978-1-928755-10-4
132 pages, 8-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches
Paperback $18.00 + $3.00 shipping
(USA addresses)
D r y a d P r e s s, Washington, DC
The publication of Words that Burn Within Me
is made possible in part thanks to financial support
from the Goethe-Institut Washington.
Washington Jewish Week, 16 October 2008:
Aaron Leibel, Arts Editor,
of Washington Jewish Week, wrote:
“This is a powerful memoir by a very courageous and perceptive woman. It is her keen observations, especially of fellow prisoners in the Lodz ghetto and at Auschwitz, along with the translations of poems and prose she wrote while in Nazi captivity during the Holocaust, that make this book unique.”
Loving, Grieving, Growing: Stories of Celebration
Told by Gail Rosen,
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator, Storyteller
$15.00 + $3.00 shipping (USA)
Live Performance
6th Annual Wellness Seminar
Presented by
Gilchrist Hospice Care
and Evans Funeral Chapel
Towson, MD 10/25/08
Human beings need stories.
It is how we learn, how we teach, and how we make meaning.
There are themes that echo through these stories,
of patience, of change, and of hope.
You are invited to make your own connections,
finding within yourself metaphors of resiliency
and possibilities for continued hope and growth.
CD Liner:
A Note From Gail Rosen
If this CD has come to you at a time when you are grieving, either a loss that is recent or long ago, I hope you find it helpful. Know that what you hear in the stories is unique, based on your life and loss. You may want to listen in the company of others who support your mourning.
My perspective on the role of storytelling in grief work is not try to try to fix anything or solve a problem, but to open opportunities for grieving, to support people in their experience of grief. In "Companioning the Bereaved: a Soulful Guide for Caregivers," (2006 Companion Press), Dr. Alan Wolfelt speaks of the six central needs of mourning: Acknowledge the Reality of Death, Feel the Pain of Loss, Remember the Person who Died, Develop a New Self-Identity, Search for Meaning, and Receive Ongoing Support from Others.
Storytelling can support these needs. Through both folktales that speak to universal human experience and personal or anecdotal tales, storytelling can evoke connection to the experience of the bereaved and model the telling of their own stories. Stories can assist those grieving in shifting the relationship with the person who died from one of physical presence to one of memory. Safe space can be created for people to feel the impact of their loss, to try on differing perspectives, and to make meaning. In the act of coming together to hear and to share stories, a sense of common experience can encourage awareness of shared community.
If you are a professional involved in end-of-life and bereavement care, you will notice the types of stories, the framing of the stories and the arc of the presentation. In addition to listening for information that may support your work, I also respectfully suggest that you enter into the listening with memories of your own losses. See how the stories might affirm and support your own experience.
