Nonfiction
The Pessimist’s Son: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope
Alexander Kimel
Martin Kimel
Review
By
Amy Garcia
– October 3, 2025
The Pessimist’s Son is a deeply moving and personal account of Jewish life in Poland before, during, and after the Holocaust. Alexander and Eva both grew up in Poland, but their prewar childhoods and the ways in which they managed to survive the Holocaust were vastly different. By telling both of their stories, their son, Martin Kimel, provides the reader with an understanding of the range of Jews’ experiences under the most horrific and difficult of circumstances.
The first half of the book incorporates a memoir that Alexander wrote before he passed away. Alexander’s memories affectively detail what life was like before the war in a shtetl, where opportunities for Jews were scarce and Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews coexisted in “hateful harmony.” As war breaks out in September 1939, Alexander offers gripping testimony of how his family endured when the Russians took over, and then, under German rule, over the course of three separate liquidations. We witness how desperate situations led to incredible moments of ingenuity that helped Alexander’s family survive.
What truly sets this book apart, though, are Martin’s well-researched, thoughtful notes at the end of each chapter of his father’s story. Through these notes, Martin offers a unique perspective on his father’s experience and also provides readers with broader historical context. Martin’s notes not only enhance and supplement Alexander’s story, but also help the reader to fully grasp the brutality Alexander and other Jews in Poland experienced throughout the Holocaust.
The second half of the book is dedicated to the story of Martin’s mother, Eva, and to Alexander’s and Eva’s experiences after the war. Eva’s story presents yet another harrowing account of survival against all odds. Martin’s parents met in Poland after the war, where continued and rampant antisemitism led to pogroms. Like many other Polish Jews, Martin’s parents fled the country, moving to Israel and, ultimately, the United States.
A Pessimist’s Son is a must-read for anyone seeking a personal, cross-generational, deeply researched, and moving account of what Polish Jews faced in this time and place.
Amy Garcia is a docent and educator at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center located in Glen Cove, New York. She enjoys reading both fiction and non-fiction focused on World War II and the Holocaust.