Peter Paz

The Forgetting of Being Peter Paz

The Forgetting of Being is a powerful rendering of a multi-faceted life that began in Berlin in 1937 and was shaped by the events of the Second World War and its aftermath. The author, Peter Paz (born Peter Goldmann) was liberated from a concentration camp at the war's end, and then sent as an 8 year-old orphan to Israel to be raised on a kibbutz. After winning a scholarship to study dance at The Julliard School of Music in New York and pursuing a career as a dancer, he became an established international photographer. He lived and worked in New York until 1990 when he moved to Nice, France, where he died in 2001.

Peter's memoir is a reflection on the various phases of his life, culminating in his 10-year struggle to reclaim his grandfather's property in the former East Berlin. Even though some of the subject matter is painful, his optimism, humor and gentle humanity shine through. The Forgetting of Being is a timely, unusual and very different sort of survivor memoir.