Skip to main content
Welcome to the University of Lethbridge
  • Library
  • Directory
  • Intranet
  • MyExperience
  • Webmail
  • Bridge
  • Moodle
Study here Give

Faculty of Arts & Science

Department of English

Welcome to the University of Lethbridge
Close
  • Meet our Faculty & Staff
    • Faculty stories
    • Publications
  • Undergraduate Studies
    • Courses
    • Supervisors
    • Minor
    • Prerequisites & Waivers
  • Graduate Studies
    • Master (MA)
    • Doctorate (PhD)
    • Current Graduate Students
    • Supervisors
    • Find out more!
  • Current Students
  • Future Students
    • Why Study English?
    • Career Prospects
    • Student Stories & Profiles
  • Alumni
  • Resources
    • Academic Advising
    • Open Mic
    • Academic Writing Program
    • English Students' Society
    • Liberal Education
    • Style Guide
    • Whetstone Magazine
    • Creative Writing
    • Department News
    • English Student, Alumni, and Faculty Network
  • Contact Us
    • Profiles & Stories
    • Get in touch
  • Library
  • Directory
  • Intranet
  • MyExperience
  • Webmail
  • Bridge
  • Moodle
Study here Give
Study here Give
Resources
  • Academic Advising
  • Open Mic
    • Upcoming Dates
    • Featured Artists
      • Jelayna Arbour
      • Jacob Bachinger
      • Barbara Bordalejo
      • Charley Frost
      • Chataya Holy Singer
      • Nolan Hundseth
      • Iisoimaahkaa/Driving Along the Beach/Blair Many Fingers
      • David Kootnikoff
      • Indie MacGarva
      • Neal Smith
      • Katie Stang
      • Tatiana Weasel Moccasin
  • Academic Writing Program
  • English Students' Society
  • Liberal Education
  • Style Guide
  • Whetstone Magazine
  • Creative Writing
  • Department News
    • Goldie Morgentaler Publishes "Letters from the Afterlife", Exploring a Post-Holocaust Literary Friendship
    • Undergrad and Graduate Students Present Work at International Conference
    • McAdam Publishes "Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Religious Toleration" with University of Toronto Press
    • Department of English Welcomes two New Faculty Members
    • O'Donnell Awarded SSHRC Insight Grant for Groundbreaking Humanities Data Project
    • English Student Levi Mason Earns Second Place in 2025 Play Right Prize
    • English Instructor Natasha Rebry Coulthard to Publish Book on Monstrosity and Shape-Shifting
    • English Professor Daniel Paul O'Donnell testifies before Parliamentary Committee on Science and Research
    • Grad students in English Department publish article on AI and student writing
    • MA Student Morgan Pearce Speaks at Game Studies Conference
    • English department notes the passing of former chair, John Woods
    • Emerita Professor Goldie Morgentaler wins Canadian Jewish Literary Award
  • English Student, Alumni, and Faculty Network

Goldie Morgentaler Publishes "Letters from the Afterlife", Exploring a Post-Holocaust Literary Friendship

Last June, Professor Emerita Goldie Morgentaler released Letters from the Afterlife, a powerful new publication from McGill-Queen’s University Press. The book chronicles the decades-long correspondence between two female Holocaust survivors—Chava Rosenfarb, a celebrated Yiddish author, and Zenia Larsson, a Swedish sculptor and novelist—who sustained their friendship through letters written in Polish, their only shared language.

Extraordinarily little has been written about how women who survived the Holocaust navigated life after the war, coped with trauma, and faced the alienation of rebuilding in unfamiliar countries. Letters from the Afterlife offers rare insight into these experiences, tracing Rosenfarb and Larsson’s emotional and intellectual journeys as they adjusted to life in Canada and Sweden, respectively—countries whose languages and cultures were initially foreign to them.

Childhood friends from Poland, the two women endured the Lodz Ghetto and Nazi death camps together, parting ways after liberation from Bergen-Belsen. Despite the physical distance, their friendship endured for fifty years through written correspondence. Both went on to become distinguished literary figures in their adopted languages, Yiddish and Swedish. In 1972, Larsson published her side of the correspondence in Swedish, a move that temporarily disrupted their bond.

This English edition, with evocative translations by Krzysztof Majer and Sylvia Söderlind, brings their letters to a wider audience. Morgentaler’s introduction situates the correspondence within its historical and cultural context, while her epilogue continues the story beyond the letters, reflecting on the complexities of memory, trauma, and reconciliation.

Related Links

  • Services for Students
  • Career Bridge
  • Academic Advising
  • Apply Now

Connect with us

  • Events
  • News
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

English

  • A840 (University Hall)
  • 403-329-2378
  • english@uleth.ca

Students

  • Academic calendar
  • Student Enrolment and Registrar Services
  • Student opportunities
  • Student services
  • Study here

Information for

  • Alumni
  • Donors
  • Visitors and community

Campus

  • Careers at uLethbridge
  • Events
  • Faculty and staff intranet
  • Maps and tours
  • News

Lethbridge Campus
4401 University Drive
Lethbridge, Alberta, T1K 3M4

Calgary Campus
Suite 6032, 345-6th Ave SE
Calgary, Alberta, T2G 4V1

Contact Us

Faculty & Staff Directory


Visit the University of Lethbridge Homepage
Visit the University of Lethbridge Homepage

The University of Lethbridge is located on traditional Blackfoot Confederacy territory. We honour the Blackfoot people and their traditional ways of knowing in caring for this land, as well as all Indigenous peoples who have helped shape and continue to strengthen our University community.

Follow us on social media


©2025 University of Lethbridge | Terms of use