{"id":78708,"date":"2023-12-21T15:00:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T20:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=78708"},"modified":"2023-12-22T04:08:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T09:08:05","slug":"florida-district-pulls-many-jewish-and-holocaust-books-including-saul-bellows-herzog-and-black-white-and-jewish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/florida-district-pulls-many-jewish-and-holocaust-books-including-saul-bellows-herzog-and-black-white-and-jewish\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida district pulls many Jewish and Holocaust books, including Saul Bellow\u2019s \u2018Herzog\u2019 and \u2018Black, White and Jewish\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ANDREW LAPIN<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2013 A global bestseller by a Jewish Holocaust victim; a novel by a beloved and politically conservative Jewish American writer; a memoir of growing up mixed-race and Jewish; and a contemporary novel about a high-achieving Jewish family are among the nearly 700 books a Florida school district removed from classroom libraries this year in fear of violating state laws on sexual content in schools.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_78709\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1.webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78709\" class=\"wp-image-78709 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-300x167.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-300x167.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-1024x569.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-768x427.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-1536x853.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-2048x1138.webp 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/167;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78709\" class=\"wp-image-78709 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-300x167.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-300x167.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-1024x569.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-768x427.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-1536x853.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-12-22-Saul-Bellow-2160x1200-1-2048x1138.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-78709\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saul Bellow talks to reporters about being awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The purge of books from Orange County Public Schools, in Orlando, over the course of the past semester is the latest consequence of a conservative movement across the country \u2014&nbsp;and strongest in Florida \u2014 to rid public and school libraries of materials deemed offensive. While the vast majority of such challenged and removed books involve race, gender and sexuality, several Jewish books have previously been caught in the dragnet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Orange County case is unusual for the sheer volume of books removed \u2014 699 including some duplicates, according to documents the district provided \u2014 and for the unusually large number of books about the Holocaust and Jewish identity included among them. They included:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuite Fran\u00e7aise,\u201d by Ir\u00e8ne N\u00e9mirovsky, a Ukrainian-French Jewish writer who wrote her novel in secret under German occupation before perishing in Auschwitz&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHerzog,\u201d a semi-autobiographical novel by Jewish writer Saul Bellow, an outspoken cultural conservative whose son Adam Bellow is a publisher of right-wing Jewish books<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlack, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self,\u201d by Rebecca Walker, feminist theorist and daughter of author Alice Walker, whose own antisemitic comments and writings have faced scrutiny in the past<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBee Season,\u201d a novel about a high-achieving family of Jewish scholars and cantors, by Myra Goldberg<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Splendid and the Vile,\u201d a nonfiction history book about Winston Churchill\u2019s decision to fight Hitler\u2019s forces during World War II, by Erik Larson<\/p>\n<p>The collected plays of Lillian Hellman, a Jewish playwright and left-wing activist who was accused of Communist activities<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Storyteller,\u201d a novel dealing with the Holocaust by bestselling author Jodi Picoult<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Reader,\u201d a German novel about the aftermath of the Holocaust by Bernhard Schlink<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSophie\u2019s Choice,\u201d a bestselling novel also about the aftermath of the Holocaust by William Styron<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Freedom Writers Diary,\u201d a nonfiction compilation of several high school students\u2019 diaries inspired by their teachers\u2019 efforts to instruct them on the Holocaust and Anne Frank<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBooks are removed from classrooms with deference to House Bill 1069,\u201d district spokesperson David Ocasio told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, referring to a Florida law signed this year that heavily restricts instruction and classroom materials about human sexuality.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_78710\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78710\" class=\"wp-image-78710 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-1536x853.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-2048x1138.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/167;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78710\" class=\"wp-image-78710 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-1536x853.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-13-23-picoult-1-2048x1138.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-78710\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha Van Leer pose at the opening night of the musical \u201cBetween The Lines,\u201d July 11, 2022 in New York City. (Bruce Glikas\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>No individual reasoning was given for each book\u2019s removal, but Ocasio said that all of the books had been marked as \u201cnot approved for any grade level.\u201d He added that every book will go through a secondary review to determine if it will be restricted to certain grade levels or \u201cweeded from the collection\u201d altogether.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the books on Orange County\u2019s list have come under scrutiny in the past for removals from other districts. \u201cThe Storyteller\u201d was the subject of widespread press coverage after a member of the right-wing activist group Moms For Liberty successfully pushed for its removal from a different Florida school district earlier this year. \u201cSophie\u2019s Choice\u201d was recently removed from a third Florida school district at the behest of a Jewish parent\u2019s challenge; both parents said their challenges were due to sexual content.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Other outwardly Jewish books on the list, including \u201cThe Reader\u201d and Philip Roth\u2019s \u201cPortnoy\u2019s Complaint,\u201d contain explicit sexual content. Non-Jewish World War II novels \u201cSlaughterhouse-Five\u201d and \u201cCatch-22\u201d were also pulled.<\/p>\n<p>Among the hundreds of other books flagged for removal in the district were frequently challenged books like \u201cGender Queer\u201d and \u201cThe Handmaid\u2019s Tale,\u201d as well as literary standards like Milton\u2019s \u201cParadise Lost\u201d and Maya Angelou\u2019s \u201cI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,\u201d and children\u2019s fare like a book based on Disney\u2019s \u201cThe Incredibles.\u201d Some items were listed more than once.<\/p>\n<p>Other districts in Florida this year have pulled an illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank\u2019s diary in order to comply with the state law.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Florida%20district%20pulls%20many%20Jewish%20and%20Holocaust%20books%2C%20including%20Saul%20Bellow%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%98Herzog%E2%80%99%20and%20%E2%80%98Black%2C%20White%20and%20Jewish%E2%80%99\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":78709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7135,25],"tags":[8371,7803,13516,3409,13515,13517],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78711,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78708\/revisions\/78711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}