Out of the Shadow

Catalog Note *Out of the Shadow* by Rose Cohen (1918) is an autobiographical memoir beginning with the author's childhood in a Russian village. The narrative opens with vivid domestic scenes: a log house with straw roof overlooking a lake, a traditional Jewish family engaged in seasonal work—the father a tailor, the mother spinning, the children learning needlework. The text captures both idyllic moments and early hardships, including strict parental discipline and childhood fears of the village cemetery. The excerpt then chronicles a pivotal family disruption: the father's abrupt emigration to America due to passport difficulties under Russian law, his arrest while crossing the border, and the family's efforts to arrange his return or escape. The narrative emphasizes emotional impacts on the household—the mother's silent tears, the grandmother's anguish, and the children's anxiety—while depicting the family's resilience and the younger sister's unexpected caregiving maturity. The text presents intimate domestic details alongside the larger pressures of Russian-Jewish life and emigration.