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Elizabeth Sheremeta

COL 203

Professor Jana V. Schmidt

29 November 2010

Adam Resurrected

By Yoram Kaniuk

Before the war, Adam Stein was the owner and performer of Adams circus. He was a

magician, a clown, and impressed people with his supernatural ability to read a book through its cover.

His wife Gretchen was also an entertainer and they had two daughters Lotta and Ruth. Adam Stein was

a performer and he commanded everybodys attention.

During the war, the circus act continued as Adam survived the camp by entertaining people on

their way into the gas chambers and by playing Commandant Kleins dog. Adam was even forced to

amuse his wife and daughter Lotta as they walked into the gas chamber. He knew they were walking to

their death but he tried to keep them unaware, They smiled, knowing that they were safe. Was it

possible at that time to comfort them? And jeopardize everything? His whole purpose was to blot out

the fear of death. Adam lived because he could bark like a dog and even make Kleins actual dog, Rex

believe that Adam was really a dog, eating from a bowl on the floor, and walking on all fours. Ruth

survived Dachau but didnt survive the birth of her child and Adam regrettably never got to know either

of them.

After the war, he sold his circus and while its profits were enough to live on, he held on and off

again residence in Mrs. Seizlings Institute for Rehabilitation and Therapy in Arad, Israel which occupied

holocaust survivors. He was greatly affected from his experience at the camps as is proven by his stay at

the Institute. Nurses, doctors, and patients were enthralled by Adam. When he walked into a room


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people noticed and they doted on his every move and listened to his every word. Nurse Jenny actually

falls in love with Adam despite his illness. Patients look to Adam for guidance, advice in finances, and

education. He appears to be the ringleader of the Institute.

Upon his return to the Institute in 1965, after almost strangling Ruth, a lover and owner of a

boarding house who also loves Adam despite this incident, Dr. Gross tries to understand why Adam

keeps coming back, why he cannot seem to find a cure for him, I dont understand why we havent

figured out how to help you yet. Why? You are indeed an intelligent man, mature, who wasnt born

yesterday, who understands his situation thoroughly Therapy, medicine, and other forms did not

cure Adam Stein. He was incurable. He fights with his demons, his twin Herbert, who is much more

serious than Adam the entertainer and a figment of his imagination. Adam can think of an illness and

literally wish it upon himself such as a stomach ulcer or a hemorrhage from his big toe, another one of

Adams supernatural talents. During an episode in his room he appears to be unconscious but Jenny

believes with one eye unconscious, the other winks at her and she breaks out in laughter. No matter the

circumstance people find humor in Adams actions and words, a true performer.

During his stay at the Institute, Adam hears barking and growling from room 285. David, a dog

child occupies the room. The boy was doesnt realize he is actually a boy and not a dog but with the

guidance of Adam, he stops barking and starts typing. Perhaps this is why Adam was to survive the war,

to help this boy. Through his time with David, from dog to boy, Adam finds his cure. Adam and David

spend time together and without meaning to, they are the only ones who can help each other.

Adam is patient and spends days with him and just before Adam has another serious physically ailing

episode he says, We are memorial candles.We didnt die, theydid. Adam was very close to death

and says to David, I didnt die because I wanted to come back and see you again, I stopped the angel at

the very gate, I wrestled him, you must believe me, youre the only one in the entire idiotic building who


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is capable of understanding. He fought the angels of death so he could be with David to help him and

that was his only reason for living. The dog boy went from no human contact, living under a sheet

without bathing, to walking and talking. One dog helped save another dog.

This story is a realization of how people survived after the holocaust. Many people were

unsure of what to do with themselves afterwards and more than that they dealt with the memories and

visions of the tragedies seen. Surviving such a horrific event, many dealt with survivors guilt and didnt

know how to get back to a normal life. The Institute was established in hopes of helping the survivors

and it didnt seem to me as though they were very successful. When Adam is cured he says, I have

recovered and become an ordinary man. Sanity is pleasant, calm, amusing, but it lacks greatness, it

lacks true joy as well as the awful sorrow which slashes the heart. Sanity is sad. Nothing happens. I

live today in a lovely, good valley. The heights are gone forever.

I dont believe it was any accident that Yoram Kaniuk creates Adam Stein as a clown who

transforms into a dog. I believe Kaniuk uses a great amount of symbolism to establish dark humor for a

very serious topic. Creating a character that sinks to the lowest thinkable place a man can go is in my

mind very much on purpose. Not only is Adam degraded from clown to dog, but he must watch his wife

and child die and to a point almost seems jealous of them as he lives on suffering and he believes they

died with trust and peace in their hearts. The only thing shocking about this at all is that he doesnt

think about them/miss them until 2 years later!

To go from being a dog to helping a dog boy is therapeutic. You can get all of the best known

help in Israel but nothing helps but melodically walking a dog boy through life and transitioning him. I

suppose its one of those things if you havent been through it then you dont know how to help.

Together these two worked on being okay enough to go back into civilization and while not forgetting

their past and maybe not being excited about the future, being satisfied with just being the boring, sane.


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The state of the art rehab center that is placed in the middle of nowhere desert seems like a

dream come true. No monetary constraints, the best food, the best doctors, and the best treatments.

This also doesnt seem very realistic, but what does is the man working through his problems, dogging

them out if you will. Surgery helps Adam along and he winds up back with Ruth, the owner of the

boarding house. Adam never seems truly happy but he always puts on his act ensure that others laugh.

Guilt has been a common theme throughout this course and the readings and is of no

exception here. Survivors experienced guilt, people who were not there experienced guilt. Jenny feels

guilty. Though born in Israel, she experiences supreme sense of guilt whenever she hears stories of this

sort. Because she wasnt there. If she had been, everything would certainly have been different. Ruth

too thought that if she had been with her fatherIts an outstanding female trait, apparently. A woman

always thinks that her presence would have constituted a rescue. An influence. A lesson. For that

reason, all those who have tried to reform the world have slept with a woman.

I believe it is this sense of guilt that we want to know the stories. We want to know what makes

Adam tick. How could he continue on making people laugh, putting a smile on their face, knowing what

their fate will be? Moreover, how can you live seeing the things you have seen and having done the

things youve done? Is it possible to forgive and forget or at least just forget and move on with your life

after such a tragic event?

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