The Lost Tribe of the Andes: A Jewish-American Family’s Struggle with Assimilation

The Lost Tribe of the Andes traces three generations of a Jewish family, from the 1800s in Eastern Europe to America in the present. In the aftermath of the death of her father, author Jane Genende began her search for meaning in her family's genealogical story. In the course of her research Jane uncovered a wealth of personalities as she traveled throughout Europe.

In this memoir and family history, Jane explores the challenges her family faced in the course of emigrating from Europe to America before World War II and assimilating into American culture; she also recalls the conflicted process of separation and individuation from a traditional Jewish family that she and her three siblings experienced during the 1960s. Her story deals with themes that are at once personal and universal: being the only girl, feeling like an outsider, struggling with her Jewish identity, assimilating into American culture, coping with the death of a parent, and raising a family of her own.

Jane's story is one that touches on the immigrant experience in America and presents a heartfelt and inspiring journey of self-discovery through family history.