Miriam Katin - Influences

A majority of Miriam Katin's work is based off of her life experiences of growing up as Jew. Whether it be from her escape as a child from Hungry, or her trials and tribulations with Israel, Miriam finds that through her drawings is the best way for her to express her emotions. With Jewish News 1, Miriam reflects about her emotions about her son accepting citizenship into Berlin, Germany. When her son first told her where he was planning to move, Miriam was not able to adequately talk about how she felt. Letting it Go, is a story of her drawing out the accounts of that life event. She holds nothing back as she even includes the part where when visiting her son, she soiled herself while sleeping on the first night. To find the news clip, click the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OcJ4auLjAI

It was not until she was 62, that Miriam decided to dictate a graphic novel about her own WWII survival story. Seeing Art Spiegelman's novel, Maus, said that it gave her "permission" to write about her own accounts. Feeling that her mother would be reluctant of her chosen career path, she was hesitate at first about exposing her true life events. In her memoir: We Are On Our Own, she was able to involve her mother in the pre-printing process in which her mother gave her the confidence to publish the book. All of her work is about her struggle about being a Jewish citizen. She writes about her lack of faith, troubled relationships, family hardships and her direct place in history.

Interview with the Jewish Women Archive:

https://jwa.org/blog/graphic-details-interview-miriam-katin