I remember my mother holding me as I cried while my father was taken off.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing, it’s nothing,” she whispered and kissed me, then said as if to be clear, “It’s nothing you can understand.”

WITH YURI, ENLIGHTENED BY STEVEN GILLIS 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 20

The first time I heard of Yuri Exelrod I was on the subway with my father. We were standing in the center of a half-empty car while two men next to …