Never, Again

Set in post-war Communist Hungary, in the fictional town of B?ke, Never, Again is the story of seven-year-old Tomi Wolfstein, the son of Holocaust survivors who have never told him anything about their past experiences in the concentration camps. When the story opens in the fall of 1956, Tomi is about to start school. "Never, Again" is Tomi's journey ? physical, emotional and symbolic ? from innocence to experience, to understanding and freedom. The story chronicles his adventures and experiences in the months leading up to and during the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Although most of the narrative is from his perspective, there are interwoven flashbacks to his parents? World War II experiences?of labour and concentration camps, of survival and escape. "Never, Again" is loosely based on Farkas's and his parents? experiences during this tumultuous time. By no means a black and white story, "Never, Again" takes place on a number of levels. It is about the complexities of being a child during turbulent times. It is about faith, prejudice, ignorance, hate and nationalism, as well as kindness, loyalty, hope and courage. Farkas calls his novel "Never, Again" because the phrase has resonance. Originally, it was a response to what was done to the Jews in World War II. It has since become a universal declaration to not allow such atrocities to happen to any other ethnic, cultural, religious, or political group. ?Never again? is civilization's response against man's barbarous nature. It reminds us that we have to be ever vigilant because, as we continue to see, these kinds of horrors can and do happen over and over again. This is why Farkas inserted a comma between ?Never? and ?Again to bring attention to this truth. The title is both a call for vigilance and a warning. "Never, Again" is a timely and timeless story. It is timely because 2016 is the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and the current rise of right wing nationalism. It is timeless because the desire to survive against our darker nature is eternal. And these stories must be told as a way of dealing with this darker nature.