Daughter of Israeli writer Amos Oz claims she was beaten by her father and “Subjected to a routine of sadistic abuse” during his childhood, in a book, “Something Disguised as Love”, published February 20 in Hebrew. The Memoirs of Galia Oz, author of children’s books, deal a blow to the image of a giant of literature and a moral referent of the Israeli left, who died in 2018 at the age of 79. So far, they have been greeted with great silence by Israeli letters.
“In my childhood, my father beat me, insulted and humiliated me, she writes. The violence was creative: he dragged me out of the house and threw me out. He called me names. It wasn’t a passing loss of control nor a slap here or there (…). My crime was me, so the punishment was endless. He needed to make me break up. “
In this book, Galia Oz returns to the impunity granted to a famous and esteemed father, and to his own difficulty in getting his family to accept his story: “This book is about me. But I am not the only one. Houses like the one I grew up in are sort of floating in space, out of the reach of social workers, out of the influence of revolutions like #metoo’s, leaving no trace on social media. Terrified and isolated, they cleverly encrypt their secrets, like criminal families. “
In its very factual first review of the book, the Israeli daily Haaretz emphasizes that a “A large question mark hung for years on the relationship between father and daughter, apparent even during his funeral and the ceremony that followed.” Interviewed on Sunday on Kan Bet public radio, Nili, Amos Oz’s widow, regretted that Galia had made her accusations public and denied that her husband could have physically abused her children.
“We have known another Amos all our life, recalled on Twitter previously his eldest daughter, historian Fania Oz-Salzberger, better known to the Israeli public. A warm and affectionate man who loved his family deeply and tenderly. He devoted himself to us body and soul. The vast majority of Galia’s accusations against Amos clearly contradict the loving memory imprinted on us throughout our lifetimes. “
Specifying that her sister had cut ties with her family seven years ago, she assures that her father “Hoped until his deathbed to speak again with Galia, to listen, to understand, even to grasp the accusations which contradicted the reality as he and we saw it. Galia’s pain is real and heartbreaking. But we remember differently. Completely different. “
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