Looking Back, Looking Forward

Finding Personal Meaning in the Jewish Immigration Story

Karen Treiger tells the story of her Jewish ancestors who arrived in the Pacific Northwest between 1870 and 1914. We can see Spokane and Seattle’s histories through the eyes of Jewish merchants.

Karen Treiger places herself in the long arc of history and invites others to join her time travel. Her new book, Standing on the Crack: The Legacy of Five Jewish Families from Seattle’s Vibrant Gilded Age, tells the story of her Jewish ancestors who journeyed across Oceans and Continents to arrive in the Pacific Northwest between 1870 and 1914. Spokane and Seattle developed into cities with their own character, but the early Jews who settled there have similar stories. We can see Spokane and Seattle’s histories through the eyes of Jewish merchants who had hopes and dreams for themselves and especially their children. 

Come explore your own story – wherever you ancestors are from.

Karen Treiger was born in Seattle and attended Barnard College and NYU Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She left her law practice in 2015 to write My Soul is Filled with Joy: A Holocaust Story, which chronicles her in-law’s survival during World War II. The book won the PNWA Nancy Pearl Book Award for Best Memoir and the Bronze Medal in World History from the Independent Publisher’s Association.

Her new book, released in August 2025, explores her immigrant Jewish family’s unique history and their contributions to Seattle’s business and Jewish communities, while inviting readers to reflect on the enduring importance of knowing one’s family story.

Karen has lived in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood for 37 years, where she and her husband raised four children. Today, she cherishes her role as Bubbi (grandmother).

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