Best of
Holocaust

2011

The Street Sweeper


Elliot Perlman - 2011
    From the civil rights struggle in the United States to the Nazi crimes against humanity in Europe, there are more stories than people passing one another every day on the bustling streets of every crowded city. Only some stories survive to become history.Recently released from prison, Lamont Williams, an African American probationary janitor in a Manhattan hospital and father of a little girl he can’t locate, strikes up an unlikely friendship with an elderly patient, a Holocaust survivor who was a prisoner in Auschwitz-Birkenau.A few blocks uptown, historian Adam Zignelik, an untenured Columbia professor, finds both his career and his long-term romantic relationship falling apart. Emerging from the depths of his own personal history, Adam sees, in a promising research topic suggested by an American World War II veteran, the beginnings of something that might just save him professionally, and perhaps even personally.As these men try to survive in early-twenty-first-century New York, history comes to life in ways neither of them could have foreseen. Two very different paths—Lamont’s and Adam’s—lead to one greater story as The Street Sweeper, in dealing with memory, love, guilt, heroism, the extremes of racism and unexpected kindness, spans the twentieth century to the present, and spans the globe from New York to Chicago to Auschwitz.Epic in scope, this is a remarkable feat of storytelling.

I Was a Boy in Belsen


Tomi Reichental - 2011
    Along with 12 other members of his family he was taken to a detention camp where the elusive Nazi War Criminal Alois Brunner had the power of life and death.His story is a story of the past. It is also a story for our times. The Holocaust reminds us of the dangers of racism and intolerance, providing lessons that are relevant today.

Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust


Ruth Thomson - 2011
    It was a "show" camp, where inmates were forced to use their artistic talents to fool the world about the truth of gas chambers and horrific living conditions for imprisoned Jews. Here is their story, told through the firsthand accounts of those who were there. In this accessible, meticulously researched book, Ruth Thomson allows the inmates to speak for themselves through secret diary entries, artwork, and excerpts from memoirs and recordings narrated after the war. Terezín: Voices from the Holocaust is a moving portrait that shows the strength of the human will to endure, to create, and to survive.

Irena's Jars of Secrets


Marcia K. Vaughan - 2011
    She became a social worker; and after the German army occupied Poland during World War II, Irena knew she had to help the sick and starving Jews who were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto. She began by smuggling food, clothing, and medicine into the ghetto, then turned to smuggling children out of the ghetto. Using false papers and creative means of escape, and at great personal risk, Irena helped rescue Jewish children and hide them in safe surroundings. Hoping to reunite the children with their families after the war, Irena kept secret lists of the children’s identities.Motivated by conscience and armed with compassion and a belief in human dignity, Irena Sendler confronted an enormous moral challenge and proved to the world that an ordinary person can accomplish deeds of extraordinary courage.

By My Mother's Hand


Henry Melnick - 2011
    Shortly after the Nazis occupied Poland in 1939, he was sent to do slave labour in the Nowy Sącz, Tarnów Ghettos and Szebnie camp. He was then transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buna, Dora-Mittelbau and Bergen-Belsen death camps. When his parents were murdered in the Belżec death camp, he became the sole survivor of his entire family. After liberation, Henry volunteered for the Israeli Army and fought for Israel’s independence. He came to Canada in 1965 with his wife Hela and their two children.His story is one of strength and courage. His survival is nothing short of a miracle.

Ken Follett World War II Thriller Collection


Ken Follett - 2011
    The Key to RebeccaJackdaws Hornet Flight

Living a Life That Matters: from Nazi Nightmare to American Dream


Ben Lesser - 2011
    He also shows how this madness came to be–and the lessons that the world still needs to learn.In this true story, the reader will see how an ordinary human being–an innocent child–not only survived the Nazi Nightmare, but achieved the American Dream–and how you can achieve it too.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay Summary & Study Guide


BookRags - 2011
    35 pages of summaries and analysis on Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.

Saved by the Enemy


Craig A. Ledbetter - 2011
    With the clouds gathering, they realized they had no means to leave and therefore must ride out the storm. Their hopes faded as stricter restrictions were placed on them and the bullying and hatred of Jews intensified. Suddenly, Kristallnacht erupted and the numbers of killings and deportations surged. The family was repeatedly pushed deeper into the neglected ghettos, and the father was forced into slave labor. The Nazi SS was assigned the task of making Berlin the center of Hitler s growing evil empire Judenfrei (Jewish free). The mother and children had no choice but to flee the terror when it finally arrived at their door; it was already too late for the father. Running into the night, with no other options, the mother made a phone call to a woman who might be either a friend or an enemy. A plan was quickly hatched. "There is no good place to hide; you can only hide amongst your enemy and pray that your secret is not discovered." And what a train ride it was....

Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto


Paul B. Janeczko - 2011
    Janeczko's stirring collection of poems goes inside the walls of the notorious camp to portray the indomitable spirit of those incarcerated there.Hitler hailed Terez�n (Theresienstadt) as a haven for artistic Jews, when in reality the Czech concentration camp was little more than a way station to the gas chambers. In his second book inspired by devastating history, acclaimed poet Paul B. Janeczko gives voice to this heartrending creative community: its dignity, resilience, and commitment to art and music in the face of great brutality. The many memorable characters he conjures include a child who performs in the camp's now famed production of Brundib�r, a man who lectures on bedbugs, and a boy known as Professor, who keeps a notebook hidden in his shoe. Accented with dramatic illustrations by prisoners, found after WW II, Janeczko's spare and powerful poems convey Terez�n's tragic legacy on an intimate, profoundly moving scale.

Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival


June Feiss Hersh - 2011
    The first professionally written kosher cookbook of its kind is a moving compilation of food memories, stories about food and families, and recipes from Holocaust survivors from Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Greece.

Gatehouse to Hell


Felix Opatowski - 2011
    It is a skill that will serve him well as he tries to stay alive in Nazi-occupied Poland. With dogged determination, Felix endures months of harrowing conditions in the ghetto and slave labour camps until he is deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in the spring of 1943. Recognized for his nerve and daring spirit, he is soon recruited as a runner for the Polish Underground inside the camp and is implicated in the infamous plot to blow up the camp crematoria - something for which he pays dearly

The Time of Jacob's Trouble Trilogy


Chris Hambleton - 2011
    Her old alliances are unraveling, while new alliances against her are rising.Rocket attacks on Haifa and Sderot are increasing, and Israel cautiously prepares a response to a conflict that many fear will never end. Rumors are even circulating that several nuclear warheads have slipped through the Israeli blockade into Gaza.And then a decision is made that will change the fate of the Middle East – and the world – forever.Follow the exciting saga of the End Times with the Rosenberg family as they struggle to adapt and survive in a world quickly being altered by war, fear, and extraterrestrial encounters. Will they be able to discern the truth of the times before it's too late?

Gated Grief: The Daughter of a GI Concentration Camp Liberator Discovers a Legacy of Trauma


Leila Levinson - 2011
    It is a touching story of search, revelation, and recovery.

Escape to Virginia: From Nazi Germany to Thalhimer’s Farm


Robert H. Gillette - 2011
    They studied agriculture at the Gross Breesen Institute and hoped to secure visas to gain freedom from the tyranny around them. Richmond department store owner William B. Thalhimer created a safe haven on a rural Virginia farm where Eva and Töpper would find refuge. Discover the remarkable true story of two young German Jews who endured the emotional torture of their adolescence, journeyed to freedom and ultimately confronted the evil that could not destroy their spirit. Author Robert H. Gillette retells this harrowing narrative that is sure to inspire generations to come.

From Hell to the Promised Land: A Boy's Daring Escape from Nazi Concentration Camp


Sam Silberberg - 2011
    A Holocaust memoir of a Jewish boy who was only 10 years of age when the Nazis marched into Poland. It describes his life under Nazi occupation, experiences of 2.5 years in two Nazi concentration camps with his father, his daring escape during the "Death March," liberation, post-war adventures involving the journey to the Promised Land, his deportation to Cyprus, and finally the War of Independence for the State of Israel.

Faithful Friends: Holocaust Survivors' Stories of the Pets Who Gave Them Comfort, Suffered Alongside Them and Waited for Their Return


Susan Bulanda - 2011
    In the dangers and privations of war, they focused on comforting and protecting their people; and when the family was taken away, they waited and watched for their return.

Courage in the Face of Evil


Mark Shaw - 2011
    Through Vera's eyes, we are reminded that love may be universal when human survival is at stake. At one point Vera dumfounds Nazi captors by organizing a Christmas party where children from 23 countries sing "Silent Night" bringing joy to those like Andrea facing transport to Auschwitz or extermination the next day.Written in the spirit of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, the daring exploits of Vera, a true angel of mercy, shine through in dramatic fashion as hate, love and trust in God collide during the horrors of the Holocaust.

We Remember. by Child Survivor's Association


Child Survivor's Association - 2011
    'We Remember' is an anthology of memoirs based on the experiences of Jewish children who survived under Nazi rule.

Murder Over the Border


Richard Steinitz - 2011
    His post collapses suddenly, injuring him seriously.After recovering, he discovers that during the collapse he has unwittingly taken a picture of what appears to be a murder - on the other side of the border. Now on ‘easy duty’, he goes to an Interpol conference in Amsterdam where he meets a Jordanian police office, and they are attacked by an unknown assailant. After this second injury, he is discharged from the police force and takes a job in the Prime Minister’s office, dealing with the secret peace negotiations.

Legacy of Rescue: A Daughter's Tribute


Marta Fuchs - 2011
    Due to Marta's father's testimony, Zoltán Kubinyi, a devout Seventh Day Adventist, was posthumously honored as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem.The story of rescue came full circle in the Summer of 2011 when Marta and her brother took their children (all in their '20s) back to Hungary to meet the rescuer's family. The rescuer's son, now in his late '60s, never knew his father, and with his wife and granddaughters – the great grandchildren of Zoltán Kubinyi -- Marta's family talked about the heroic actions of his father and how this courageous man none of them knew has made such an indelible impact on all their lives.

Even to the Edge of Doom: A Love That Survived the Holocaust. William and Rosalie Schiff, and Craig Hanley


William Schiff - 2011
    This book tells the story of how they stayed alive against all odds to find one another again.

Remembering Forever: A Journey of Darkness and Light


Eva Olsson - 2011
    

Branded on My Arm and in My Soul: A Holocaust Memoir by Abraham W. Landau


Abraham W. Landau - 2011
    

Awake Now, Sailor


Eddie Vega - 2011
    As he struggles to adjust to his new life, he is haunted by the woman he left behind in Cardiff — a bookbinder and practicing witch.At once a seafaring novel, a New York novel, and Cuban novel, Awake Now, Sailor includes pirate fights in the Bay of Bengal, gypsy cab rides into the dark heart of Brooklyn, a drunken mountain climb in Wales, cane cutting in Oriente de Cuba, and a smashed a guitar in a Havana radio station that ends a musical career. As a special treat, the book includes décima campesinas, a poetic form popular in Cuba, and an original sea shanty translated into Welsh by British poet Menna Elfyn.

Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich


Robert Gerwarth - 2011
    Chief of the Nazi Criminal Police, the SS Security Service, and the Gestapo, ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and leading planner of the "Final Solution," Heydrich played a central role in Hitler's Germany. He shouldered a major share of responsibility for some of the worst Nazi atrocities, and up to his assassination in Prague in 1942, he was widely seen as one of the most dangerous men in Nazi Germany. Yet Heydrich has received remarkably modest attention in the extensive literature of the Third Reich.Robert Gerwarth weaves together little-known stories of Heydrich's private life with his deeds as head of the Nazi Reich Security Main Office. Fully exploring Heydrich's progression from a privileged middle-class youth to a rapacious mass murderer, Gerwarth sheds new light on the complexity of Heydrich's adult character, his motivations, the incremental steps that led to unimaginable atrocities, and the consequences of his murderous efforts toward re-creating the entire ethnic makeup of Europe.

I Was at the Auschwitz Crematorium. A Conversation with Henryk Mandelbaum, Former Prisoner and Member of the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz


Igor Bartosik - 2011
    Henryk Mandelbaum (1922-2008), a boy from a poor Jewish family, was chosen by the SS for an unimaginably onerous job. The Sonderkommando — the special labor detail — was present in every one of the extermination camps that the Nazis set up during the Second World War. The basic duty of the prisoners selected for this kind of work was burying or burning the bodies of murdered prisoners, cleaning out the rooms used as gas chambers, sorting the valuables left behind by the victims, and other tasks connected with the mass murder of Jews.It is difficult to compare the experience of the "Sonders" in the extermination centers with anything else in human history.Henryk Mandelbaum's momoirs have exceptional value. Above all, they are not contaminated by secondary sources. Mandelbaum's account is characterized by exceptional authenticity. A historian would call it raw and uninformed but Mandelbaum makes each of his assertions confidently and with full conviction. When he is unsure of something, he remains silent. He remembers people's appearances better than their names.His story is authentic, true and moving.

Flags Over the Warsaw Ghetto: The Untold Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising


Moshe Arens - 2011
    A short time before the uprising began, Pawel Frenkel addressed a meeting of the Jewish Military fighters: "Of course we will fight with guns in our hands, and most of us will fall. But we will live on in the lives and hearts of future generations and in the pages of their history.... We will die before our time but we are not doomed. We will be alive for as long as Jewish history lives!" On the eve of Passover, April 19, 1943, German forces entered the Warsaw ghetto equipped with tanks, flame throwers, and machine guns. Against them stood an army of a few hundred young Jewish men and women, armed with pistols and Molotov cocktails. Who were these Jewish fighters who dared oppose the armed might of the SS troops under the command of SS General Juergen Stroop? Who commanded them in battle? What were their goals? In this groundbreaking work, Israel's former Minister of Defense, Prof. Moshe Arens, recounts a true tale of daring, courage, and sacrifice that should be accurately told out of respect for and in homage to the fighters who rose against the German attempt to liquidate the Warsaw ghetto, and made a last-ditch fight for the honor of the Jewish people. The generally accepted account of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is incomplete. The truth begins with the existence of not one, but two resistance organizations in the ghetto. Two young men, Mordechai Anielewicz of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB), and Pawel Frenkel of the Jewish Military Organization (ZZW), rose to lead separate resistance organizations in the ghetto, which did not unite despite the desperate battle they were facing. Included is the complete text of The Stroop Report translated into English."

All the Pretty Shoes


Marika Roth - 2011
    Running, starved and shoeless, through the streets of Budapest, ALL THE PRETTY SHOES is the story she survived to write.“Marika Roth’s narrative holds us captive throughout one hell of a ride: betrayal, sexual predators, love affairs, modeling career, kidnapping of her children... Not to be missed!” —Tova Laiter, Producer, The Scarlett Letter and Varsity Blues“A story about the indomitable spirit of a woman faced with unimaginable horrors and impossible odds. Roth tells her extraordinary tale with clarity and a remarkable lack of self-pity.” —Jillian Lauren, Author, SOME GIRLS: MY LIFE IN A HAREM“I remember Marika calling to say she’d discovered a memorial to the atrocity she’d witnessed … I googled it and suddenly the draft of her memoir in my hands felt very, very heavy. This is a powerful book about overcoming the ongoing, chronic victimization that is all too often the prolonged second act of the refugee ordeal.” —Robert Morgan Fisher, Award-Winning Writer“…plucks at an emotional inner chord and serves as a portrayal of hope for the human condition.” —Stefan Pollack, The Pollack PR Marketing Group“I have read books about how people suffered during WWII, like Imre Kertesz who won the Nobel Prize, but none moved me as much as ALL THE PRETTY SHOES. Roth’s style, the way she narrated how cruel life can be, without judging others, truly brought tears to my eyes.” —Vivian Nagy, Hungary“A story of self-discovery, wonderfully told, full of such drama that one can hardly believe that an innocent little girl could endure so much. I couldn’t put it down!” —Mary Stokes-Rees, China“The story of Anne Frank cannot even compare to what Marika went through. A book all teenagers and young adults should read.” —Shelia Durfey, Independent

Abe's Story: A Holocaust Memoir


Abram Korn - 2011
    He survived the entire war as a Jewish prisoner, enduring two Nazi ghettos, eight concentration camps, and a 45-day Death March from Auschwitz. Astonishingly, Abe kept his sense of human dignity- with gangrenous feet he struggled to stay on the healthy workers list; with scan supplies he bargained for food and coal and helped others survive. Abe never gave up hope. He always believed he could live one more day, and on April 11, 1945, when Buchenwald was liberated, Abe was finally free. After Liberation, Abe focused on going to school and earning a living. Eventually, as a man earnest to forgive past sins and take individuals at face value, he married a German Lutheran, who later converted to Judaism. They moved to the United States, where Abe had a remarkably successful business. Abram Korn died in 1972. Abe left the rough draft of a manuscript of his story. Twenty years after his death, Abe's son, Joey began completing his father's story and the First Edition of Abe's Story was published by Longstreet Press on April 11th, 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of Abe's liberation. The current edition is published by Sugarcreek Press. To the family he raised proudly in the Jewish tradition, Abe left a legacy of powerful inspiration. For modern-day readers seeking the best in Holocaust literature and riveting drama, Abe's Story is an incredible story of hope, of the human potential to do good in the face of horrible evil. Abe's Story is about hope, not despair. It's about life, not death. It's a powerful source of inspiration for a all who read it. "Important testimony." �- Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Price Laureate and author of Night. "Powerful. Unforgettable. Abe's Story is an inspiration to all who read it." - Pat Conroy, author of Prince of Tides and Beach Music. "An extraordinary memoir by an Auschwitz survivor, whose son rescued the manuscript from oblivion." - John Stoessinger, Trinity University, author of Might of Nations and Why Nations Go to War.'

Light in Darkness: A Survivor's Story


Simon Sterling - 2011
    

Waltzing with the Enemy: A Mother and Daughter Confront the Aftermath of the Holocaust


Rasia Kliot - 2011
    Rasia, determined to protect Helen from anti-Semitism, continues to pose as a Christian and raises her daughter in the Catholic faith, forbidding her from mentioning her Jewish identity. This compassionate memoir addresses the unspoken tension that complicated a mother-daughter relationship, follows Helen on her journey to embrace Judaism, and is a heart-stopping story of escape and survival from Nazi terror.

From Holocaust to Innovation


David Klayman - 2011
    How he recovered and became a productive industrialist.Story starts at childhood at small town in Poland. The horrible world-war II events terminated at Auschwitz concentration camp. The escape from the camp two weeks before the end of the war. Building a new life in Israel as a new immigrant. Establishing a factory with innovative products while raising his children.