Book picks similar to
Soaring Underground by Larry Orbach
holocaust
e-read
wwii
biographies-and-memoirs
When The Legend Became Fact - The True Life of John Wayne
Richard Douglas Jensen - 2012
With decades of research and insight, Jensen lifts the veil of public relations half-truths and exposes the reality of the man who is still, 30 years after his death, the iconic Western movie hero and hero of red state America. Jensen proves that the public John Wayne was very different from the private man, who struggled with severe alcoholism, chronic infidelity, self-esteem and personal demons that often made life hell for his wives and children. The book painstakingly recounts the triumphs and tragedies of the life of John Wayne – who rose from abject poverty to become the world’s most famous movie star – and creates a portrait of a man haunted by a childhood of abuse; a man conflicted by his own definition of masculinity; a man fighting to control his own rage and his propensity for violence; a man who committed domestic violence against all three of his wives and his children; and a man haunted by and driven to overcome his fear of failure, poverty and ridicule.
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.
Kiss Every Step: A Survivor's Memoir from the Nazi Holocaust
Doris Martin - 2009
To begin their reign of terror, the Nazis burned down Bendzin's beautiful synagogue with some 200 helpless Jews inside. Most Jewish families in Bendzin, and rest of Poland were completely wiped out by the Holocaust. The Szpringers were just an ordinary middle-class family, but through many incredible strokes of luck, or perhaps miracles, all seven of them survived. For an entire Jewish family in Poland to survive the Holocaust is amazing--likely unique. What is more remarkable is how they survived. This is their story.
The Altered I: Memoir of Joseph Kempler, Holocaust Survivor
April Voytko Kempler - 2013
German soldiers have invaded his hometown of Krakow, Poland. Forced with his family to leave their home, business, and belongings, Joseph embarks on an adventure that changes his life forever. The family seeks shelter with a Polish peasant family in a small village, but the threat of discovery by the Nazis becomes imminent. Ultimately, Joseph determines that the best course of action is to join his brother, Dolek, in a forced labor camp. Thus begins a tortuous existence surviving six different concentration camps from the ages of fourteen to seventeen. Along the way he abandons family and faith. He curses God for allowing the Holocaust to happen and becomes an atheist. After a brief encounter with Christians imprisoned in the same camp, Joseph is stunned by their demonstration of faith, a faith he a had long-since left behind. This group of Bible students, known as Bibelforscher, leaves an indelible impression on his mind. Years later, after emigrating to the United States, he converts to a Christian faith. The Altered I chronicles Joseph's journey from his zealous beginnings in Judaism to his conversion, while shining new light on an untold story of the Holocaust.
Tilli's Story: My Thoughts Are Free
Lorna Collier - 2004
The small, poignant touches are riveting." -"Kirkus Discoveries""I think about what I want and what makes me happy, But orderly and quietly to myself. Because my thoughts tear down fortresses and walls, My thoughts are free. -German folk song, author unknown"The beautiful, safe, joyful places in young Tilli's imagination were her only refuge from the bombing that tore through the sky above her during World War II. Her thoughts were her only freedom from Hitler's Nazi tyranny, and they were her strength to survive after the war ended, when Russians invaded her tiny farming village in eastern Germany; forced her into months of hiding in a dark attic crawlspace; and took her innocence, her childhood, and nearly her life.Tilli's dreams-of a time when she could think and act freely, and travel, work, write, worship, and live however she wished-were what fueled the sixteen-year-old to courageously and single-handedly escape the terror of Stalin's harsh Communist rule and create her own happy ending in a free America.This true tale of sorrow and terror, hope and triumph, is Tilli's story-but it's also the story of the unthinkable suffering and untold bravery of countless innocent children who have lived through a war and its aftermath.
The Girl in the Cellar: Surviving the Holocaust in Nazi-Occupied Poland
Gerda Krebs Seifer - 2019
Escaping deportation to an extermination camp by hiding in the home of a Polish woman and using the papers of the woman's deceased, illegitimate daughter, Gerda never let go of the hope that she would one day reunite with her beloved father. Here, she tells her amazing story. Gerda's determination is what led her to survive the terrifying experience of the Holocaust. Since arriving in the United States as an immigrant, she has spoken about her experiences to community groups, schools, churches, and synagogues. She hopes to spread her message of peace, hope and tolerance to as many people as possible.
"Where's Sylvia? The Story of an American Child Lost in Nazi Germany"
Linda LaMura McFadden - 2011
They are supposed to bring her back before school starts in the fall. They don't. They can't. It's Autumn of 1939; Hitler's Blitzkrieg is in motion. Europe is at war! Sylvia is going to have to wait a lifetime. A US citizen, she will become an Enemy Alien when America enters WWII. Through the duration she lives with another aunt, a nun in a convent, has to go to German schools in the Rhineland then run east to Bavaria where her uncle is drafted into the German Army. Alone with Betty and her two babies she must survive the Allied invasion, her only hope of rescue. Her mother, deserted by her husband will go years without any knowledge of her only child. Everyone is waiting and wants to know, "Where's Sylvia?".
The Nuremberg Trials: The Nazis brought to justice
Alexander MacDonald - 2015
Twenty-one Nazi leaders were charged with crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity - and with having a common plan or conspiracy to commit those crimes. It was the first time judges and members of the judiciary had been charged with enforcing immoral laws. Doctors too stood in the dock for the many hideous medical experiments conducted in concentration camps, while members of the death squads were tried for the indiscriminate murder of civilians. The Nuremberg Trails brought closure to the Second World War.
Into No Man's Land
Irene Miller - 2012
starving. It is a story of courage, determination, perseverance and the power of the human spirit. Irene spent 8 years of her life in orphanages, but this did not destroy her dreams and desire to live live a full and rich life.
Mosquito Bites (The Watson Saga #2)
Roger Maxim - 2015
Navy Lieutenant Dave Watson is a fighter pilot who has experienced war in the Pacific and survived...almost. Wounded following the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, Watson is returned to the naval hospital in San Diego, California for treatment and recuperation. There, he meets up with an old friend-- a very special old friend. Dave heals his body and loses his heart. Once released back to flying duty, Watson receives his excitedly awaited new orders, but his orders are not what he hoped for nor expected. Follow him through the strange turn of events that leads to new friends, new experiences, and new danger. Find out that some mosquito bites are more lethal than others. Fasten your seatbelt and fly!
Prisoner in the mud: A young German's diary from 1945
Herwarth Metzel - 2020
The front lines are collapsing all around, bombs are falling. On Thuringia too, a state in the centre-east of Germany. The Second World War is nearing its end. Boys of fifteen and sixteen from the Jungvolk and Hitler Youth movements set off in the belief that they can still save the fatherland – they are determined to defend it, bravely and loyally. Inadequately armed, however, they are forced to retreat from the advancing enemy in an entirely pointless march. They are taken prisoner and transferred to one of the infamous camps near Bad Kreuznach. Conditions in the camp are tough. The diarist is fortunate enough to survive and to be released relatively early, at the end of June 1945. Germany, spring 2005. The fatherland too has survived and has been reunified. It is a year of commemoration days, of monuments and memorials, and in the run-up to the sixtieth anniversary it is already being declared by all the media as a year of remembrance of the downfall of the ‘Third Reich’. Inspired by this, the diarist, now seventy-five years old, remembers the notes and diary entries kept at that time by his fifteen-year-old self. Originally written on scraps of toilet paper, he copied them out after his fortunate return in July 1945, and has not looked at them since. The notes are very personal and honest and, above all, authentic. They give an insight into the experiences and the thoughts of a young boy who by his own admission left as a ‘proud soldier’ and returned home as a ‘pitiful vagabond’. It is a historical document. It is not the story of an individual fate. Thousands had the same experiences. That is why the diarist decided, with some hesitation, to publish his diary as a part of the historical truth, even if there already existed numerous reports and publications about the camps in Bad Kreuznach, Bretzenheim, Dietersheim, Bingen, Heidesheim and the other ‘Rhine Meadows camps’. All these records are testament to the fact that tyranny often abounds when one group of people is given unchecked power over another. According to Livy, as many as 2400 years ago the Gaulish king Brennus called to the defeated Romans: ‘Vae victis!’ – woe to the vanquished! Herwarth Metzel
Barbara's War Box Set
Fenella J. Miller - 2015
This is historical fiction set in World War 2 and shows Barbara Sinclair coming-of-age and learning to deal with the problems life throws at her. Barbara's War As war rages over Europe, Barbara Sinclair is desperate to escape from her unhappy home which is a target of the German Luftwaffe. Caught up by the emotion of the moment she agrees to marry John, her childhood friend, who is leaving to join the RAF, but a meeting with Simon Farley, the son of a local industrialist, and an encounter with Alex Everton, a Spitfire pilot, complicate matters. With rationing, bombing and the constant threat of death all around her, Barbara must unravel the complexities of her home life and the difficulties of her emotional relationships in this gripping coming-of-age wartime drama. The Middle Years Barbara's War - The Middle Years - is the second book in a three book series. The third and final book in this series will be released in September 2014. The phony war is over and Hitler is beginning his rampage through Europe. Barbara Sinclair is determined to 'do her bit' for the war effort but circumstances send her down another, unexpected path. She leaves her home to start a new life as a married woman but when the bombing raids begin, tragedy follows. The Resolution If Barbara's secret is discovered it will destroy her family, but no one can keep a secret forever. Her husband Alex, a Spitfire pilot, would reject her and her marriage will be over. A tragedy almosts rips the family apart and then Alex is posted abroad. Barbara has to learn to live without him. A series of domestic catastrophes, bad news and the unexpected appearance of her childhood friend, John Thorogood, cause her further heartache. Can she find a happy resolution to her problems?
Don’t Let Them Bag the Nines: The First World War Memoir of a de Havilland Pilot - Captain F. Williams MC DFC
DFC, F. Williams MC - 2019
. . and an old manuscript. This was the memoir of Captain Frederick Williams, who flew D.H.4s in photo reconnaissance and bomber raids over Germany.Starting when he was stationed in Nancy in 1918 and ending with his return home with a Croix de Guerre and a DFC to his name, Captain Williams’ vivid descriptions place the reader right in the air alongside him, relaying the thoughts running through his head as events unfolded around him. It is an important insight into the early development of bomber raids within the RAF.
Newark Minutemen
Leslie K. Barry - 2020
Inspired by a true American legend, a Jewish boxer trained by the mafia and FBI fights the rising American Nazi party. During his undercover mission to rid the country of the American Führer, he falls in love with the enemy’s daughter.