ONE WOMAN, TWO LIVES - The Secret Journal of a Holocaust Survivor


Carolyn Mevorah - 2020
    

Displaced: A Holocaust Memoir and the Road to a New Beginning


Linda Schwab - 2020
    Just six years old when a band of Nazi soldiers arrived in her tiny shtetl in Myadel, Poland, Linda observed atrocities no child ever needs to witness. With her parents and two brothers, during the summer of 1942, Linda was forcibly relocated into a ghetto where most of the Jewish men were led to the nearby forest and killed in a pogrom. After the massacre, Linda escaped with her family into the Ponar Forest, but only after evading Polish nationals and Nazis that patrolled Poland's countryside. Deep in the woods, Linda's family lived in a cave. They survived brutal winters, eluded partisan fighters that might force Linda's father to leave the family, and remained out of sight from Nazis and Polish police, who at one point, came only feet from their dugout.Written with historian Todd M. Mealy during a time when Holocaust deniers aim to rehabilitate the Nazi ideology and as roughly 400,000 survivors remain with us, Displaced presents Schwab's singular voice. Her narrative will help maintain-if not bolster-Holocaust knowledge, as her story of surviving the Polish wilderness during WWII and in a Displaced Persons Camp after the war is unique from most accounts. Displaced will inspire the rest of us to confront hatred in its many forms.

My Eyes Looking Back at Me: Insight Into a Survivor's Soul


Menucha Meinstein - 2015
    Rejoice over the bonds of love, friendship and forgiveness, of finding relatives, and share the triumph of unexpected turns in Leah's story that will inspire you, leaving you breathless. "How did she do it?" You'll find it all here, as you follow Leah through the many phases of her life, her redemption and revenge against Hitler's evil, and to grateful happiness during her 90th year. When Leah Cik Roth decides to write her secret memoirs for her children, writer, Menucha Meinstein, walks into her life as a volunteer. The two develop the deepest of human bonds as together they uncover Leah's lifelong bitterness and suppressed Holocaust memories. Through Soul-Writing, they struggle to relive Leah's stories, revealing heroic patterns of resilience from the young age of five. Her memories bring out fresh pain, and renewed feelings of loss and loneliness. The Holocaust is merely a backdrop to Leah's life. Together, the two women share joy in the legacy that Leah leaves for the world.

Run Rachel Run: The Thrilling, True Story of a Teen’s Daring Escape and Heroic Survival During the Holocaust


Rachel Blum - 2017
    (Not just based on a true story.) Rachel Blum was 12 when the Nazis invaded her town. Over the next three years, she witnessed war, risked her life to smuggle food for her family, escaped liquidation, hid with a kind Polish couple whose son worked for the SS, was questioned if she was a Jew by an SS General and engineered an incredibly dangerous scheme to overturn a moving trainload of 1,000 Nazi soldiers.Hers is not just an incredible, action-packed story, but represents a character arc that young women, as well as young men, as well as adults of all types can draw inspiration from. She did not begin as a selfless, courageous young girl she came to be. Her strength and determination evolved through her experiences.Once you start “Run Rachel Run,” you won’t be able to put it down. Once you finish, you’ll be shivering in awe how invigoratingly heroic the story of Rachel Blum is. Reviews “This is incredible!” Jessica Classen “What a testimony of courage and love” Rick Dearmore “Wonderful and inspiring and brave person” Helen Schwab An Excerpt July, 1944. Ivan Roluk couldn’t believe he was listening to a 15-year-old girl – and putting his life and the life of his family in her hands!But she was right. Driving trains for the Nazis for three years now, he knew exactly who the Germans were. He knew that there were once more than 20,000 Jews in the girl’s home town of Ludmir, and now there was only one. The courageous young girl, Rachel.Rachel -- who had just convinced him to risk his life, as well as the life of his wife and son.There was a risk either way, of course. The war was coming to an end and who knew what the Germans would do to them once they didn’t need his services any longer. It was a risk to do it, but a risk not to do it.He looked behind him. The 20 train cars filled with over 1,000 wounded Nazi soldiers snaked behind his engine-car like a meandering river. In the caboose at the tail of the train was his wife, his son and the little Jewish girl.Suddenly, he heard a slam. What was that? It sounded like the door connecting the engine-car to the first car, which was occupied by high-ranking Nazi officers. Was one of them coming up front?The moment of truth had arrived.He thrust the throttle full ahead….The train jerked forward…. He looked out the window. There, up ahead, was the bend! Had he waited too long?There was no more time to think. There was no more time for fear. It truly was now or never. He leaned out the open side door….

Displaced: A Memoir


Esther Wiebe - 2020
    In the span of her early childhoodthrough adulthood, Esther takes you on a journey of unspeakable losses, survival,resilience and strong family bonds.For Esther, the youngest of fourteen siblings born into a conservative Mennonite Colony in the heart of South America, everyday life revolves around rules, routine and monotonous chores on a family farm without so much as electricity and running water. As she sees it, her childhood is normal and ordinary. That is until one catastrophic day when everything changes. Suddenly, eleven-year-old Esther must leave behind everything she’s ever known.This is the true, heartbreaking account of growing up in a Mennonite family and theharrowing events that eventually lead to her and her three youngest siblings’ dramatic escape to Canada. Everything Esther has ever known about her identity is left behind as she struggles to find a place for herself in a new country, a new culture, and a new language.

In the Shadow of Majdanek. Hiding in Full Sight . : A Holocaust Survival Story


Irene R. Skolnick - 2017
    This is what mother decided would be our best chance at survival. This was not an easy undertaking. To blend into the Polish community it was essential not to look Jewish; not to sound Jewish; to know a fair amount about Catholicism; and be able to think on your feet when unexpected events occurred. Above all one needed to be lucky. With counterfeit documents we changed our name and moved to Lublin, the site of Majdanek, the second largest concentration camp in Poland. At that time I was five years old and my brother was seven. We had to learn new names and to never reveal our past. No sooner we got settled that members of my father’s family descended on us seeking shelter. In a small, primitive house we hid up to eight members of my father’s family.

Fall Out: A Memoir of Friends Made and Friends Unmade


Janet Street-Porter - 2006
    Everyone needs them. Especially when relations between you and your family are less than perfect. And for the talented and ambitious Janet Street-Porter, her friends became her family. is the story of these vibrant characters – some famous, some infamous, all extraordinary – and their often volatile relationships with her. Above all, it is a portrait of an exciting and creative era, by someone who lived it to the full.

Just A Little Girl: Despair and Deliverance


Anna Halberstam Rubin - 2018
    In this fascinating coming-of-age memoir of the years 1942-1946, the sole surviving descendant of a prominent European dynasty of Hasidic rabbis describes her miraculous survival as a teenager wandering through the Holocaust.

The Diary of Nalie: A collection of life lessons and reflections shared while thriving through stage IV cancer


Nalie Agustin - 2021
    

Prison Days: True Diary Entries by a Maximum Security Officer July, 2018


Simon King - 2018
    Stabbings, rapes, and assaults are on the increase, an escape leaves officers looking for answers, a prisoner does the unthinkable, strip searching is taken to another level and exactly how does an officer smuggle alcohol in? This is life behind the walls as told by a real correctional officer.

My Will to Live: My Story of Surviving the Holocaust


Eve Gordon - 2014
    His life is rapidly changed. His family is destroyed. An unbelievable story about escape, intrigue, survival and the miraculous ability of one young man to outwit and outlive his gestapo torturers.

The Kennedys: The True Story Behind America's Most Powerful Family


Hilary Brown - 2015
    It is the story of an Irish immigrant family who, through hard work, unparalleled drive and ruthless ambition, worked their way up the ladder of American society, ultimately reaching the highest office in the land. The story of the Kennedys is a true reflection of the American dream and is one you will want to hear again and again.

Girl In Hiding: Remembrances of a Holocaust Survivor


Ellen-Ruth Karpowitz Song - 2017
    I was locked in the attic and only the older daughter, Len, was at home. I heard her say that she did not have a key to the attic door since her mother always carried the key, and I knew trouble had come. I moved over into a large box that was pushed under the eaves that was our agreed-upon hiding spot. I closed the top as best I could and soon heard the sounds of the attic door being broken down. In came a man to search the attic. More than once I saw the shadow of the searcher over me.” In this remarkable memoir, Ellen-Ruth Karpowitz Song recounts with astonishing clarity and a touch of humor her harrowing experiences as a child hiding from The Nazis in German-occupied Holland during World War II. Shuffled from family to family over an event-filled three-year period, Ellen-Ruth recalls how her saviors repeatedly risked their own lives to shield hers from the atrocities of the time. Ellen-Ruth’s grown children also provide their thoughts on their mother’s early history, and share insights into how this knowledge has affected their own lives. An extensive Appendix includes documentation of the ordeal and a photo gallery of lives lost and those left to carry on. Featured in Steven Spielberg’s SHOAH project, Ellen-Ruth’s amazing story is a memorable testimony of the strength of the human spirit. May we never forget...

Bringing Cheyenne Home


Rachel Jensby - 2015
     Cheyenne was an abused toddler, victimized first by her biological father, and then again by the family court system that knowingly refused to protect her from further abuse. Her family took her into hiding to help her escape a fate of a childhood filled with chronic sexual abuse. Bringing Cheyenne Home details the experiences of this family upon coming out of hiding, from their first day back in court through the tumultuous years afterward, including a peek into Cheyenne's life today.

King of the Gypsies: Memoirs of the Undefeated Bareknuckle Champion of Great Britain and Ireland


Bartley Gorman - 2003
    Bartley Gorman was a legend in the brutal world of illegal prize-fighting, and this long-awaited auto-biography, with many unique photographs, lifts the lid on a secret sub-culture.