Holocaust and Good Books

The Holocaust weighs heavily on my soul.  However, I have found that there were people in every country, including Germany, who saw beyond the propaganda.  While some of these people were killed or sent to camps, others provided great service to the wold, saving those condemned.

Some Survivor Stories to add to your reading list:
Flory A. Van Beek, flory.  Her experiences in Denmark under German Occupation.
Jenna Blum, Those Who Save Us.  A mother who gives all, even life with a Nazi, to save her daughter.
Thomas Buergenthal, A Lucky Child.  Sometimes even in Auschwitz, a German soldier will allow a child to enter the camp instead of the "showers."
Tatiana De Rosnay, Sarah's Key.  A novel.  Sarah lives in France.  She locks her brother in a cupboard so that he may be saved, but she is taken and no one knows he is there.

I have done considerable research for my novel, OTTO,  Otto, and others, are Bavarian farm lads when Germany enters WWI.  Through their experiences together in the trenches they become friends.  They go their different ways when Germany loses the war.  Otto and his lieutenant end up as brown shirts and latter SS.  Otto becomes a member of the Einsatzgruppen which destroys those dangerous to Germany.  Otto's group is responsible for "cleansing" Lithuania.

I have been able to find two diaries which clearly describe, day by day, the events as they happened.  If you'd like to read them:

Kazimierz Sakowic, Ponary Diary 1941-1945.
William W. Mishell, Kaddish for Kovno.  Life and Death in a Lithuanian Ghetto 1941-1945.

I've read several other good books this year, some heavy, others not so...

Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants
John Hart, The Last Child
Kate Morton, The Distant Hours
Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden
Dan Simmons, Black Hills.

 
 Talk to you soon.  Kathy