Weekend Reads: Honouring International Holocaust Remembrance Day

A Forgotten Heroby Shelley Emling (ECW Press, 2019)

If you have ever visited Berlin and taken a historical walking tour, you might be familiar with the sentiment that it is far more important to remember the stories of those that bravely led resistance efforts during the Holocaust than to dwell solely on those who perpetrated acts of hate. This is one of those stories. Shelley Emling shares the plight of the heroic Folke Bernadette – Swedish head of the Red Cross – and the humanitarian efforts that led to his successful rescue of more than 30,000 concentration camp prisoners during World War II.

Secrets in the Shadows by Heige S. Boehm (Ronsdale Press, 2020)

If you’re looking for a way to bring stories about the Holocaust to younger people in your life, give Secrets in the Shadows a try. This novel, aimed at young adult readers, shares the story of two eager German boys who become part of Hilter’s Youth. After witnessing the antisemitic murder of a young Jewish girl and experiencing the true horrors of the battlefield, the two begin to question and reject their allegiance to the Nazi regime and are forced to confront the dark secrets that wait for them in Berlin.

Holocaust to Resistance, My Journey by Suzanne Berliner Weiss (Roseway Publishing, 2019)

Author Suzanne Berliner Weiss delivers a moving memoir that takes us on a walk through the past of some of her earliest, most harrowing memories–including being hidden as a child from Nazis on a farm in rural France. Haunted by war, domestic conflict and more, Suzanne reveals how these influences would ultimately lead her towards a dedicated, lifelong commitment to changing the world and seeking peace.* * *