Ellen Cassedy explores the ways that people, and countries, can engage with the difficult truths of the Holocaust in order to build a better future. She researched Lithuania’s encounter with its Jewish heritage, including the Holocaust, for ten years. Her book breaks new ground by shining a spotlight on how brave people – Jews and non-Jews – are facing the past and building mutual understanding. Cassedy is the winner of numerous awards and a frequent speaker about the Holocaust, Lithuania, and Yiddish language and literature.
By Ellen Cassedy
Can we honor our diverse heritages without perpetuating the fears and hatreds of the past? Ellen Cassedy set off into the Jewish heartland of Lithuania to study Yiddish and connect with her Jewish forebears. But then her personal journey into the old Jewish heartland expanded – into an exploration of how a land scarred by genocide is – and is not – engaging with the complex history of the Nazi and Soviet eras. Probing the terrain of memory and moral dilemmas, Cassedy shines a spotlight on fragile efforts toward mutual understanding, and offers a message of hope.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
By Miep Gies, Alison Leslie Gold
Miep Gies helped to hide Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis, risking her life to bring them food, news, and emotional support. She found Anne’s diary and brought the world a message of love and hope. Her inspiring story shows how ordinary people can act with tremendous courage in extraordinary times.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
By Eva Mozes Kor
Eva Mozes Kor was ten years old when she was sent to Auschwitz. As a survivor, she became an eloquent – and controversial – activist on behalf of forgiveness. Her book tells the gripping story of how she freed herself from the burden of hatred. Not everyone will agree with her stance, but everyone will be challenged and moved by it.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
By Timothy Snyder
Bloodlands is an original and profoundly humanist history. It takes you intimately into the lives of ordinary people in Eastern and Central Europe – the region Snyder terms “the bloodlands” – during the years of the Nazi and Stalinist regimes. Read this book to deepen your commitment to creating the conditions under which people can stand up, not just stand by.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
By Mimi Schwartz
Mimi Schwartz’s Jewish father grew up in a German town where Jews and gentiles got along – until the Nazi era put extraordinary strains on their ability to coexist peaceably. Schwartz explores how people who were not unusually brave managed to perform small acts of kindness and defiance. Her book offers important lessons for our time.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
By Louise Steinman
Steinman reaches out across a cultural divide to seek out Poles who are pursuing the truth about the past, however painful, and recovering the history of their lost Jewish neighbors. She brings to life the ultimately healing process of Polish-Jewish reconciliation. Her journey changed her, and it will change you.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
