Officially, I’m an award-winning author and specialist in the fields of psychology, trauma, and spirituality. I’m also a professionally trained therapist, clinical ethicist, and researcher. Ultimately, I’m an ardent believer that the same life that brings us joy also (sometimes) brings us pain. More importantly, that every aspect of life has a role to play in making us who we are today and who we’ll be tomorrow. We don’t always have control over the events in life, but the script we live by is ours to write—and write it we must, as only we can. I’m also a three-time heart attack survivor.
If you think you know yourself, think again. The sole (or really soul) purpose of Simon Wiesenthal’s book is to reawaken the conscience: Would you offer forgiveness to a dying young Nazi SS soldier for the brutal murder of Jews in which he participated, and that was consuming his conscience?
This question, at the heart of this book, is one Wiesenthal faced when he was in the concentration camps—to which he responded no. For decades, he wrestled with conflicting feelings about his decision, and in this poignant page-tuner, he inspires readers to consider the same.
What particularly grabbed me was not only the eloquent writing and storytelling (the first part is a memoir) but also its coupling with the spectrum of responses from nearly 30 theologians, spiritual leaders, scholars, writers, and statesmen who offer their own feelings on the question of forgiveness (part two).
A Holocaust survivor's surprising and thought-provoking study of forgiveness, justice, compassion, and human responsibility, featuring contributions from the Dalai Lama, Harry Wu, Cynthia Ozick, Primo Levi, and more.
You are a prisoner in a concentration camp. A dying Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness. What would you do?
While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to--and obtain absolution from--a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion…
I grew up in a British military family, where the war and its triumphs and tragedies always felt close. My father was a member of the famed British secret agent network, SOE. He parachuted into Greece and faced capture and torture as he helped rescue 7,000 Italian soldiers stranded in the mountains. My mother’s fiancé, Martin Preston, was killed in 1940 in France. My second book, The Very White Of Love, recreated their story in fiction. I have always read passionately about the period and interviewed many other authors about the subject while I curated National Geographic’s popular column, Book Talk.
I was gripped from page one by this true story of two young lovers in Auschwitz.
Zippi Spitzer and David Wisnia are trapped inside a waking nightmare, yet nevertheless discover a love that sustained them through history’s darkest hour. I followed their survival beneath the ash-choked skies of Auschwitz with heart-wrenching amazement and was especially moved by how they were protected by their fellow inmates, proving that even in the midst of unimaginable horrors, humanity survives.
I also found the ending of the story deeply satisfying, as, having left the camp, the lovers make plans to meet again, though they are unable to imagine how long their reunion will take or how many lives they will live before they finally come together.
'Haunting and powerfully resonant... this is a story not just of remarkable individuals, but also a tribute to the wider indomitability of the human spirit at the darkest moment in European history' - Sinclair McKay, bestselling author of Berlin and Dresden
Zippi Spitzer and David Wisnia's story began when they first locked eyes across the work floor. It was the start of a romance that could have unfolded anywhere if it weren't for one key difference: Zippi and David were prisoners in history's most infamous death camp.
David and Zippi defied the odds by surviving for years beneath the ash-choked…
I am a speaker, grief investigator, filmmaker, and voracious reader! Since the death of my eldest son, Harry, 23 years ago, I have become passionate about changing the landscape for people who have to face life and work when they are living with grief. Books on grief helped me enormously right from the start with Harry’s diagnosis when I was going through ‘living’ or ‘anticipatory grief’ and even more after Harry’s death. They could be fiction or factual; it didn’t matter. They offered me a translation, a guide for what I was going through, and gave me the courage to go forward as these authors were demonstrating.
Dr. Eger is an Auschwitz survivor and therapist who, at 96 years old, is also a social media influencer; she has a great Instagram account!
Her wisdom lies in her honesty; having helped 100s of people with their own issues, she admits she continues to work on herself and her ability to live with grief and trauma. She demonstrates a life-long commitment to not only helping others but also sharing what has helped her to live well alongside her sadness. She lives a happy life, which includes profound trauma from the past.
I love books that are written from the heart but with a professional slant, and this is the ultimate example!
'An incredible human being with an extraordinary story to share' Dr Rangan Chatterjee
'A beautiful, life-changing manifesto' Brene Brown
'I will be forever changed by Dr Eger's story' Oprah
'Her story is a testament to our true human potential. She's a gift' Nicole LePera
Each moment in Auschwitz was hell on earth. It was also my best classroom. Subjected to loss, torture, starvation and the constant threat of death, I discovered tools for survival and freedom that I continue to use every day.
In her darkest moments, Edith Eger discovered that the most damaging prison was the one in her…
I have often heard Daniel Finkelstein on the BBC talking wisely and wittily about current political events.
I knew a little of his Jewish background, but I had never expected such a harrowing and remarkable story of wartime persecution. Long before his parents met, his relatives moved around Europe, picking crops in Russia or anticipating the worst on the way to concentration camps.
It is unbelievable to think that other human beings could be so inhuman. Could it happen again? “It isn’t about to happen to my children,” writes Finkelstein, “But could it? It could. Absolutely, it could.”
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Epic, moving and important' ROBERT HARRIS
'A modern classic' OBSERVER
'An unforgettable epic of a book'DAILY MAIL
From longstanding political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein, a powerful memoir exploring both his mother and his father's devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War.
Daniel's mother Mirjam Wiener was the youngest of three daughters born in Germany to Alfred and Margarete Wiener. Alfred, a decorated hero from the Great War, is now widely acknowledged to have been the first person to recognise the existential danger Hitler posed to the Jews and began,…
I’m the author of seven published novels and a recently retired English professor. I was the founder and director of the Fairfield University MFA program. My latest novel is called Lebensborn and is set in Germany near the end of World War II. The novel concerns a little-known project hatched by Heinrich Himmler called Lebensborn (“the fount of life”). Concerned about Germany’s falling birth rate, Himmler began the program in 1935 hoping to encourage unwed mothers not to have abortions but to give birth to their babies at Nazi-run homes and then to give their babies up for adoption to “pure Aryan” officers. Lebensborn follows the story of Renate Dressler, a young German girl who falls in love with an SS officer.
What I appreciate about Hunter's novel is that it takes a new approach to the subject of the Holocaust. With the outbreak of WWII, the Kurcs, a Polish-Jewish family, find themselves driven into another diaspora, with their family members cast to the four corners of the globe. Hunter touches on the plight of Poland during the early years of the war when the country was torn asunder by Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the east. The plot follows the various family members as they struggle to survive the Holocaust in Poland, in Stalin's Gulag, and as one member tries to flee to South America. A big, sprawling, family epic filled with tragedy and humanity, brutality and heroism.
The New York Times bestseller with more than 1 million copies sold worldwide
Inspired by the incredible true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of World War II, determined to survive-and to reunite-We Were the Lucky Ones is a tribute to the triumph of hope and love against all odds.
"Love in the face of global adversity? It couldn't be more timely." -Glamour
It is the spring of 1939 and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows closer. The talk around the family…
I’ve written fiction for 60 years, scratching the adventure itch for exotic places, high seas, or converging oddities. I have wandered and taken note. The authors I love have influenced my worldview and my writing. I am a reef conservation activist with five volumes of reef photos and political narratives covering reefs worldwide. And I am an Executive Producer of The Dark Hobby, an award-winning feature film exposing the aquarium trade for its devastating impact on reefs worldwide. I live in Maui with my wife Anita, Cookie the dog, Yoyo, Tootsie, Rocky, Buck, Inez and Coco the cats, and Elizabeth the chicken.
All of the Singer Brothers are excellent tales of village life and struggles. Isaac Bashevis Singer could spin a yarn with no seams showing, drawing readers in to personal and social straits. Scum, Meshugah, Shosha, and the rest capture the strife and insanity of the times. Isaac Singer often called his brother I.J. a better writer. Better shmetter; I.J. wrote beautiful tales of folksy subjects, easing as well to the verge. The Brothers Carnovsky will linger for years.
Presents a new, recently discovered, posthumously published novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Certificate and The King of the Fields. 20,000 first printing.
I’ve been drawn to the Holocaust ever since a school project in the tenth grade. Later, as I worked to become a professional musician, the passion to learn more about the topic never left me. When I was first asked to perform some music of the Holocaust, the reaction of the audience (tears) and my own realization that through the power of this music, I could return a voice to so many who had their own voices so cruelly silenced changed my life. To date, I have interviewed multiple survivors of the Holocaust. Many became very dear friends, and my life has been infinitely enriched by knowing them.
This book, based on a true story, absolutely blew my mind when I first read it, and I have re-read it multiple times since!
I am still overwhelmed by the sheer fact of survival of the main character, a young Jewish boy who survived a massacre in the Holocaust and then went into hiding as a mascot in the SS. I also identified strongly with his son, who researched and wrote the book and encountered frequent naysayers who questioned the validity of his father’s memories. As someone who has approached the Holocaust as a non-traditional writer, I have struggled with similar challenges.
This book, for me, remains an unforgettable and remarkable read.
The "spellbinding" (The New York Times) true story of a Jewish boy who became the darling of the Nazis
When a Nazi death squad massacred his mother and fellow villagers, five-year-old Alex Kurzem escaped, hiding in the freezing Russian forest until he was picked up by a group of Latvian SS soldiers. Alex was able to hide his Jewish identity and win over the soldiers, becoming their mascot and an honorary "corporal" in the SS with his own uniform. But what began as a desperate bid for survival became a performance that delighted the highest ranks of the Nazi elite.…
I teach Jewish studies to Jewish teens and have devoted my life to helping young people find meaningful the legacy that’s been given to us—and building bridges to the future; this is in the classroom as well as on the page. My book is a distillation of everything I love about being Jewish—wrapped in a story that many readers find deeply familiar. At the same time, I believe in planting the universal in the specific—and any reader ready to go on a journey can find themselves in Will Levine’s shoes.
I love this book for its humor, voice, and vivid and lovable characters. Goldie reminds me of the grandma I never had—determined, dry-witted, and unafraid to get involved in her granddaughter Maxie’s love life. Set in an assisted living facility full of quirky characters, this element of aging—the loneliness and the desperation—is both hilarious and universally tragic.
Maxie’s story, meanwhile, follows a delightful rom-com arc that mirrors and breaks the repetition of her grandmother’s adventure in love as she meets T-Jam, her grandmother’s eccentric driver. This book charmed me—brilliantly balancing comedy with themes of heritage, love, and legacy, l’dor v’dor.
Hilarious and surprising, this unapologetically Jewish story delivers a present-day take on a highly creative grandmother trying to find her Ph.D granddaughter a husband who is a doctor-with a yarmulke, of course.
Goldie Mandell is opinionated, assertive, and stuck in an Assisted Living Facility. But even surrounded by schleppers with walkers, pictures of sunrises, fancy fish tanks, and an array of daily activities to complement the tepid tea and stale cookies on offer, her salt-free plate is full. She's got a granddaughter to settle, an eager love interest named Harry to subdue, and precious memories of her happy marriage to…
Like many women my age, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the possibly discordant relationship between the things I love doing—writing, reading, spending time in solitude with stories and ideas—and the expectation of motherhood. For many of us, the prospect of parenthood can feel less like a choice than a cultural imperative, and it can be difficult to reconcile brain and body, self and society. The novels on this list feature razor-sharp, highly educated female protagonists who experience, recall, or imagine pregnancy and motherhood in complicated ways. Their minds and bodies are sometimes in sync, sometimes painfully at odds, but always fascinating to behold.
Heti’s heady, meditative, heavily autobiographical novel documents its narrator’s personal ambivalence about the idea of motherhood.
While this is not a conventional novel with a linear plot, it is a gorgeously written reflection on what motherhood means, or could mean, in general and to our narrator in particular. With unflinching honesty, she explores not only the question of whether or not she wants a child of her own, but also her identity as her mother’s child and her position as a descendant of Holocaust survivors.
I found so much to relate to in these pages; I often set out to underline a sentence and ended up underlining an entire page, feeling like Heti had put her finger on something I’d experienced but had never articulated so well.
'A response - finally - to the new norms of femininity' Rachel Cusk
Having reached an age when most of her peers are asking themselves when they will become mothers, Heti's narrator considers, with the same urgency, whether she will do so at all. Over the course of several years, under the influence of her partner, body, family, friends, mysticism and chance, she struggles to make a moral and meaningful choice.
In a compellingly direct mode that straddles the forms of the novel and the essay, Motherhood raises radical and essential questions about womanhood, parenthood, and how - and for…
I have always been interested in what makes people tick – in their unseen inner world. In my twenties, I literally embodied others in my work as an actor. In my thirties, I studied applied psychology and sat alongside others and talked. In my forties, I started my consulting business Changeable, working with group and organizational dynamics. Now in my fifties, I am accessing inner worlds through writing, placing myself imaginatively into other people and places. I have merely scratched the surface. These post-WWII books give a gripping, personal, and scorching window into truth-seeking.
Zable writes of the haunted consciousness of post-conflict generations, in his case, the holocaust.
He argues that great stories must have both terror and beauty, or they merely add to the darkness. It is easy to see the terror, but what of the jewels? I grappled with this question too - how do we rightly remember victims of extreme violence? When I looked to Zable, I found a work imbued with poetry and lyricism.
Jewels and Ashes is a transcendent retracing of the terrain of his parents and grandparents.
In a memoir of a Jewish man's search for his roots, the son of Holocaust survivors returns to his parents' homeland in Poland to rediscover the former glory of East European Jewry.
