Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Kushner Family’s Holocaust Saga Included in ‘Tunnel of Hope’

Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump and one of the architects of the Abraham Accords, may not have ever existed were it not for the daring escape by his grandmother Raya in September 1943 from a forced labor camp run by the Nazis in Novogrudok in today’s Belarus. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

‘Mendel the Mess-Up’ Devises Plan to Ward Off Cossacks in Graphic Novel for Middle Schoolers

This graphic novel intended for Middle Schoolers tells the story of a boy who can’t do anything right, even though his intentions are good. At fault may have been the evil eye that a woman, bitter about the abduction of her own son, put on Mendel’s mother while she was pregnant. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘Internee Number 6’ Relates Story of Her Confinement in Fascist Italy for Being a Jew

The Villa Sorge was a private residence into which 75 women were crowded, speaking a variety of languages, and not all of them Jews. A topic of speculation was who was a spy among their fellow internees, who might be providing sexual favors to their captors in return for preferences, how bad the food was, and how a Jewish internee like herself could reach an understanding with another internee who was a self-described Nazi. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

‘Elsa’s Chessboard’ Brings the Royal Board Game to Children’s Attention

This book serves a double purpose: it is a tribute to the author’s Austrian Jewish grandmother and an introduction for children ages 4 to 8 to the exciting world of chess. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Lifestyles, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

‘Lovers in Auschwitz’ Provides Hook to Teach Readers about the Holocaust

David Wisnia from Poland was a prisoner at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex; Likewise, Helen Zipora “Zippy” Spitzer from Slovakia was also a prisoner.  But neither of them was an ordinary prisoner; by virtue of wits and luck, each of them had been elevated to favored positions in the concentration camps’ heirarchy. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Young Readers Get a Taste of the Holocaust in ‘One Day’

“One day at a time. One day after another” was the motto of Holocaust escapees Eugene Handschuh and his father Oscar. Accordingly, father and son submitted to the brutal schedule the Nazis forced on them until they perceived an opportunity to escape — not once, but twice. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Gymnast Survived Nazis; Went on to Become Gold Medalist in Olympics

This book, written in simple language for children between the ages of 5 and 9, tells of Ágnes being banned from the national gymnasium because she was Jewish.  In response, she secretly practiced early in the morning at an unlit, unheated high school gym with her friend Istvan Sarkany. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Mishnah Anticipated Scientific Understanding of Whispering, Digestion, Combustion

What particularly fascinates me is how the book reveals the Mishnah’s sophisticated understanding of physical and psychological phenomena that we’ve only recently begun to explain through modern scientific frameworks. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Biography Explains the Holocaust to Children Ages 8 to 12

It augments the narrative with supplemental pages explaining such terms and concepts as World War II, antisemitism, ghettos, partisans, the Holocaust, collaborators, the righteous among the nations, the camps, and resistance. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Book Traces History of the Anne Frank House from Its Construction in 1635

The house at 263 Prinsengracht (Prince’s Canal) in Amsterdam was built in 1635, more than three centuries before its most famous resident—Anne Frank–lived and hid there from the Nazi occupiers. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors