History and geography

  • Shanghai escape

    Creator

    Kacer, Kathy

    Abstract

    Lily Toufar and her family arrive in Shanghai in 1938, having fled from Nazi-occupied Vienna and the persecution of Jewish families like theirs. Shanghai is a strange place for a young European girl, but it is one of the few places in the world to offer Jews refuge from the Holocaust. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and under pressure from Hitler, the Japanese government in Shanghai orders Jewish refugees to move into a ghetto in an area of Shanghai called Hongkew. Life changes for Lily and her family when they are forced to the ghetto.

    Audience
    Juvenile**
    Publisher (Source)

    [S.l.]

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • To look a Nazi in the eye : a teen's account of a war criminal trial

    Creator

    Kacer, Kathy

    Lebowitz, Jordana

    Abstract

    The true story of nineteen-year-old Jordana Lebowitz’s time at the trial of Oskar Groening, known as the "bookkeeper of Auschwitz", a man charged with being complicit in the deaths of more than 300,000 Jews. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Jordana was still not prepared for what she would see and hear. Listening to Groening’s testimony and to the Holocaust survivors who came to testify against him, Jordana felt the weight of being witness to history – a history that we need to remember now more than ever.

    Audience
    Adolescent
    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • A partisan's memoir : woman of the Holocaust

    Creator

    Schulman, Faye

    Abstract

    Faye Schulman was a happy teenager learning to become a photographer when the Nazis invaded her small town on the Russian-Polish border. She had a loving family, good friends and neighbours, most of whom were soon lost in the horrors of the Holocaust. But Faye survived, becoming a Partisan and fighting against the Nazis. Her rare and powerful photographs attest to her experiences.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    [S.l.]

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • Hana's suitcase

    Creator

    Levine, Karen

    Abstract

    In March 2000, a suitcase arrived at a children's Holocaust education center in Tokyo, Japan from the Auschwitz museum in Germany. Fumiko Ishioka, the center's curator, was captivated by the writing on the outside that identified its owner: "Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Waisenkind (the German word for orphan)." Children visiting the center were full of questions. Who was Hana Brady? Where did she come from? What was she like? What happened to her? Inspired by their curiosity and her own need to know, Fumiko began a year of detective work, scouring the world for clues.

    Audience
    Juvenile**
    Publisher (Source)

    [S.l.]

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • The Underground Reporters

    Creator

    Kacer, Kathy

    Abstract

    In a quiet village in Czechoslovakia, laws restricted the freedom of Jewish people during WWII. A small plot of land by the river was allocated to the village’s Jewish youth, and it was here that some brave young people decided to create a newspaper.

    Audience
    Juvenile**
    Publisher (Source)

    [S.l.]

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • Hidden Gold : a true story of the Holocaust

    Creator

    Burakowski, Ella

    Abstract

    The Gold family lived an idyllic life in pre-war Poland, each doing their part to run the family grocery store and tobacco concession. The oldest daughter, Shoshana, had many friends, her sister Esther was meticulous as she worked at the family store, and young David was doted on by them all. But that life is shattered in 1939 when Germany invades Poland and Jewish people are forced into the streets; their homes, schools, and businesses burned. We follow the Gold family’s journey as they are forced into hiding.

    Audience
    Adolescent
    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • To hope and back : the journey of the St. Louis

    Creator

    Kacer, Kathy

    Abstract

    The true story of the ship St. Louis, which left Germany in May 1939 full of Jewish passengers seeking refuge in Cuba. Denied port in Cuba, the US, and finally Canada, the St. Louis was forced to return Europe, where many passengers later died in the Holocaust. Through the eyes of two children, Sol and Lisa, both of whom survived the war and shared their experiences, we see as their journey begins with excitement and hope, only to end in frustration and fear.

    Audience
    Juvenile**
    Publisher (Source)

    [S.l.]

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • War in my town

    Creator

    Graziani, E.

    Abstract

    Bruna is the youngest of seven children, living an idyllic life in a small Italian village in northern Tuscany. Though the Second World War has been raging in Europe for some time, the dangers haven’t seemed to reach her, and the Italian leader Mussolini’s allegiance with Hitler and the distant reports of fighting seem far away. But before long, Bruna's brothers are called to fight and by 1943 food rationing and shortages begin to take a toll on her family. Soon the Italian people turn against their fascist regime and war comes to the region.

    Audience
    Adolescent
    Publisher (Source)

    [S.l.]

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • The ship to nowhere : on board the Exodus

    Creator

    Arato, Rona

    Abstract

    Rachel Fletcher is eleven years old when she, her mother and sister are crammed on board the Exodus, a dilapidated vessel smuggling 4500 Jewish refugees risking their lives to reach Palestine, their biblical homeland. Despite all they had suffered during the Holocaust, Jewish refugees are still not wanted in many countries. Even a Canadian immigration officer famously said at the time “None is too many” when asked how many refugees Canada would take in. Nonetheless, Rachel and the other refugees refuse to give up hope when war ships surround them.

    Audience
    Juvenile**
    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Second Story Press

    Not specified
  • Restitution : a family's fight for their heritage lost in the Holocaust

    Creator

    Kacer, Kathy

    Abstract

    The story of the Reesers, a Jewish family who emigrated to Canada from Czechoslovakia on the eve of WWII. They fled the Nazis and left behind four valuable oil paintings. It would take years for the Reeser family, led by matriarch Mari Reeser, and then her son Karl, to retrieve them. Along the way they had help from two unlikely sources - a mid-level diplomat at the Canadian embassy in Prague, and a daring Dutch-Canadian art smuggler.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    [S.l.]

    Second Story Press

    Not specified