On 27 January 2015 the world commemorated the 70-year anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. As the last living witnesses of that terrible time pass away, award-winning writer Alice Nelson presents a powerful collection of 14 narratives by Australian Holocaust survivors told in their voices. Each individual's account of the war years -- and of the life that followed -- tells a deeply personal story that affirms the resilience of the human spirit.
Alice Nelson is an Australian writer. Her first novel, The Last Sky, was shortlisted for The Australian / Vogels Literary Award, won the T.A.G. Hungerford Award and was shortlisted for the Australian Society of Authors Barbara Jefferis Award. She was named Best Young Australian Novelist of 2009 in the Sydney Morning Heralds national awards program. Alice works as a freelance journalist and teaches creative writing.
"This book is a testimony to the dedication of our survivors in their work at the institute." -- Australian Jewish News
"No matter how much you think you know about the Holocaust, the personal story brings to the fore the very ordinariness of people who are just like us, who went through the unimaginable." -- ANZ LitLovers
"We are privileged to read the recollections of 14 men and women, ordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives." -- Starts at 60
"Their stories show the strength of the human spirit amid the greatest of adversity." -- Port Macquarie News
"This is a book that will move you, shock you and affirm the triumph of the human spirit." -- West Australian
"The narratives of these Holocaust survivors, who rebuilt their lives in Australia, also honours those who risked their lives to save Jews during this horrific time, and empower younger generations to stand up to discrimination and injustice. These are voices that must be heard." -- Good Reading
"If the hardships endured are often hard to read, they were also hard to record and for the survivors, to remember. Despite the pain, the survivors were passionate about having every memory recorded - including their lives and worlds before and after the war." -- Uniview, University of Western Australia
"Family photographs and copies of documents complete this terribly sad and poignant read, yet inspiring that these people survived to tell their stories and remind us of the terrors they witnessed and of their resilience." -- Read Me
