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Tag: Holocaust

Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Story”
Back to school books

Back to school books

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Even though local schools head back obnoxiously early around here, September still feels like the true back-to-school month. It’s still not cozy-up-and-read weather, but surely we’re getting closer! Here’s a look at the four books I read this month. Week 1: Children of Nazis by Tania Crasniaski An uncomfortable read, yet fascinating. The author devotes a chapter to the children of each of eight high-ranking Nazis. Some referred to Hitler as Uncle Adolf and others were even named for him….

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Hummel newspaper ad
Walter

Walter

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Christmas is a big deal around our house. When the boys were little, we went a bit nuts with what went under the tree. To counteract that gimme-gimme message, we always made a point of anonymously donating wrapped gifts to children in need. It was a fun family activity to pick out gifts for these boys and girls and wrap them in festive paper. When James was in Beta Club in high school, he came home one day with a…

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Bette Davis book cover
Late-summer titles

Late-summer titles

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August is a long, hot month. Back to school starts too early, as do the Christmas ads. In keeping with my retirement goal to read a book each week, here are the late-summer titles. Week 1: Ladies Who Punch by Ramin Setoodeh This seemed like a good choice for “summer beach reading,” even though we didn’t go to the shore. Definitely an interesting read, but only made me less interested in watching The View than before. The egos and downright…

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Eva Kor and Gary
Eva Kor: We’ll never forget

Eva Kor: We’ll never forget

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Terre Haute, Indiana, is one of the last places on Earth you’d expect to find a Mengele Twin. The heinous Angel of Death nearly killed Eva Mozes back in Auschwitz when she was just 10 years old. But she and her identical twin sister, Miriam, not only lived to tell about it, they thrived for decades. Eva even came to forgive her tormentors. Eva married fellow Holocaust survivor Michael Kor and settled with him in Terre Haute, where they raised…

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Oldest von Trapp daughter's memoir
‘A book report …’

‘A book report …’

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One of my happiest moments on stage back in college was playing my soul sister, Lucy van Pelt, in “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.” The Peanuts gang is tasked with writing “a book report on Peter Rabbit” and the characters each approach the musical assignment in their own way. Lucy, of course, concentrates on the number of words required and is very, very, very careful to hit 100 on the nose. Funny thing, I remember back in second grade…

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