My Amazon and Goodreads review of Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope: My True Story (Rating 5): Surviving on the Strength of Family – For over 40 years, Nazi Holocaust survivor Irene Butter remained silent about the horrors of her childhood. In her mid-50s, she decided she had to speak out. Now in her late 80s, she has engaged for decades in memorial, educational, and peace-building efforts. Shores Beyond Shores is her most recent contribution to guaranteeing that the lessons of the Holocaust are remembered and applied. What makes this story unique is the focus on her family. Through tenacity, abetted by good fortune, Irene, her parents, and older brother stayed together throughout their concentration camp years. Amid the nightmare stories, Butter and her collaborators John Bidwell and Kris Holloway also capture the humor of bantering siblings, the confidences shared by friends, the sacrifices of those who refused to lose their humanity and dignity, even the tenderness of first love. To read and share this book is to help Irene and other survivors carry on their work and spread their message of hope.
