September 2022 – Ann S. Epstein Writer

Survivor Story: Raised as Their Own

“When the woman who’d taken me in was sent to a labor camp, I was found at a train station by a Red Cross attendant who handed me to a Polish Christian family. They had five older children but raised me as one of their own. After the war, they wanted to adopt me, but it was forbidden and I was put in a Jewish orphanage (pictured below) where I was adopted by a Jewish family. I have since met the families who risked their lives to save me but know little of my birth parents, who hoped we’d reunite when the war ended.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Christians were forbidden to adopt Jewish children, who were sent to their own orphanage

Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter

Learn History Through Fiction: Jews Will Take Our Jobs

Even though the U.S. let in more refugees during WW2 than any other sovereign nation, it set strict quotas. In the midst of the Depression, Americans feared they’d take already scarce jobs. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those escaping Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to flee to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Foes of immigration claimed WW2 refugees would take American jobs

Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn before the Nazi slaughter begins

Survivor Story: Grandma’s Lace Shroud

“As we left the ghetto, our grandmother carried her tachrichim (burial shroud), made of lace and ruffles. We, her granddaughters, had helped her sew it. She never got to wear it.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

A traditional Jewish woman’s burial shroud or tachrichim

Learn History Through Fiction: Missing the Target

The U.S. debated, but rejected, the idea of bombing Auschwitz, where a million people were put to death. Some worried a bomb would miss, since only one in five aerial bombs hit within five miles of its target. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

America did not bomb Auschwitz, afraid of missing the target

What Writing and Chocolate Have in Common

“Weekends and weekdays don’t matter to a writer. I’ve discovered through my life, if you take the day off, it takes you two days to get back to where you were. You need to keep it going in your head” (Erica Jong, “How Erica Jong, Writer, Spends Her Sundays,” The New York Times, September 24, 2022). I agree. Writing is self-fueling. A day without writing is as unsatisfying as a day without chocolate. More thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.

Chocolate is a daily necessity for this writer

Why writers write: “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” – Isaac Asimov

One Person’s Loss: Upcoming Book Events

Several book readings, signings, and discussions for my new novel, One Person’s Loss, are scheduled in the upcoming weeks and months. Please stop by if you’re in or near Southeast Michigan. For more information and updates see the Events listed at the top of the NEWS page. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

WHAT: One Person’s Loss book signing (Free and open to all)
WHEN: Saturday, September 24, 2022 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM Eastern Time
WHERE: Schuler Books, Westgate Shopping Center, 2513 Jackson Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
EVENT WEBSITE: Schuler Books Celebrates its 40th Anniversary
EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE: Schuler Books Events

WHAT: One Person’s Loss book reading and signing (Free and open to all; RSVP on website)
WHEN: Friday, October 21, 2022 from 7:30 to 9:00 PM Eastern Time
WHERE: Booksweet, Courtyard Shops, 1729 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
EVENT WEBSITE: Local Authors Night at Booksweet: Readings from Four Authors
EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE: BookSweet Events

WHAT: One Person’s Loss book talk and signing (Free and open to all)
WHEN: Sunday, November 13, 2022, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Eastern Time
WHERE: Jewish Community Center, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
EVENT WEBSITE: Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival
EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE: Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor Events

What I’m Reading: All the Light We Cannot See

My Amazon and Goodreads review of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Rating 5) – Radiance Amid Darkness. It’s been decades since I made this claim about a book: I was so enthralled by Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, All the Light We Cannot See, that I did not want it to end. Given the raft of books about World War II, it’s difficult to find a unique perspective on an oft-told story about this senseless chapter in human history. Doerr has more than met the challenge by creating two indelible protagonists on opposite sides of the conflict: a blind French girl and a young German soldier. As the war blows apart ordinary lives, he draws an intricate, albeit unlikely, connection between them. Doerr is a sure-footed guide for those who cannot see, a nimble hiker beside the infirm, a mature companion for youth, and a youthful tonic for the elderly. He explores all the senses to awaken readers’ sensibilities. As a writer of historical fiction myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I’m filled with admiration for Doerr’s deft interweaving of broad research and deep imagination. Amid the darkness of war, All the Light We Cannot See finds gem-like radiance in tenderness, awe, and persistence.

A deft and unlikely interweaving of the lives of two protagonists

Why writers read: “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” – Ray Bradbury

Survivor Story: We Feared Poles More Than Germans

“Smuggled out of the ghetto, we weren’t afraid of Germans, who couldn’t recognize a Jew. They thought we looked the way Nazi propaganda portrayed us: crooked noses, side locks, black coats. We were more afraid of our Polish neighbors turning us in.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Another Piece of Micro-fiction Published in 50 Give or Take

I’m happy to announce that 50 Give or Take has published another piece of my micro-fiction, “What’s in There?”. I dedicate this work to all older siblings, although I happen to be a younger sib.

A daily dose of micro-fiction delivered to your inbox

Why writers write: “To push the world in a certain direction.” – George Orwell

Play’s the Thing

“When you’re an adult watching a kid playing with a little toy, you just think that kid’s doing that and there’s nothing else to it. But from the kid’s perspective, that toy is playing with them. It’s interactive” (Lynda Barry, interviewed by David Marchese in “A Genius Cartoonist Believes Child’s Play Is Anything But Frivolous,” The New York Times, September 02, 2022). As a writer, as well as a developmental psychologist, I wholeheartedly concur. Creative writing is a form of play. The story is a toy and the writer must be open to playing with it. Psychologist Jean Piaget said, “Play is the work of childhood” and Mr. Rogers described play as serious work. Creative play should also be the work of adulthood.