Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
Author: annsepstein@att.net
Ann S. Epstein is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories, memoirs, and essays.
“During the roundup, people hid in the basement or inside furniture, but the Nazis strafed the place with shots and several were killed. A soldier with a flashlight approached the table under which my father and brother were hiding. My father kissed my brother, prepared to die, but the flashlight’s bulb burned out just before the soldier reached them and he went away.” 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.
During roundups, Nazis searched for Jews in hiding and shot themBerlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
My Amazon and Goodreads review of Prepare for Departure by Mark Chesnut (Rating 5) – Mark Chesnut’s Prepare for Departure is a romance memoir about his dual love for aviation and his mother. Chestnut is an erstwhile misfit who fits in the air and on the page, a seasoned traveler as well as a talented author. As a writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I appreciate his ability to simultaneously focus on characters worth caring about, and the complex settings they inhabit. Written with devotion, humor, and honesty, Prepare for Departure regales readers with stories of Chesnut’s outsider status: A flight-obsessed child among earth-bound classmates; a boy with conservative southern roots living in the liberal north; a gay Caucasian man with an Hispanic husband in a straight white world; a fatherless son raised by a feisty mother who was wary of breaching the norms she herself had escaped. “Time traveling” between childhood memories and his mother’s final decline, Chesnut’s memoir invites readers aboard to laugh and grieve with him. Fasten your heart lest it burst out of your rib cage by the time you land.
A dual romance memoirWhy writers read: “There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away” – Emily Dickinson
Prejudice against Jews was widespread among leading Americans, including aviation hero Charles Lindbergh. In 1941, after his notorious “Who are the war agitators?” speech, which echoed Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda and accused Jews of conspiring to force America into WW2, he was branded a Nazi sympathizer and anti-Semite. History shows America failed to end the war 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.
Charles Lindbergh’s isolationist speech echoed Nazi anti-Semitic propagandaBerlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn before the Nazi slaughter begins
“I didn’t have a typical Semitic face, but my black curly hair betrayed me. Just after my (Aryan) stepfather smuggled my mother and me out of the ghetto, I was taken to a barber who shaved my head. It was called the ‘zero haircut.’ I wasn’t his first client. 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 sympathetic Aryan barber gave the ‘zero haircut’ to Jewish children with telltale dark curlsBerlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
The one-a-day micro-fiction journal 50 Give or Take published another of my stories, “Accidentally,” words to ponder for those who ask, “What is she waiting for?” October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, first declared in 1989. Sign up to receive and submit your own ultra-short stories, free, at 5o Give or Take.
A daily dose of micro-fiction delivered to your inboxWhy writers write: “Writers write not because they know things but because they want to find things out.” – Julia Alvarez
“A sign at the camp’s entrance said, ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (Work Sets You Free), so I was determined to work hard for my release. An hour later we learned the reality. Freedom depended on Germany’s victory, or our death.” 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 sign at the entrance to Auschwitz said, in German, “Work Sets You Free”Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
“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 orphanageBerlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
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 jobsBerlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn before the Nazi slaughter begins
“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 tachrichimBerlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter
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 targetBerlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn before the Nazi slaughter begins
