The Author’s Story

My childhood was unusual – I grew up surrounded by survivors. My mother, my father, my aunts, my uncles, the people we talked to around the dining room table and in the little parkle across the street from the deli – Survivors, of the Holocaust, each and every one.

I grew up immersed in their stories. After a year of volunteering at an inner-city high school and helping young people transition into life, I realized something interesting: these young men and women often had similar stories of suffering and survival. When I told them the stories of my family, it resonated with them. Through my stories, I let them know that they weren’t alone in their pain - others had suffered and survived and even thrived.

It gave them hope.

Together with McLean Fletcher, I compiled 37 of those stories in “Resilience: Amazing Courageous Stories of Young Holocaust Survivors.”

Even though my mother and father have long since passed on, through “Resilience,” the flowers of their courage will not wither.