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The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff
The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer
Three Sisters by Heather Morris
The Lost Diary of Anne Frank by Johnny Teague
The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
Into the Forest: A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph and Love by Rebecca Frankel
Shmuel’s Bridge by Jason Sommer
Mala’s Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II by Mala Kacenberg

It feels deeply wrong to wish you “Happy” International Holocaust Remembrance Day. So I’ll wish you a safe, peaceful and loving one. 

On this day, January 27, the world gathers to remember abjectly horrifying events in the not-so-distant past, events that still haunt us today. That such evil was done to human beings and done on such a gruesome scale is a truth none of us wants to face. But face it we must.

Last year, President Biden addressed the nation with a speech in which he proclaimed, “We must pass the history of the Holocaust on to our grandchildren and their grandchildren in order to keep real the promise of ‘never again.’ That is how we prevent future genocides.” The statement is grave but holds a whisper of hope.

We’ve curated a list of books that will help you get a little more acquainted with this history, even if the tale is fictional. Reading accounts, memoirs and well-researched stories about the Holocaust and its lasting implications is a small yet mighty way to honor the past, support the present and build a foundation for the future. 

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The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff

In 1942, Sadie lives with her parents in Kraków’s Jewish Ghetto, one of the five major metropolitan Nazi ghettos created during the occupation. But when Germans begin rounding up the residents, she and her mother flee to the grimy safety of the sewers beneath the city where they hide and wait. Meanwhile, a young Polish woman named Ella lives in a fine home but is rejected repeatedly by friends because her stepmother has no qualms about welcoming in German soldiers. Then, Ella spies Sadie looking up at her through a grate. This is the beginning of a beautiful and powerful friendship. 

Naturally, this is also a dangerous endeavor. As the war intensifies, Ella finds it harder and increasingly life-threatening to help her new friend. After all, what can one girl do against Nazi Germany? The author was inspired by the true stories of Polish Jews who hid beneath the city of Kraków; her novel inspires discussion and contemplation of how we choose to treat others even at great risk to ourselves. 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

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The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

A New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, USA Today and Australian Top Ten bestseller, the awards show that Kelly Rimmer is no stranger to top-notch writing. Inspired by the real-life heroine who saved thousands of Jewish children during WWII, this book centers around a couple’s desperate attempt to reclaim the love and life that once was theirs. In the spring of 1942, Elzbieta Rabinek is aware of the gathering storm as the Germans take over her hometown. She’s also aware that she must conceal her true identity. 

But when she gets to know a nurse named Sara, Elzbieta makes a life-changing discovery that takes her to dangerous places. Now, she finds herself smuggling children out of the ghetto, understanding all too well the plight of the Gorka family who decides to give up their newborn daughter instead of watching her starve. This final injustice stirs another family member, Roman, to rebellion even as he falls in love with Elzbieta. His brash fight changes everything for more people than he could have possibly imagined. 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

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Three Sisters by Heather Morris

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey has come back stronger than ever, inspired yet again by a true story. Three Slovakian sisters have, somehow, survived years of Auschwitz … but now comes the death march. They miraculously manage to escape and hide in the woods for days until they are rescued. From there, the trio travels to Israel where the battle for freedom takes on a new dimension. 

Past secrets challenge present safety, and the search for true peace and happiness is longer than they thought. The events overlap with those of Morris’ other characters for a multilayered reading experience that will both appeal to her established fans and hook new ones. It’s a moving and emotionally resonant story of resilience from an author at the top of her game. 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

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The Lost Diary of Anne Frank by Johnny Teague

The Diary of Anne Frank is, of course, a seminal piece of 20th-century literature recounting the tragic and moving story of a precocious Jewish teenager faced with the horrors of Nazism. Anne establishes a bond with her readers that transcends both time and space, making them her friends and confidants. It’s a classic for a plethora of reasons. 

Her diary ended, but her story did not: this book picks up where her original writing left off, taking the reader on a credible journey through the tragic final months of her life, faithfully adhering to her own deeply personal and distinctive diary format in the process. Anne’s aspirational dreams for fame and fortune are ultimately traded in for the truer longings of life, love and peace. Read the review here.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

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The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

Author of recent bestseller The Book of Lost Names and many others, Harmel now brings us the WWII story of Yona, who at only two years old is taken from her home in Germany and raised by an elderly woman in the forests of Poland. Tragedy strikes and her protectress passes away, leaving Yona alone in the woods. Thankfully, she’s learned survival skills; social skills are another matter entirely. This becomes apparent when she encounters Jewish refugees hiding from the Nazis and decides she can be of help to them. 

While teaching her new companions, she finds herself in a romantic relationship and chooses to remain within this community. Suffering betrayal prompts her to leave, choosing now to risk a town taken over by the enemy. “A fascinating, heartrending page-turner that, like the real-life forgers who inspired the novel, should never be forgotten. A riveting, historical tale that I devoured in a single sitting,” says New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris. Read the review here.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

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Into the Forest: A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph and Love by Rebecca Frankel

This is an important work of nonfiction by an award-winning author, editor and journalist. A bulwark of journalism itself, The Wall Street Journal says this novel proves “Painstaking in its detail, harrowing in the stories it tells … a master class in conveying tension … an uplifting tale, suffused with a karmic righteousness that is, at times, exhilarating.” The personal true stories are definitely eye-opening in their solemnity and magnitude.

It’s the summer of 1942 and the Rabinowitz family has narrowly escaped the Nazi ghetto in their Polish town by fleeing to the imposing Bialowieza Forest. Through brutal winters, Typhus infections and Nazi raids, they somehow survive two hard years before liberation by the Red Army in 1944. Moving into the next stage of their life, they settled as refugees in Italy and then immigrated to the United States. The story doesn’t end there, though, and we won’t spoil the ensuing drama. Read our review here

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

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Shmuel’s Bridge by Jason Sommer

The subtitle of this book packs a punch: “Following the Tracks to Auschwitz with My Survivor Father.” It’s a memoir of that poignant father-son relationship and of their Eastern European journey through a family history of horrific trauma and loss. The author’s 98-year-old father, Jay, is inevitably losing his memory. With it goes the stories that defined his life as well as the lives of millions of Jews who were impacted by Nazi terror. Jason, meanwhile, recollects the father-son trip they took years ago from the town of Jay’s birth, to the labor camp he managed to escape from, and yes, Auschwitz. 

The book, thereby, reveals a complicated past through a tender relationship. Its author is also the creator of five poetry collections and has been recognized with an Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award for poems about the Jewish experience. His work has been read at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum’s program, “Speech and Silence: Poetry and the Holocaust.” Thus, poetic sensibility graces the pages of his memoir and leaves readers with a lasting impression. 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

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Mala’s Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II by Mala Kacenberg

This just-released book is a #1 Amazon bestseller in Jewish Biographies and tells the incredible true story of a girl who navigated dangerous forests, outwitted Nazi soldiers, and survived against all odds. The New York Times’ review praises it with “The memoir is a chronicle of Kacenberg’s astonishing creativity, intelligence, courage and plain old chutzpah … What really guides Mala, what keeps her company at night, is a powerful and unshakable sense of her own self-worth, and of the injustice of her situation.” 

Raised in a Polish village nestled against a pine forest, Mala Szorer lived in peace. Then the German invasion destroys her village, making it a ghetto and threatening its inhabitants with starvation. She’s a mere 12 years old when she sees her loved ones herded for deportation. To save herself, she retreats, all alone, to the forest. Or at least, she thinks she’s alone: a stray cat follows, seems to become her unexpected savior, and definitely becomes her new “family.” This surprising story’s intensity only grows thanks to its innocent protagonist’s perspective on horrors far beyond anything a child (or cat) should bear.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff

The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff

In 1942, Sadie lives with her parents in Kraków’s Jewish Ghetto, one of the five major metropolitan Nazi ghettos created during the occupation. But when Germans begin rounding up the residents, she and her mother flee to the grimy safety of the sewers beneath the city where they hide and wait. Meanwhile, a young Polish woman named Ella lives in a fine home but is rejected repeatedly by friends because her stepmother has no qualms about welcoming in German soldiers. Then, Ella spies Sadie looking up at her through a grate. This is the beginning of a beautiful and powerful friendship. 

Naturally, this is also a dangerous endeavor. As the war intensifies, Ella finds it harder and increasingly life-threatening to help her new friend. After all, what can one girl do against Nazi Germany? The author was inspired by the true stories of Polish Jews who hid beneath the city of Kraków; her novel inspires discussion and contemplation of how we choose to treat others even at great risk to ourselves. 


The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

A New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, USA Today and Australian Top Ten bestseller, the awards show that Kelly Rimmer is no stranger to top-notch writing. Inspired by the real-life heroine who saved thousands of Jewish children during WWII, this book centers around a couple’s desperate attempt to reclaim the love and life that once was theirs. In the spring of 1942, Elzbieta Rabinek is aware of the gathering storm as the Germans take over her hometown. She’s also aware that she must conceal her true identity. 

But when she gets to know a nurse named Sara, Elzbieta makes a life-changing discovery that takes her to dangerous places. Now, she finds herself smuggling children out of the ghetto, understanding all too well the plight of the Gorka family who decides to give up their newborn daughter instead of watching her starve. This final injustice stirs another family member, Roman, to rebellion even as he falls in love with Elzbieta. His brash fight changes everything for more people than he could have possibly imagined. 


Three Sisters by Heather Morris

Three Sisters by Heather Morris

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey has come back stronger than ever, inspired yet again by a true story. Three Slovakian sisters have, somehow, survived years of Auschwitz … but now comes the death march. They miraculously manage to escape and hide in the woods for days until they are rescued. From there, the trio travels to Israel where the battle for freedom takes on a new dimension. 

Past secrets challenge present safety, and the search for true peace and happiness is longer than they thought. The events overlap with those of Morris’ other characters for a multilayered reading experience that will both appeal to her established fans and hook new ones. It’s a moving and emotionally resonant story of resilience from an author at the top of her game. 


The Lost Diary of Anne Frank by Johnny Teague

The Lost Diary of Anne Frank by Johnny Teague

The Diary of Anne Frank is, of course, a seminal piece of 20th-century literature recounting the tragic and moving story of a precocious Jewish teenager faced with the horrors of Nazism. Anne establishes a bond with her readers that transcends both time and space, making them her friends and confidants. It’s a classic for a plethora of reasons. 

Her diary ended, but her story did not: this book picks up where her original writing left off, taking the reader on a credible journey through the tragic final months of her life, faithfully adhering to her own deeply personal and distinctive diary format in the process. Anne’s aspirational dreams for fame and fortune are ultimately traded in for the truer longings of life, love and peace. Read the review here.


The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

Author of recent bestseller The Book of Lost Names and many others, Harmel now brings us the WWII story of Yona, who at only two years old is taken from her home in Germany and raised by an elderly woman in the forests of Poland. Tragedy strikes and her protectress passes away, leaving Yona alone in the woods. Thankfully, she’s learned survival skills; social skills are another matter entirely. This becomes apparent when she encounters Jewish refugees hiding from the Nazis and decides she can be of help to them. 

While teaching her new companions, she finds herself in a romantic relationship and chooses to remain within this community. Suffering betrayal prompts her to leave, choosing now to risk a town taken over by the enemy. “A fascinating, heartrending page-turner that, like the real-life forgers who inspired the novel, should never be forgotten. A riveting, historical tale that I devoured in a single sitting,” says New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris. Read the review here.


Into the Forest: A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph and Love by Rebecca Frankel

Into the Forest: A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph and Love by Rebecca Frankel

This is an important work of nonfiction by an award-winning author, editor and journalist. A bulwark of journalism itself, The Wall Street Journal says this novel proves “Painstaking in its detail, harrowing in the stories it tells … a master class in conveying tension … an uplifting tale, suffused with a karmic righteousness that is, at times, exhilarating.” The personal true stories are definitely eye-opening in their solemnity and magnitude.

It’s the summer of 1942 and the Rabinowitz family has narrowly escaped the Nazi ghetto in their Polish town by fleeing to the imposing Bialowieza Forest. Through brutal winters, Typhus infections and Nazi raids, they somehow survive two hard years before liberation by the Red Army in 1944. Moving into the next stage of their life, they settled as refugees in Italy and then immigrated to the United States. The story doesn’t end there, though, and we won’t spoil the ensuing drama. Read our review here


Shmuel’s Bridge by Jason Sommer

Shmuel’s Bridge by Jason Sommer

The subtitle of this book packs a punch: “Following the Tracks to Auschwitz with My Survivor Father.” It’s a memoir of that poignant father-son relationship and of their Eastern European journey through a family history of horrific trauma and loss. The author’s 98-year-old father, Jay, is inevitably losing his memory. With it goes the stories that defined his life as well as the lives of millions of Jews who were impacted by Nazi terror. Jason, meanwhile, recollects the father-son trip they took years ago from the town of Jay’s birth, to the labor camp he managed to escape from, and yes, Auschwitz. 

The book, thereby, reveals a complicated past through a tender relationship. Its author is also the creator of five poetry collections and has been recognized with an Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award for poems about the Jewish experience. His work has been read at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum’s program, “Speech and Silence: Poetry and the Holocaust.” Thus, poetic sensibility graces the pages of his memoir and leaves readers with a lasting impression. 


Mala’s Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II by Mala Kacenberg

Mala’s Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II by Mala Kacenberg

This just-released book is a #1 Amazon bestseller in Jewish Biographies and tells the incredible true story of a girl who navigated dangerous forests, outwitted Nazi soldiers, and survived against all odds. The New York Times’ review praises it with “The memoir is a chronicle of Kacenberg’s astonishing creativity, intelligence, courage and plain old chutzpah … What really guides Mala, what keeps her company at night, is a powerful and unshakable sense of her own self-worth, and of the injustice of her situation.” 

Raised in a Polish village nestled against a pine forest, Mala Szorer lived in peace. Then the German invasion destroys her village, making it a ghetto and threatening its inhabitants with starvation. She’s a mere 12 years old when she sees her loved ones herded for deportation. To save herself, she retreats, all alone, to the forest. Or at least, she thinks she’s alone: a stray cat follows, seems to become her unexpected savior, and definitely becomes her new “family.” This surprising story’s intensity only grows thanks to its innocent protagonist’s perspective on horrors far beyond anything a child (or cat) should bear.


Judy Moreno

Judy Moreno is the Assistant Editor at BookTrib and sincerely loves the many-splendored nature of storytelling. She earned a double major in English and Theatre from Hillsdale College after a childhood spent reading (and rereading) nearly everything at the local library. Some of her favorite novels include Catch-22, Anna Karenina, and anything by Jane Austen. She currently lives in Virginia and is delighted to be on the BookTrib team.

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