INTRODUCTION

by Sheila Dineen Jordan

THIS book,instead of the story of millions of deaths, is the story of one survivor at a time. Somehow, reading about one thirteen-year old, or a mom or a dad, a nephew, a baby, somehow that tears at the heart and forces one to remember the horrors for a much longer time in history class. The subject of six million Jews slaughtered, registers in the mind as a terrible thing, but it does not register in the soul.

We are in a writing class where many of the survivorsof that terrible time in history are writing their memories. Sometimes they write to share with their family, but mostly to exorcise the demons that have haunted their dreams for more than sixty years. As we have listened to these stories we've had our own dreams of these tales, and have been haunted by them.

These accounts encompass many nationalities: German, American, English, Filipino, Japanese and many are Jews. It is apparent that all sides faced such horror, the innocent young men and women, the children. If these stories touch one's soul, perhaps there is hope for this battered, banged up, but still beautiful planet.