On the afternoon of December 15, authors Joy Wolfe Ensor, Nancy Szabo and Fran Lewy Berg presented on how their parents shared their wartime experience, ranging from the highly secretive to the more open perspective. The participants included 2G members of a synagogue and a book club based in Colorado. A couple of women from Israel were also able to join the Zoom. The richest part of the event followed the authors’ presentation. Participants chose to each speak on how the Holocaust had affected them, some stating that this was their first opportunity to ever do so. It was an emotionally moving experience for all. A most wonderful result from this presentation was that the attendees decided to start meeting regularly as a Jewish women's circle.

In the morning of December 15, it was a pleasure for Rita Benn to engage in writing practice with 14 members of Detroit's 2G group known as C.H.A.I.M. Participants included those who were brand new to crafting their parents' story into a cohesive narrative to others who had more formal training and functioned as volunteer guest speakers for the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Michigan. Irrespective of the level of experience, most attendees had not deeply contemplated how the Holocuast shaped aspects and events in their own lives. Participants commented on how grateful they were to have the opportunity to respond to prompts that invited this exploration. Several planned to enliven their speaking stories with this new approach, and a few hoped to continue to develop full length memoirs.

We were delighted when Jenni Frumer, PhD, LCSW of Holocaust Learning Experience/MorseLife invited us to create a multi-part educational series for their programming. Over the course of four evenings in November and December, we shared our stories with a community of learners who Zoomed in from across the U.S. and Canada. The participants had the opportunity to meet many of our authors and to delve into such themes as Family Secrets, Belonging and Identity, Legacies, and the Healing Power of Writing. Attendees experienced a powerful sense of connection, as expressed in this feedback: "This series has been so enlightening as I could resonate with so much that was shared and appreciate that these feelings were put into words. I purchased the book [last year] but haven't had the courage to read it. And now I do."

On November 14, a diverse audience braved the chilly rainy night to attend a book talk at Schuler’s Books in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The presentation, moderated by Joy Wolfe Ensor, featured authors Ava Adler and Julie Goldstein Ellis who have Detroit area roots. The talk centered  on the importance of community, connection and kindness in enduring trauma and suffering. The readings were powerful and, as always, the lively discussion was a highlight of the evening. Audience members asked the authors and each other probing questions about the impact of recent national and world events. Who was feeling triggered by the current political rhetoric? Who has been hesitant to present as visibly Jewish (for example, by wearing Jewish stars?), and how might we overcome this anxiety? How do we skillfully navigate generational differences in our approach to hot-button international affairs? Several attendees were repeat guests, having heard a couple of our authors at previous presentations. This validated our sense that our stories continue to be important for offering new insights and lessons in our ever-changing world.

During the last week in October, Rita Benn and Ruth Wade had the opportunity to share their stories at three different venues in Florida beginning first, with a talk at Books on Books in their flagship location of Coral Gables, then followed by presentations at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Florida International Univerity Biscyane Campus and Temple Beth David Jewish Center in Spring Hill, a town 50 miles outside Tampa. Each audience was deeply engaged, with many a participant shedding tears. Irrespective of locale, the questions and discussions did not stop until the host interrupted to end our time together.  This interest in our stories continues to fuel our passion to share our book with communities across the country.  

Attention friends and friends of friends in the South Florida and Tampa areas! Rita Benn and Ruth Wade will be sharing material from their book at three different events: Wednesday October 23 in Corconut Grove at Books and Books, Thursday October 24 in North Miami at FIU, Biscayne campus and Sunday October 27 in Spring Hill. We would love to have you join them to discuss several of the themes emerging from our anthology.

Please join us for a four-session series on Zoom sponsored by the Holocaust Learning Experience of the MorseLife Foundation. During this series, contributing authors will discuss different themes reflected by the lived experience described in their book chapters and spur meaningful discussion among participants. Scan the QR code to register for the series or email [email protected]. The registration fee covers participation for all four  sessions. We hope your schedule will permit attending on most of these dates.

Contributing authors Ruth Wade, Rita Benn and Fran Berg just returned from the World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants that was held in the Toronto area. The meeting spanned three days where new learnings occured and new connections forged between the young and old attending from Canada, the US, Europe and even China and Australia. Ruth and Rita ran a workshop to help survivors, 2Gs and 3Gs mine their memories to begin to craft their life stories. We were also privileged to not only listen to clinical psychologist Irit Felsen's amazing lecture on the intergenerational impact of anti-semistism but to also watch Irene Butter share her riveting story of survival during the Holocaust to a rapt audience. A special highlight was spending precious time in close community with her and other  Survivor friends like ninety-year old Renee Grosman. The resilience of this Survivor generation continues to inspire us to rise above present moments of despair in current events and to hold true to the hope that we can create a world where peace, freedom, and tolerance will one day co-exist amongst all peoples and nations.   

On July 14, Ruth Wade and Joy Wolfe Ensor gave a brief interview on the podcast/radio show hosted by Rabbi Sam Cohon in Tucson, called Too Jewish .

The Institutue for Holocaust Education in collaboraton with the Jewish Federation of Omaha sponsored a presentation about our book for their monthly lunch and learn series. On June 20th, Fran Lewy Berg, Joy Wolfe Ensor and Rita Benn zoomed in to offer riveting readings from their chapters and respond to audience questions. We continue to be reminded of the importance in sharing our stories when we see the tears shed by audience members who are so deeply moved by our words. We are grateful to the Executive Director for this opportunity who reiterated again to us in an email: "It was a honor to learn from you."  You can view the recording of our presentation at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXuuiz7GQgI