The Holocaust--perhaps the darkest period in human history--conjures up horrific images: death camps, torture, starvation, genocide on a grand scale. For survivors, the end of World War II and liberation all too often meant being alone, bereft of every last family member, frail in body and spirit. The thought of rebuilding life was daunting. Yet there were some rays of light during this nightmarish time: inexplicable events in which human lives were spared, families were brought back together, and the human spirit and faith somehow endured--because of a chance occurrence at just the right moment. These uplifting twists of fate or "extraordinary coincidences," as they are known, have become the hallmark of the best-selling Small Miracles series, which has sold more than two million copies. In "Small Miracles of the Holocaust"--a magnificent work that appears on the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht ("night of the broken glass")--authors Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal have collected over fifty remarkable Holocaust and post-Holocaust coincidences that defy the imagination and challenge credulity. From remarkable reunions and timeless love stories to amazing survival tales and new twists on heroic acts--ranging from Oskar Schindler to Chiune Sugihara--this book will become a staple in Holocaust literature and a cherished keepsake. A beautiful tapestry of stories both magical and revelatory, no matter what one's persuasion or beliefs, Small Miracles of the Holocaust opens our eyes to the gifts and blessings that surround us all the time--even in the worst of times.

NOW IN PAPERBACK—FROM THE SERIES THAT HAS SOLD MORE THAN 2 MILLION COPIES * AWE-INSPIRING, TRUE STORIES FROM THE WORST OF TIMES From the authors of the best-selling Small Miracles series comes this collection of more than fifty true, inspirational stories that are unique in the pantheon of Holocaust literature. Heartfelt, touching, and rich with bittersweet irony,Small Miracles of the Holocaustrecounts love stories, remarkable reunions, and narrow escapes—each ending with the uplifting twist that has become the trademark of the beloved series. And they reaffirm that nothing truly happens by accident . . . * “Love Among the Ruins”—a love story about a girl who saved a dying man during the Holocaust * “An Oscar for Oskar”—the coincidence that brought Oskar Schindler’s story to the attention of Thomas Keneally and Steven Spielberg * And more A beautiful tapestry of stories both magical and revelatory, no matter what one’s persuasion or beliefs,Small Miracles of the Holocaustopens our eyes to the gifts and blessings that surround us all the time—even in the worst of times. “Out of the darkest period of Jewish history comes an uplifting and inspiring book that shows that hope is always warranted.”—Jewish Women Magazine “[This] book remains an uplifting reminder that even in the bleakest times, we are never alone in the dark.”—Star-Ledger

Charles Middleberg and his family are Polish Jews, living in France during World War II. After the German invasion in May 1940, Charles's father is taken away. Soon after, his mother is taken as well, and for the next five years, Charles and his brother will have their lives saved - again and again - by a series of small miracles.

Collects miraculous stories of the Jewish faith, past and present, that recount reunions with lost family, escapes from death, and other true accounts of destiny.

Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them. It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers. The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.

Told in short, gripping chapters, this is an unforgettable true story of survival. The author was featured in Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.At just 15, her mother, and brother were taken from their Romanian town to the Auschwitz-II/Birkenau concentration camp. When they arrived at Auschwitz, a soldier waved Elly to the right; her mother and brother to the left. She never saw her family alive again. Thanks to a series of miracles, Elly survived the Holocaust. Today she is dedicated to keeping alive the stories of those who did not. Elly appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes for her involvement in bringing an important lawsuit against Volkswagen, whose German factory used her and other Jews as slave laborers.

How Jewish responses during the Holocaust shed new light on the dynamics of genocide and political violence Focusing on the choices and actions of Jews during the Holocaust, Ordinary Jews examines the different patterns of behavior of civilians targeted by mass violence. Relying on rich archival material and hundreds of survivors' testimonies, Evgeny Finkel presents a new framework for understanding the survival strategies in which Jews engaged: cooperation and collaboration, coping and compliance, evasion, and resistance. Finkel compares Jews' behavior in three Jewish ghettos—Minsk, Kraków, and Białystok—and shows that Jews' responses to Nazi genocide varied based on their experiences with prewar policies that either promoted or discouraged their integration into non-Jewish society. Finkel demonstrates that while possible survival strategies were the same for everyone, individuals' choices varied across and within communities. In more cohesive and robust Jewish communities, coping—confronting the danger and trying to survive without leaving—was more organized and successful, while collaboration with the Nazis and attempts to escape the ghetto were minimal. In more heterogeneous Jewish communities, collaboration with the Nazis was more pervasive, while coping was disorganized. In localities with a history of peaceful interethnic relations, evasion was more widespread than in places where interethnic relations were hostile. State repression before WWII, to which local communities were subject, determined the viability of anti-Nazi Jewish resistance. Exploring the critical influences shaping the decisions made by Jews in Nazi-occupied eastern Europe, Ordinary Jews sheds new light on the dynamics of collective violence and genocide.

A 2021 National Jewish Book Award Finalist One of Smithsonian Magazine's Best History Books of 2021 "An uplifting tale, suffused with a karmic righteousness that is, at times, exhilarating." —Wall Street Journal "A gripping narrative that reads like a page turning thriller novel." —NPR In the summer of 1942, the Rabinowitz family narrowly escaped the Nazi ghetto in their Polish town by fleeing to the forbidding Bialowieza Forest. They miraculously survived two years in the woods—through brutal winters, Typhus outbreaks, and merciless Nazi raids—until they were liberated by the Red Army in 1944. After the war they trekked across the Alps into Italy where they settled as refugees before eventually immigrating to the United States. During the first ghetto massacre, Miriam Rabinowitz rescued a young boy named Philip by pretending he was her son. Nearly a decade later, a chance encounter at a wedding in Brooklyn would lead Philip to find the woman who saved him. And to discover her daughter Ruth was the love of his life. From a little-known chapter of Holocaust history, one family’s inspiring true story.

2022 National Jewish Book Award Finalist “Inspiring. Exhilarating. Astonishing. An epic tale of brotherhood, ingenuity, and survival.” —Heather Dune Macadam, International Bestselling author of 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz Told through meticulous interviews with his son, this is an extraordinary memoir of endurance, faith, and a unique skill that kept three brothers together—and alive—during the darkest times of World War II. “A truly extraordinary book.” —Damien Lewis, #1 international bestselling author Harry Lenga was born to a family of Chassidic Jews in Kozhnitz, Poland. The proud sons of a watchmaker, Harry and his two brothers, Mailekh and Moishe, studied their father’s trade at a young age. Upon the German invasion of Poland, when the Lenga family was upended, Harry and his brothers never anticipated that the tools acquired from their father would be the key to their survival. Under the most devastating conditions imaginable—with death always imminent—fixing watches for the Germans in the ghettos and brutal slave labor camps of occupied Poland and Austria bought their lives over and over again. From Wolanow and Starachowice to Auschwitz and Ebensee, Harry, Mailekh, and Moishe endured, bartered, worked, prayed, and lived to see liberation. Derived from more than a decade of interviews with Harry Lenga, conducted by his own son Scott and others, The Watchmakers is Harry’s heartening and unflinchingly honest first-person account of his childhood, the lessons learned from his own father, his harrowing tribulations, and his inspiring life before, during, and after the war. It is a singular and vital story, told from one generation to the next—and a profoundly moving tribute to brotherhood, fatherhood, family, and faith. “Deeply moving.” —Jesse Kellerman, bestselling author “Vivid and compelling.” —Christopher R. Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and author of Ordinary Men

Baba Schwartz’s story began before the Holocaust could have been imagined. As a spirited girl in a warm and loving Jewish family, she lived a normal life in a small town in eastern Hungary. In The May Beetles, Baba describes the innocence and excitement of her childhood, remembering her early years with verve and emotion. But then, unspeakable horror. Baba tells of the shattering of her family and their community from 1944, when the Germans transported the 3000 Jews of her town to Auschwitz. She lost her father to the gas chambers, yet she, her mother and her two sisters survived this concentration camp and several others to which they were transported as slave labour. They eventually escaped the final death march and were liberated by the advancing Russian army. But despite the suffering, Baba writes about this period with the same directness, freshness and honesty as she writes about her childhood. Full of love amid hatred, hope amid despair, The May Beetles is sure to touch your heart. ‘Put down whatever you are reading and read this book. Baba, a charming, gifted and lively young companion, will take you back to a luminous childhood in Hungary before the war, will show you the darkening, and finally lead you to the gates of Hell. The human perversity on the other side of those gates remains incomprehensible, impenetrable to reason. But what Baba and her family embody – their antidote – is the durability of ordinary love.’ —Robyn Davidson ‘Told with the tempered calm of a born writer, Baba Schwartz’s memoir evokes the world of a Jewish Hungarian childhood, and brings us one of the great survival stories of the Second World War.’ —Joan London ‘A calmly personal account of a mighty cataclysm; astonishing in its dignity and composure, unforgettable in its sweetness of tone’ —Helen Garner ‘This book is testament to two miracles. First, of Baba’s survival. And second, of the survival within her of the girl - now an old woman - who nevertheless perceives the world, utterly without sentiment, as a place of “inexhaustible sources of delight”. An important document of witness, survival and the quiet triumph of loving life despite what it has shown you.’ —Anna Funder ‘“Never again” was the promise. But are parents, politicians and teachers making sure this promise is kept? Reading and discussing The May Beetles and other equally fine and compelling recollections of the Holocaust, are powerful and immediate ways of honouring this promise.’ —Agnes Nieuwenhuizen, Weekend Australian ‘Her memory is astonishing and from the point of a reader, in its nuance and recall of detail, this makes the story utterly trustworthy throughout ... Baba’s love of life shines through at every moment.’ —Robert Manne ‘This story is full of genuinely heart-stopping moments – compulsive reading, especially towards the end’ —Australian Book Review ‘Baba Schwartz’s clean, classical style – she is a natural – is matched by the poise with which she relates her tale: almost in the way a novelist observes a character - A superior memoir.’ —Pick of the Week, The Age