Victory Day

Today is Victory Day in Ukraine. We are celebrating the end of World War II. Ukrainians suffered much during this war and everyone who is still alive from that time have dramatic stories of survival to tell.

I thought I would share three books that I've read during the last year all of which are true stories of people whose lives were dramatically altered because of World War II.

Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally

This is the book that the movie "Schindler's List" was based on. While the movie is excellent, this book surprised me with much more detail about Oskar and what life was like for civilian businessmen in Poland during the war. While it's a sad book in many respects, I find it inspiring in many ways too. Oskar Schindler was no saint. He was a businessman, adulterer and an alcholic. But as the world around him became more insane, he began to take steps to save people's lives. In a corrupted world, he could have easily made different choices which would have benefited him personally but he chose to do the right thing.

Jewish synagogue in Kracow, Poland's Jewish quarter.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Mextaxas

Another story of a man who was of the Christian faith and found himself in world that was becoming increasingly evil. He had to make hard choices on what he believed and how he was going to express his faith. While many Christian leaders in the German churches were aligning themselves with their government and deceptively leading their parishioners to worship Hitler, Erich Bonhoeffer choose God. This biography is long but don't let it intimidate you. It is also inspiring.

Latrines at Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camp

The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister by Nonna Bannister

Yeah for free Kindle Ebooks! I have learned to keep an eye out because every now and then you find one that is really worth downloading and this book looked very interesting.

If you have ever wondered what it was like for an Ukrainian civilian in World War II then this is the book to read. Germany invaded and occupied all of Ukraine during the war and Ukrainians who did not retreat to Russia were suspect and considered traitors. Ukrainians suffered horribly. Most women were rounded up and taken to work camps or suffered the worse fate of a concentration camp.

This book is Nonna's childhood diary and she relates what it was like to live in the beginning of Soviet collectivization, (In case you've wondered what that was like) and tells of how she one by one lost her entire family during the occupation. She eventually ended up in Germany and emigrated to America where she hid her diaries and her war experiences from her family until her old age. It's a sad book, but again it highlights the strength of those who survived those times and what they went through should never be forgotten.