The HLAA-TC Book Club has chosen Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. (Central Time) for our next book club session. We alternate between reading fiction and nonfiction each month. In February the nonfiction book we are discussing is “Signs of Survival: A Memoir of the Holocaust” by Renee Hartman with Joshua M. Greene. Hartman tells of her experience surviving the Holocaust when she was 10 years old. Renee and her sister (who is deaf) tell of their experience. “Signs of Survival” is billed as a “Children’s Memoir” and therefore reads very quickly.
Since the book is short this month, here are some additional resources related to the author(s) and subject matter:
- “Renee Hartman, (Season 1, Episode 6 of “Those Who Were There” podcast): This is a podcast episode of “Those Who Were There” that features Renee Hartman. This recorded testimony of her experience is the basis for “Signs of Survival.” This webpage offers a video with captions of Renee’s interview for the Yale Fortunoff Video Archive For Holocaust Testimonies. There is also a transcript of the podcast available on this page.
- “Those Who Were There” podcast (website): This is a podcast in its second season that shares stories from the Holocaust. Renee Hartman’s story was featured on this podcast in the first season, episode 6.
- Yale- Fortunoff Video Archives For Holocaust Testimonies (website): The website of the video archives that Renee Hartman and thousands of others provided testimony for.
- Joshua M. Greene (website): Joshua M. Greene is the writer who helped Renee Hartman get her story in the book that would become “Signs of Survival.” Mr. Greene writes about the Holocaust and has written several books about the subject.
Even though the book is a quick read, the above material makes for a more in-depth experience. Look at these websites if you are able and interested. We will focus our discussion on the book but this additional information is interesting to have.
If you would like to join us on February 10th please email Laura Hagemann at social@hlaatc.singlerdesign.com and she will send you a Zoom meeting link before the book club meeting. All meetings are open to all (you don’t have to be an HLAA or HLAA-TC member to participate), free and live captioned. We keep the meetings to an hour and a half and we have had several authors and guests (see the book club page for a list of authors and guests we’ve had).