Links to the Past

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, Good Neighbors, Bad Times: Echoes of My Father’s German Village by Mimi Schwartz tells the tale of the author’s twelve-year quest to determine whether her father’s stories of neighborly harmony in his pre-Hitler German village were true or merely a product of selective memory. In traveling to his village, Schwartz attempts to piece together bits of history, speaking with those who lived through the Nazi era, to obtain a clear picture of how her father’s "neighbors" were able to cope with the hatred and fear that were hallmarks of Hitler’s reign. Schwartz also seeks answers to life’s larger questions. How, she asks, do neighbors maintain a modicum of decency in trying times? And how do we negotiate evil and remain humane when, as in the Nazi years, hate rules?

Today’s “Linking in Lincoln” focuses on sites dedicated to the Holocaust. Good Neighbors, Bad Times stresses the significance of memory, the importance of learning from the past, and the triumph of human decency over evil. Perhaps these links will help reinforce the book’s message.

Visit the Web site of the United States Holocaust Museum at http://www.ushmm.org/. Here, you’ll find information on the Holocaust, links to relevant articles, maps to sites of importance in Holocaust history, Podcasts from their “Voices on Genocide Prevention” series, information on the museum, and a wealth of other educational information.

The Holocaust Survivors Web page at http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/ offers moving stories from actual survivors of the Holocaust, an intriguing photo gallery, and audio interviews so that survivors can tell their stories first-hand.

Sometimes poetry is the best vehicle for emotional expression, particularly when the subject is as difficult as genocide. Visit http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/thematic_poems/holocaust_poems.html for a selection of notable poems on the Holocaust.

One can hardly speak of the Holocaust without mentioning one of its most notable victims, Anne Frank. Visit the site for the U.S. Anne Frank Center at http://www.annefrank.com/  for information on this young diarist and pivotal figure in Holocaust history. And don’t forget to check out the Anne Frank House Web site at http://www.annefrank.org/.

Visit the Jewish Virtual Library Web site’s “Concentration Camp Photographs” page at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/ccphototoc.html for a sobering look at the reality of internment camp life.

That’s all for today’s LIL. Check in with us again soon for new featured author essays and tomorrow’s “This Week in History” installment.