Lost to the Shoah

It is important to remember not just what the Holocaust was but the individuals who were the subjects of its unrelenting Nazi brutalities. Written by a survivor about the people she knew and cared for, these eight stories fight against the depiction of Jews as victims and victims only, and individualize a tragedy that is too often abstracted into dates and statistics. Amidst the dramatic narrative, there is a brutal honesty and frankness that makes these stories far more infuriating, sad and shocking than any fictional attempt to convey what it was like to be human in such inhuman circumstances. These biographies remind readers of the consequences of hate upon the fragile beauty and complexity of human life.

Vera Schiff is a Holocaust survivor, educator and award winning author living in Toronto, Canada. In 2012 she received an honorary doctorate of Letters from the University of New Brunswick for her contributions to the field. In 2020 she was awarded the Order of Canada for her illustrious career as an author, historian and public speaker who is nationally recognized for sharing her moving experiences of the Holocaust.

Jeff McLaughlin is a professor of philosophy at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, Canada where he also serves as chair for the Department of Philosophy, History and Politics.

Vera Schiff with Jeff McLaughlin

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 270
Bibliographic Info: index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8045-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3950-5
Imprint: McFarland

Preface by Jeff McLaughlin 1
Introduction by Vera Schiff 7
Helen: Radiant Mistress 13
George: Musselman 31
Rita: Tragic Beauty 53
Fred: Informer 89
Marianne: Kapo 125
Bobby: Death Marcher 150
Hanus: Partisan 183
Jossl: Zionist 217
Epilogue by Vera Schiff 253
Index 257