The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is a story of two women in war. It is also a tale of a country torn in two. The Nightingale Plot (No Spoilers) It happened quickly. On May 9, 1940, life in France was normal. People shared carafes of wine in the cafés of Paris and kids laughed …
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Visiting the Jewish Quarter of Prague can be overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be logistically overwhelming. Here’s the easiest way to visit Prague’s Jewish Quarter and a bit of background on this little neighborhood with lots of history. Prague’s Jewish Quarter: Layers of History Prague is home to one of the oldest recorded …
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Picture this: The International Red Cross is coming to the ghetto. Yes, that kind of ghetto. The European ghettos that Jews were forced into during the horrific years of 1938-1945. There is overcrowding. There is stench. There is death. There is death everywhere, in fact. But the Red Cross is coming. The year is …
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I hesitated before booking “Hitler’s Vienna: A 2.5-Hour Historical Walking Tour.” The name scared me a little. Would the tour in any way glorify the man? Would I be able to stomach 2.5 hours of learning about Adolf Hitler? In the end, I am glad I booked the tour. In no way did our …
Sometimes simplicity makes for the most powerful memorials, and that is true of the Shoes on the Danube Promenade where I returned multiple times when visiting Budapest. On the other hand, there is something to be said for largescale remembrance, and that’s true of the Dohány Street Synagogue, also known as the Great Synagogue …
There was a Nazi concentration camp built just for women. Ravensbrück sits on the shore of a picturesque lake in northern Berlin, the beauty of the scenery belying the horror that once reigned there. Unlike other camps, Ravensbrück was not built specifically for Jewish prisoners. It was built to hold about 6,000 female prisoners …
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