Flares of Memory essays

Flares of Memory essays Sheila Chamovitz, developer of Flares of Memory: Stories of Childhood During the Holocaust, wanted to capture the essence of children during the holocaust during World War II. Since there are very few survivors still alive today she wanted to get their stories on paper so that generations to come would be able to learn the stories of the people that suffered for so long both during and after the war. After hearing one woman break down in her kitchen after suppressing her feelings for so long, Ms.Chamovitz decided to hold a conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Holocaust Center to have some survivors write their story. This is how the book, Flares of Memory: Stories of Childhood During the Holocaust was born. The survivors that were invited to the conference were the sources Ms. Chamovitz used in putting this books together. They held workshops in order to make sure they developed their stories and got their message across. Another very important aspect is that all editing, no matter how small, was approved by the writer of the particular writer. Ms. Chamovitz wanted to make sure that nothing was changed that the writers wanted to include in their story. There were several themes within the book, however the main theme within it was survival. All of these children survived the war, despite all of the odds being against them. Some were forced into hiding, others were in the concentrations camps we hear so much about. These people were punished because of their religion beyond all reasoning. While reading this book I took notice when a writer would say something like, I am the only survivor of my family, there were eleven. There could possibly be more than that and the writer simply did not mention it. To think that entire families were wiped out is a mindblower. You always knew that these families existed, but you did not hear specific stories of survival. In the story What Ever Happened t...