The Secret Holocaust Diaries

"The Secret Holocaust Diaries" is one of many books I've read about the Holocaust.  This is a nonfiction account of a young Russian girl's life during WWII.  Nonna Bannister kept diaries throughout the war and the years that followed.  She kept her diaries a secret, even from her husband and children, until the 1990's.  This book was compiled from her translated diaries and, per her wishes, was not published until after her death.

Nonna and her family lived in Russia/Ukraine.  They were Christians, members of the Russian Orthodox Church.  Due to the war, as a young girl Nonna stopped attending school and went into hiding, first from the Russians and then from the Germans.  Even without school, she still managed to become fluent in 7 languages.  Her languages skills probably helped keep her alive.

This is an amazing story of Nonna's perseverance, but it's also a story of overwhelming loss.  As a girl, she lost her entire family.  In fact, many members of her family simply disappeared, never to be heard from again.  One thing about this book that simply amazed me was that she didn't seem bitter.  She says repeatedly how thankful she is to have met her wonderful husband in American after the war, how thankful she was to the nuns in Germany that protected her from the Nazis, how thankful she was to a young Jewish boy who saved her life.  Even though she was young throughout the war, she faced great uncertainty and, for the most part, managed to keep a positive attitude.