Israel’s Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day April 23rd-24th
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
~Elie Wiesel
On this day of commemoration here are a few relative books:
These are two wonderful gifts I received
“The Holocaust Museum In Washington”
This book was written by Jeshajahu Weinberg, the founding director of the museum. There are hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs throughout the book–photos of kitchen utensils, hair, shoes, forged documents, artificial limbs, and luggage and prayer shawls confiscated from the victims.
Haunting and terrifying are photos showing charred corpses of concentration camp inmates, a starved prisoner in Buchenwald,
a young Jewish partisan woman being hanged in Minsk in 1941, Danish Jews escaping to Sweden on a small boat, and Hungarian Jews arriving in Auschwitz in 1944. The book provides a well-rounded history of the Holocaust, but I would still really love to visit this museum in person!
“Once We Were Brothers”
a fictional novel by Ronald H. Balson (a Chicago attorney.) His travels to Warsaw and southern Poland in connection with a complex telecommunications case, inspired this book. It is a story about two boys and a family who struggle to survive in war-torn Poland. I have not read it yet, but I have a feeling I will really enjoy it!
Rated 4.6 on amazon.com
Here are a couple books on my wishlist and tbr list:
(click pictures and titles for more info.)
From A Name to A Number:
A Holocaust Survivor’s Autobiography
A deeply personal story about one man’s lovely childhood that turned into a nightmare at the age of 15. He survives 5 camps and a multitude of atrocities. He is one of few survivors, and resides in my hometown of Portland, OR. I plan to read this book soon, I am fascinated by the prospect of it.
Rated 4.9 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Jewish Traditional Apple Tea
In a saucepan, bring a cup of water and allspice (4whole) just to a boil; add 2 black-tea bags. Remove from the heat; cover and steep for 3 minutes. Discard allspice and tea bags. Stir in a cup of apple juice and honey to taste.
How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler’s List
This, the only memoir published by a former Schindler’s list child, perfectly captures the innocence of a small boy who goes through the unthinkable. My watching the movie Schindler’s list is one of a series of events that sparked my intrigue and constant curiosity about the Holocaust. I am looking forward to this book.
Rated 4.8 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Turkish coffee
A method of preparing coffee using finely powdered roast coffee beans and roasting them in a small pot. Add in a little Cardamon spice for a nice aroma and taste. It is also known as “Jewish coffee” or “Israeli Turkish coffee” or “Arabic coffee”
Fun Fact: It’s a tradition in Israel to bring coffee to a friend’s house for Shabbat or send coffee in a gift basket for a birthday. Coffee is also an excellent addition to a Mishloach Manot basket for the Jewish holiday of Purim.
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” Albert Einstein
What related book have you read, that really moved/impact you?
There are so many amazing, unique, and gorgeous libraries all over our beautiful world. Today I’ll highlight a selection of wonderful and culturally diverse libraries.
A historic building built in 1906 by Charles Holden, its design was influential in the development of Edwardian Free Style architecture.
Centred on the block, the library is a nine-story rectangular box containing book stacks and services, surrounded by a free-standing, elliptical, colonnaded wall featuring reading and study areas that are accessed by bridges spanning skylit light wells. The library’s internal glass facade overlooks an enclosed concourse formed by a second elliptical wall that defines the east side of the site
The 19th-century focused research library of The Johns Hopkins University. It is located in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere historic cultural neighborhood north of downtown across from the landmark Washington Monument. The collections are available for use by the general public, in keeping with the famous Baltimorean merchant/banker/financier/philanthropist George Peabody’s goal to create a library “for the free use of all persons who desire to consult it.
Connemara as well, it’s just so gorgeous!
One of the four National Depository Libraries which receive a copy of all books, newspapers and periodicals published in India. Established in 1890, the library is a repository of centuries-old publications, wherein lie some of the most respected works and collections in the country. It also serves as a depository library for the UN.
The new 9-storey library building deliberately takes its cue from the block structure of the projected 7-storey buildings in the area, and rises up like a great crystalline cube within the grassed area at Mailänder Platz. The dimensioning and positioning, detached from their urban context, are a symbol of the significance of the library as a new intellectual and cultural centre.
The Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura, which roughly translates to royal reading room, was built in 1837. It houses more than 350,000 works from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, as well as a small collection of paintings and old coins.
Located within Beitou District, northern Taipei, Taiwan. It is a two-storey building and it is notable as being constructed to be an eco-friendly green building
Labeled by the press as the Megabiblioteca (“megalibrary”), is a library in the north area of Mexico City. The library is spread across 38,000 square metres (409,000 sq ft.)
A superb example of how local materials can be used to create sustainable and low maintenance buildings. Former guerrilla fighters from the area worked as part of a rehabilitation program on this 16,000 square foot public library, which is constructed out of locally-sourced river rocks and sustainably harvested pin.
Fruin’s sculpture is constructed of a thousand reclaimed pieces of plexiglass ranging in size from 2×2 to 24×36 inches. They originate from many sources, including a closed- down plexi distributorship near Copenhagen, a framing shop, the basement of the Danish State Art Workshops, and the dumpsters outside the Danish Architecture Center.
Designed for the International Competition of Architecture by students from the Architecture School of Paris La Siene. The Wall of Knowledge, the Stockholm Public Library concept won the Master Award for an award winning Architectural Image.
The National Library of Belarus is the main information and cultural centre of the country. Its depository collections include 8 million items of various media. In 1993 the National Library of Belarus started to create its own electronic information resources. It has generated a collection of bibliographic, factual graphic, full-text, graphic, sound and language databases that comprise more than 2 million records. The scope of databases is quite wide: humanities, social sciences, history, art and culture of Belarus. Library users also have access to databases of other libraries and academic institutions, including foreign ones.
Cafe Book Bean 