1906: Events and Inventions

Aug18

February 10, 1906. The biggest and fastest battleship in the world, the HMS Dreadnought, is launched in Britain by King Edward VII. Also in February, the Japanese government announces that it will double the size of its navy within the next three years. For more information about these huge warships of the early twentieth century, read Robert Massie’s Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War.

February, 1906. William K. Kellogg forms a company to market and distribute his corn-based breakfast cereal, called Cornflakes.

March, 1906. At the Spanish seaport of Algeciras, a conference is held to determine what European power will govern Morocco (in Northern Africa). THe conference recognized France’s “special position” in Morocco and gave the French and the Spanish joint responsibility for overseeing the government of Morocco.

April 18, 1906, The San Francisco Earthquake: “At almost precisely 5:12 a.m., local time, a foreshock occurred with sufficient force to be felt widely throughout the San Francisco Bay area. The great earthquake broke loose some 20 to 25 seconds later, with an epicenter near San Francisco. Violent shocks punctuated the strong shaking which lasted some 45 to 60 seconds. The earthquake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada.”

April 27, 1906. The British and the Chinese agree that no foreign powers will be allowed to do business in Tibet without British permission. The agreement is meant to keep the Russians, in particular, out of Tibet. (The Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, are not consulted.)

May 10, 1906. The Duma, Russia’ first democratically elected parliament, opens at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

July, 1906. Czar Nicholas dissolves the Duma because the members dared to suggest governmental and agrarian reforms. The more radical members of the Duma then meet in Finland and issue a manifesto calling on all Russians to refuse to pay taxes or serve in the army.

August 18, 1906. An earthquake in Valparaiso, Chile kills thousands and levels the city. Santiago also suffers severe damage.

September-October, 1906. Following disputed elections, the first president of Cuba, TomÃ¡s Estrada Palma, faces an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeat the meager government forces. The U.S. intervenes in the civil war by sending troops to Cuba to restore peace.

December 24, 1906. The first known radio broadcast is made in the U.S. by R.A. Fessenden from a radio tower in Brant Rock, Massachusetts. He broadcasts Christmas music and a reading from Luke, chapter 2, in the Bible.
Ken Burns’ Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio is a two hour documentary on the history of radio. Engineer Husband and I found it fascinating.

1905: Events and Inventions

Aug9

January 22, 1905. Bloody Sunday. In St. Petersburg, 10,000 workers and their families march to the Winter Palace to petition Czar Nicholas II for better working conditions. Cossack troops fire on the unarmed crowd, killing over 100 of the demonstrators and injuring many hundreds more.

January 25, 190. Frederick Wells, a mine supervisor in Transvaal, discovers the largest diamond ever found, weighing 3106.75 carats or 1.33 lbs. Transvaal (now called South Africa) was a British colony in 1905, and the jewel eventually became part of the British Crown Jewels after it was presented to King Edward VII on his birthday in 1907. The diamond is called the Cullinan diamond or The Star of Africa.

February 17, 1905. As his carriage passes through the Kremlin gates in Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Aleksandrovich, the uncle of Czar Nicholas II and one his chief advisors, is killed by a bomb thrown onto his lap.

May 28, 1905. The Japanese navy sinks twelve Russian warships in the Strait of Tsushima, ending Russian hopes of winning the war with Japan at sea. The war continues to go badly for Russia on land as well, and the Czar and his government face continued civil unrest at home as peasants and workers demand the right to vote and to be democratically governed.

July 24, 1905. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Czar Nicholas II meet in Russia and agree to conclude a secret treaty of alliance between the two countries. They plan to invite France to join this secret defensive alliance, but Russian ministers opposed such an alliance.

August 13, 1905. Norway votes to end its union Sweden which dated back to the 1814 Treaty of Kiel. Norway becomes (again) an independent country and in November the Norwegians invite Prince Charles of Denmark to become their new king.

September 5, 1905. President Teddy Roosevelt of the United States is instrumental in bringing the Russians and the Japanese to sign the treaty of Portsmouth, ending the war in Korea and Manchuria. The Japanese and the Russians agree to withdraw from Manchuria, but the Japanese are to have free rein in Korea and in the formerly Russian ports of Dalny and Port Arthur in Manchuria.

September 7, 1905. More than 1000 people have died in the oil fields of Baku (Azerbaijan) as fighting continues between the Armenians and Tartars, encouraged by Turkish propaganda. The Russian government has not taken action to reconcile the two groups, and oil production is being destroyed by raging fires as a result of the fighting.

October 30, 1905. In a new manifesto, Czar Nicholas II promises Russians limited civil and voting rights and an elected parliament, the Duma.

October, 1905. British suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and Annie Kenney prefer to go to prison rather than pay fines for an assault conviction. The suffragettes say that they are tired of waiting for the right to vote and they are willing to use violence and hunger strikes in prison to gain their victory.

Meet Me in St. Louis: A Trip to the 1904 World’s Fair by Robert Jackson

Aug2

Facts:
Almost 20 million people from all over the world came to the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

President Theodore Roosevelt made two visits to St. Louis, once before the fair’s opening on April 30th and again later in the year before the fair closed on December 1st.

The fair was planned to take place in 1903 as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, but it had to be postponed for a year due to the need for more preparations.

THe U.S. Congress invested five million dollars in the fair.

John Philip Sousa and his band performed on the opening day of the fair. Ragtime composer and Missouri resident Scott Joplin composed a piece especially for the fair, called The Cascades.

Thomas Edison himself came to the fair before it opened to help set up al the electric light displays.

Peanut butter and puffed rice, two foods not yet popular in the U.S., were promoted at the World’s Fair. Peanut butter was said to be a health food that was good for teeth.

Displayed in the Palace of Agriculture were a giant elephant made of almonds, a giant horse made of pecans, sculptures made of butter, and a corn palace.

Prince Pu Lun, nephew of the Emperor of China, Minister to His Imperial Presence, visited as the representative of his Emperor at the World’s Fair in St. Louis.

Geronimo lived at the fair for our months and signed autographs for ten cents each.

Ice cream in thin cone-shaped waffles became a favorite treat from the fair. Hot dogs and iced tea also became popular. Dr. Pepper was a fizzy new drink, introduced as a new kind of soda pop, made with 23 flavors.

The Ferris wheel from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was brought out of storage in Chicago and reassembled for the St. Louis fair. It was 265 feet high, and the cost for a ride was fifty cents.

Reactions:
Edward V. P. Schneiderhahn: “It is unthinkable what may all be seen. The mind reels at the mass of various and wonderful exhibits.”
Anonymous visitor: “My idea is to take in just as much as I can in the time I have.”
A farmer: “By George, I’ve plowed all day many a time; and I know hard work as well as the next man. But this is the hardest day’s work I’ve ever done–it uses you up. But it’s worth it.”
Edmund Philbert: “The view from the top of the wheel was very fine. We made two trips in the afternoon, and in the evening two more to view the illumination which looked fine.”
President Roosevelt: “I count it, indeed, a privilege to have had a chance of visiting this marvelous exposition. It is in very fact, the greatest Exposition of the kind that we have ever seen in recorded history.”

Related books:
Still Shining! Discovering Lost Treasures from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair by Diane Rademacher.
Beyond the Ice Cream Cone: The Whole Scoop on Food at the 1904 World’s Fair by Pamela Vaccaro.
The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson. Newbery honor fiction about an Irish worker who helped build the great Ferris wheel in Chicago in 1893.
Fair Weather by Richard Peck. Fiction about a farm family’s visit to the Chicago World’s Fair.
The Minstrel’s Melody by Eleanora Tate. Twelve year old Orphelia longs to perform at the St. Louis World’s fair, but she must win a competition to do so. An American Girl history mystery through time.

1903: Art and Music

Jul30

“In the Good Old Summertime” was a popular song of 1903, first published in 1902 with music by George Evans and lyrics by Ren Shields. Sheet music, player piano, and even recordings were all ways to buy and enjoy popular music in the early twentieth century. Sousa’s band recorded “In the Good Old Summertime” in 1903.

In the good old summertime, in the good old summertime.
Strolling through the shady lanes with your baby mine.
You hold her hand, and she holds yours,
and that’s a very good sign.
That she’s your tootsie-wootsie,
in the good old summertime.

Artist Paul Gauguin died in Hua Oa, the Marquesas Islands on May 8, 1903. He left France to live in Tahiti, then in the Marquesas, because, he said, “After the disease of civilization, life in this new world is a return to health.” More images of Gauguin’s paintings.

Later in the year, artists American James Whistler (July 17) and Impressionist Camille Pissarro (November 12) also died. The art world was moving from Impressionism to new schools and forms, including Art Nouveau, Fauvism, Cubism,and Die Brucke (The Bridge) in Germany, but the Impressionists were still quite influential.

1902: Events and Inventions

Jul26

January, 1902. The Chinese imperial court returns to Peking from X’ian where they had gone during the Boxer Rebellion. Empress Dowager Tz’u-hsi continues to rule along with the Emperor Guanghzu.

February 22, 1902. Major Walter Reed and Dr. James Carroll of the United States Yellow Fever Commission in Cuba publish a scientific report revealing that their research indicates that the disease is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

May, 1902. Cuba gains its official independence from Spain, and American interim government and troops withdraw from the new republic. Tomas Estrada Palma becomes the first president of Cuba.

May 8, 1902. 30,000 inhabitants of St. Pierre, Martinique die when the volcano Mt. Pelee erupts suddenly and unexpectedly.

May 31, 1902. The Treaty of Vereeniging is signed, ending the Boer War in South Africa. The British won the war and take over the administration of South Africa and its valuable diamond and gold mining industry. The Boers (Dutch colonizers) remain in South Africa under British rule.

June, 1902. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy renew their Triple Alliance for another twelve years.

July 17, 1902. Willis H. Carrier designs the first system to control temperature and humidity, inventing modern air conditioning.

October, 1902. A cholera epidemic in Egypt ends after killing more than 30,000 people.

December 10, 1902. THe Aswan dam is completed on the Nile River in Egypt. THe purpose of the mile and a quarter long, 130 foot high dam is to control the annual flooding of the Nile and release the water in a way that will make agriculture in Egypt more widespread and more profitable.

December, 1902. The British and German ambassadors request repayment from Venezuela for the losses suffered by their people during the Venezuelan coup of 1899. The Venezuelans refuse to recognize any debt, and so the British and Germans seize the entire Venezuelan navy, four ships. The ongoing disagreement has resulted in arrests of British and German subjects in Caracas and acts of war against Venezuela by Great Britain and Germany.

A lady dressed in the costume of 1902.

American Eve by Paula Uruburu

Jul19

American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the “It” Girl, and the Crime of the Century by Paula Uruburu.

So, a photograph of Evelyn Nesbit was the inspiration for L.M. Montgomery’s description of the innocent, youthful, and inspirational Anne of Green Gables. And yet the true story of Evelyn Nesbit, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, is as sordid and debauched a tale as could be imagined. The contrast between the fictional character of Anne and the true character of young Evelyn Nesbit is heartbreakingly sad.

Evelyn Nesbit was born on December 25, 1884 (or maybe 1885). Her father died when she was ten or eleven, leaving the family in desperate straits. Young Evelyn managed to catch the attention of a newspaper photographer, then became a model for several artists in Philadelphia where the family was living in poverty, and finally moved with her mother and younger brother to New York where she became the most photographed young woman of the time. Photographers and artists stood in line to paint or take her picture. She was The American Beauty, the “It” Girl, Psyche, a Sibyl, the Sphinx, or “the glittering girl model of Gotham.” All this, and she was only sixteen years old.

And it all came crashing down, of course. One older New York millionaire seduced her, and another forced her into marriage and then defended her “honor” by murdering his rival on June 25, 1906 at the rooftop theater of Madison Square Garden. It was the Crime of the Century, and according to some, Evelyn Nesbit was completely responsible for the death of one man and the insanity of another. In her book about the drama, Ms. Uruburu takes the side of the underdog, Evelyn Nesbit. Everyone around Evelyn is described as “depraved” and “negligent” and “wicked”–all of which they probably were— but Evelyn is young and deceived and makes, not horrid, greedy choices, but rather “mistakes”. She is always trapped by her circumstances, unable to escape her fate, a victim of the manipulative, wealthy men and women who make her life into an obscene celebrity spectacle.

I thought the book was interesting in that it told a story that I have never read before. According to Uruburu, Evelyn Nesbit is a major character in E.L. Doctorow’s novel, Ragtime. I only made through about 100 pages of Ragtime, if that, and I never saw the movie based on the book. I also never saw or heard of the Joan Collins movie that was made about Evelyn Nesbit’s life, entitled The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing. As a defense of Evelyn Nesbit, the book succeeds for the most part, although her “mistakes” were a bit more culpable than the author wants to make them seem to be. It’s a mistake to find yourself unexpectedly alone with a married lecherous man; it’s a really bad choice to become the lecher’s mistress.

Warning: Some of the details of the story are lurid, and Ms. Uruburu’s prose gets a bit purplish at times. However, I doubt the author could have done much to sensationalize the story any more than it already was.

Evelyn Nesbit was definitely a sensation.

Earthquake at Dawn by Kristiana Gregory

Jul18

Earthquake at Dawn is a book in the series Great Episodes, published in 1992 by Harcourt Brace. The novel is set before, during and after the San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906, and the story is based upon the stories of two real women who lived through the earthquake and its aftermath. Edith Irvine was a twenty-one year old photographer who was visiting San Francisco the morning of the earthquake. She hid her cameras in an abandoned baby buggy and took candid shots of the damage from the earthquake that San Francisco officials wanted to hide in an effort to reassure the public that the city was only slightly damaged and ready for more immigration and commerce. The other woman who appears in the book is Mary Exa Atkins Campbell who wrote a thirty-two page letter telling about her experiences during the earthquake and the subsequent fires caused, or at least exacerbated, by the damaged infrastructure and the lack of water.

It makes for a good story. Edith and her servant/friend, the fictional Daisy Valentine, wander about a ravaged San Francisco looking for Edith’s father. They meet up with not only Mary Exa, but also actor John Barrymore and author Jack London, who were actually present during the great earthquake and later wrote about their experiences, too. I always think that well-researched and engaging historical fiction is the most fun and memorable to learn history. You can get a general idea of what happened and how it affected the people involved in the event, and then if you’re interested, look more details for yourself. I especially like stories that are based on real-life characters like Edith Irvine and Mary Exa.

Go here to see some of Edith Irvine’s photographs of the earthquake’s aftereffects.

And here’s a movie made on Market Street in San Franciso just four days before the earthquake in 1906:

Only a couple of of these Great Episodes series books fit into my upcoming study of the twentieth century for this next school year:

Air Raid–Pearl Harbor!: The Story of December 7, 1941 by Theodore Taylor
Keep Smiling Through by Ann Rinaldi (1943)

What other historical fiction set in the twentieth century either for young people or for adults would you recommend?

YA Historical Fiction–12th and 13th Centuries

Jul1

I read two YA historical fiction novels set in medieval times this week–very different places, however.

The Queen’s Daughter by Susan Coventry. Joan of England, the youngest child of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, is transplanted from Poitiers to Sicily to the Holy Land back to Poitiers and finally to Toulouse. The fictionalized biography of Joan takes as its theme her struggle to choose between her parents’, especially her mother’s, advice to trust no one, certainly no man, and Joan’s own inclination to love and be loved. I enjoyed the story of this princess caught in the middle of the marital and political skirmishes of her parents and her pugnacious older brothers, and although the novel is mostly imagined since very little verifiable information about Joan’s life exists, it was believable, if perhaps a bit romantic. There’s also some odd speculation about Joan’s (married) love life, but it’s OK for older teens. Anyway, don’t we all want to believe that the princess lives happily ever after with the love of her life, after maybe some suffering and difficulty? That’s what happens in this version of Joan’s story, and it makes a for a satisfying read. Joan lived from 1165-1199 in medieval Europe.

Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang. There are probably several novels that take the adventures of Marco Polo as a starting point, but this one is different because it’s told from the vantage point of the fictional sixteen year old granddaughter of the Great Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler of China in the 13th century. Emmajin scorns the idea of becoming a dutiful wife and wants only to use her skill with a bow and her horsemanship to serve the Great Khan, her grandfather, in battle. However, when she is assigned to prove her loyalty by spying on the Westerners, Marco Polo,his father and his uncle, Emmajin becomes more and more confused about who she is and what she really wants out of life.

Reading this book was like entering another world, like the mind-bending worlds that fantasy and futuristic authors create, only this one was a real historical place and time. I knew very little about Mongol culture and customs when I started the book, and I felt as if by the time I finished I at least had an introduction to the world of Kublai Khan and his court. Emmajin is an admirable and strong character, and her romance-from-afar with Marco Polo is handled deftly and tastefully. Emajin also changes over the course of the book from an immature tomboyish adventurer to a young woman with strength and purpose. There are so many bookish, refined females in historical fiction; it was refreshing to read about an intelligent girl heroine who loves to fight and ride horses and compete for prizes. And she learns to channel that strength and competitiveness into pursuits that will make a real improvement in her world.

Daughter of Xanadu was nominated for 2011 Cybil Awards, Young Adult Fiction category.

More YA historicals set during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries:
The Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are not Young Adult, but older teens and young people would enjoy them immensely. They are murder mysteries set between about 1135 and about 1145, during the contest for the crown of England between King Stephen and Empress Maud.
Spider’s Voice by Gloria Skurzynski. Heloise and Abelard, the famous French lovers, as seen from the viewpoint of a trusted servant, Spider. 12th century.
De Granville trilogy (Blood Red Horse, Green Jasper, and Blade of Silver) by K.M. Grant. Two young men fight in the armies of Saladin and of Richard the Lion-hearted during and after the Third Crusade. 12th Century.
The Youngest Templar series (Keeper of the Grail, Trail of Fate, Orphan of Destiny) by Michael Spradlin. Cliffhanger warning: be sure to read these together because the first book, at least, ends at a rather inopportune and unsatisfying moment. An orphan boy goes to the Third Crusade, makes friends, discovers his heritage, and returns to England along with his companions, the archer Robard Hode and maid Maryam. (Get it? R.H and Maid M.?)
Knight Crusader by Ronald Welch. Third crusade again. 12th century.
The Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. Newbery Award winning story of a Korean orphan boy who wants to become a potter. Tree-Ear, named for a wild mushroom that grows without seed, lives under a bridge with his friend and mentor, Crane-man, but he has a dream of becoming an artisan. Late 12th century.
Hawksmaid: The Untold Story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian by Kathryn Lasky. Early 13th century during the reign of King John.
Perfect Fire trilogy (Blue Flame, White Heat, and Paradise Red) by K.M. Grant. The Catholic crusade against the Cathars in southern France (Occitania). Raimon and Yolanda fall in love during a time of religious conflict and danger for their country. 13th century.
The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean. Twelve year old Haoyou must protect his family after the death of his father in 13th century China.
I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane L. WIlson. Oyuna wants to become a great horsewoman, but when Kublai Khan’s soldiers raid her village and take all the horses, she disguises herself as a boy to remain with the herd.
Sisters of the Sword by Maya Snow. Two sisters, Kimi and Hana, run away from a tragedy in their aristocratic home and take refuge, disguised as boys, in the dojo of Master Goku who runs the finest samurai training school in Japan. Semicolon review here. 13th century.
The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple. Elenor and Thomas go on pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James before their arranged marriage can take place. End of the 13th century (1299).

The Mascot by Mark Kurzem

Jun8

The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s Nazi Boyhood by Mark Kurzem.

I read two books in a row about boys and their relationships with a father who had mysterious past. (See my review of Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me by Ian Cron) Short version: it’s complicated.

In The Mascot, Mark Kuzem is surprised by a visit from his father to Mark’s apartment at Oxford in England. Alex Kurzem has come all the way from Australia, with no warning, and without telling Mark’s mother the truth about where he’s gone. Mark expects some earth-shattering communication from his father, but the visit continues for days with only surface pleasantries. Finally, just before Alex leaves to go back to Australia, he tells Mark that he remembers two words from his childhood in or near Latvia, before World War II. The words are “Panok” and “Koidanov”. Alex wants Mark to find out what the words mean.

These two words and Alex Kurzem’s recurring and expanding memories of his childhood during World War II begin a journey into the past for Mark Kurzem and his father. Are Alex Kurzem’s memories trustworthy, or has he chosen to remember too late for the memories to be confirmed as truth? Will his story damage the lives and reputations of the people in Latvia and elsewhere who were his rescuers and protectors? And most importantly, what does the story of Alex Kurzem, or Uldis Kurzemnieks, or whatever his real birth name was, mean? Mark wonders and later tries to find out exactly who this man, his father, really is, and what his experiences before, during, and after the war really mean to both his identity and Mark’s identity as the son of a Holocaust survivor.

Alex:
“I don’t have any choice about what I can remember and when. My memories are here inside me like vipers inside my bones gnawing their way out.”

“To be truthful, I don’t want to remember anything of what happened to me. Who is his right mind would? But the bigger truth is that I am more terrified to forget. I am trapped.”

Mark:
“I was disturbed, perhaps even slightly annoyed, that my father had kept so many things from me. . . . I was baffled by the fact that my father had remained silent for more than fifty years. What almost superhuman strength had this required? What toll had silence taken on his inner life? My father seemed to inhabit two separate worlds. . . . One world was inexorably unraveling while a new, unpredictable one emerged.”

Some doubts have been raised about the veracity of Mr. Kurzem’s memories. Author Mark Kurzem died in November 2009 of “complications following diabetes.” Alex Kurzem says, “My story is true. I have nothing to hide.”

The Mascot is an exciting, disturbing Holocaust memoir about a boy who was both protected and exploited by his Latvian and German captors. It’s also a story about a delicate, but loving relationship between a father and son and about the fragility and the importance of memories. I recommend the book to anyone interested in Holocaust memoir, not just for the story itself, but also for what it has to say about memoirs and the complications and even perils of unearthing the past.

We Die Alone by David Howarth

May27

We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth. Recommended by The Ink Slinger.

This true adventure story was published in 1955, and it read like 1955. Maybe it’s that I expected a first person memoir, and I got a journalist’s view of the story, a bit detached and told from the point of view of several of the participants in the story. However, that journalist’s retelling didn’t feel strange to me when I read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I’m not sure what it was about this book, but I never felt the same empathy for Jan Baalsrud, the hero of We Die Alone, that I did for Louis Zamperini, the hero of Unbroken. Maybe I felt more for Zamperini because I got more background on his life both before and after his World War II adventure. Or maybe Jan Baalsrud was too much of a Scandinavian stoic for me to be able to identify myself with him; I’m certainly no stoic.

That’s not to say I didn’t like the book, We Die Alone, because I did. If Jan Baalsrud remains a sort of distant and remote character in spite of his very real sufferings described in excruciating detail in the book, the adventure and survival story itself is riveting and amazing:

“In March 1943, a team of expatriate Norwegian commandos sailed from northern England for Nazi-occupied arctic Norway to organize and supply the Norwegian resistance. But they were betrayed and the Nazis ambushed them. Only one man survived–Jan Baalsrud. This is the incredible and gripping story of his escape.”

Incredible it is. Jan Baalsrud is frostbitten and snowblind. He becomes unable to walk and must be carried to freedom by some astonishingly brave Norwegians and Lapps, through the snow and the mountains and at the risk of Nazi capture and reprisal.

Wouldn’t a book of World War II survival stories for young people (YA) with a chapter for each survivor be a great idea? The book could condense adult books like this one and Unbroken and then refer young adult readers to the full length stories if they were so inclined. What other survival adventures would you recommend for such a compilation? Add your favorite WWII survival stories to my list in the comments.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.
Night by Elie Wiesel.
The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The Zookeeper’s WIfe by Diane Ackerman.
Evidence Not Seen: A Womanâ€™s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II by Darlene Deibler Rose.

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