The secret Holocaust diaries : the untold story of Nonna Bannister

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Author:

Bannister, Nonna, 1927-2004.

Tomlin, Carolyn Ross.

George, Denise.

Publication Information:

Carol Stream, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, c2009.

Abstract:

The author documents her experiences during World War II through a secret diary she kept during her time in a concentration camp and the years following the war.

Geographic Term:

Kosti͡antynivka (Donet͡sʹka oblastʹ, Ukraine) -- Biography.

ISBN:

9781414325460

Physical Description:

xxiii, 298 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), map ; 24 cm.

Subject Term:

World war, 1939-1945 -- Women -- Ukraine -- Kosti͡antynivka (Donet͡sʹka oblastʹ) -- Biography.

World war, 1939-1945 -- Children -- Ukraine -- Kosti͡antynivka (Donet͡sʹka oblastʹ) -- Biography.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Ukraine.

Contents:

Boarding the train -- Baby Sarah -- Before the Holocaust -- Move to Taganrog -- Move to Rostov-on-Don -- A day in the park -- The depression in Russia: Stalin's power -- Winter vacation with babushka at the dacha -- Our journey by train -- Homecoming welcome -- Our fun time begins -- Christmas church service -- Christmas Day 1932 -- Reflections on childhood -- Back to reality: 1933 -- Troubled times: 1933-34 -- Changing times: 1934-35 -- Wine-tasting time -- Times of uncertainty: 1937 -- Remembrances -- Germany attacks Poland -- Preparations for the invasion -- Our world begins to crumble -- Papa is found in hiding -- My last minutes with Papa -- Papa's burial -- Life without Papa -- Surviving the German occupation of Konstantinowka -- August 1942 -- Theend of the line -- Identification patches -- Labor camp, our first assignment: 1942 -- The break: Spring 1943 -- Loss of Mama to the Gestapo: September 1943 -- Survival to the end -- Last message from Mama -- Searching for Mama: Merxhausen hospital -- New life -- The final arrangements.

Added Author:

Tomlin, Carolyn Ross.

George, Denise.

Personal Subject:

Bannister, Nonna, 1927-2004.

Personal Author:

Bannister, Nonna, 1927-2004.

Title:

The secret Holocaust diaries : the untold story of Nonna Bannister

Available:*

Library	Shelf Number	Material Type	Status
Searching... Hattiesburg Library	940.531 BANNISTER	Book	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Nonna Bannister carried a secret almost to her Tennessee grave: the diaries she kept as a young girl experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust while learning compassion and love for her fellow human beings. Nonna's writings tell the remarkable tale of how a Russian girl, born into a family that had known wealth and privileges, was exposed to the concentration camps and learned the value of human life and the importance of forgiveness.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Russian refugee Bannister (1927-2004) rarely spoke about her brutal experiences under the regimes of Stalin and Hitler, not even to the American she married after the war. In this memoir, she reveals how a privileged childhood in the 1920s and '30s gave way to horror and loss in the 1940s. Although the sound quality of this production is poor (lots of rustling papers), Rebecca Gallagher does reasonably well with the multiple languages and wisely avoids attempting to replicate European accents. What is irritating, however, is the constant interruption in the form of unnecessary editor's notes, which make the narrative choppy and disjointed. More helpful is the seventh disc, which contains an interview with Bannister's husband and son, a precious audio reminiscence from Nonna herself, recorded in 1993, and abundant PDF materials, including maps, photographs and genealogical data. A Tyndale hardcover. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

How this story came to be written is a big part of the drama. The only World War II survivor of her wealthy Russian, devout Christian family, Nonna Lisowskaya came to the U.S. in 1950, married Henry Bannister, and never spoke about her Holocaust experience--until a few years before her death in 2004, when she revealed her diaries, originally written in six languages on paper scraps that she had kept in a pillow strapped to her body throughout the war. Now those diaries, in her English translation, tell her story of fleeing Stalinist Russia, not knowing what was waiting in Hitler's Germany, where she saw her mother murdered in the camps, escaped a massacre of Jews shot into a pit, was nursed by Catholic nuns, and much more. The editors' commentary in different type constantly interrupts the memoir, but the notes are helpful in explaining history and context. The added-on heavy messages celebrating Nonna's Christian forgiveness seem intrusive and unnecessary, no matter how heartfelt.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2009 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Bannister, the proud daughter of Russian nobility, endured German forced labor camps, the loss of family and friends, and other experiences more commonly associated with the persecution of Jews and other minorities during World War II. Here, more than half a century later, she shares her story through self-translated diary entries and accounts of her family history. The diary text is greatly enhanced by the numerous editorial comments, which provide context, supplemental information, and some chronological orientation. Rebecca Gallagher (Why I Jumped) adeptly transitions between the diary and editorial text. Though this is a fascinating work, Bannister's Christian proselytizing can be annoying. Recommended for any adult interested in Holocaust materials; too graphic for kids. [Audio clip available through www.oasisaudio.com.-Ed.]-I. Pour-El, Ames Jewish Congregation, IA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.