The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The untold story of Nonna Bannister

Along with every other Holocaust story I've read, The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The untold story of Nonna Bannister by Nonna Bannister, with the help of Denise George and Carolyn Tomlin, absolutely blew my mind. Nonna the main character and the author of the many short diary entries in the book is a young Russian girl when she begins her experience with the Germans. As the smart girl she is she finds that keeping a diary during these troubling times of her life, basically her entire life, was a smart idea and they would in the future come in handy. Nonna lived a great life before the invasion of the Germans, she came from a wealthy family, with wealthy grandparents who were always there to provide for them and protect them whenever needed. As a young girl Nonna experiences the pain of lose when she is separated from her brother who is sent to a university, and of her father when he passes away after being beaten to death by Germans. Nonna and her mother Anna are then separated from all existing family, never to see them again. Nonna's childhood consists of long rides in box cars, cramped with dozens of other Russian prisoners, longs days of works in prison camps, near death experiences and witnessing hundreds of deaths. You can imagine the toll this takes on a child. In the end when the strong are separated from the weak, Anna and Nonna stick out from the crowd and are able to survive for that much longer. Anna was a talented singer, musician, painter and artist. Nonna was truthful and smart, and fluent in multiple languages. Eventually Anna and Nonna are separated, and Anna is killed in a prison camp after falling very ill. Nonna, living in a church with nuns as her family help her communicate with her mother until her death. Encouraged by her mothers letters Nonna attempts to make something out of her life and travels to America to begin her new life.

I have always found a huge interest in books about the Holocaust, Night by Ellie Wiesel is one of my favorites. What i enjoyed most about this book is the way it was written. Most of the book was written in small chapters, there were some small dairy entries, and some excerpts describing things that the reader may not be familiar of. I found this writing style very interesting and enjoyed reading a story about such cruel behavior in such a cool and interesting way. I loved this book and recommend it to anyone interested in books on the Holocaust, it was a mind blowing story as they always are and the truth to it and just knowing as your reading that this really happened shakes me up. Also, I read this book on a kindle! which was also very amusing it was my first time ever reading on one and i found it a lot easier than reading a real book!