New Book Announcement

The first of four chapters (excerpts from Frank W Baker’s new book, “We Survived The Holocaust The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story),” was published April 28, 2022 in The State newspaper. The excerpts are an exclusive to the Columbia SC newspaper. Subsequent chapters are to be published April 29, 30 and May 1.

The “graphic novel”–aimed at a young adult audience–tells the harrowing story of two young Polish Jews caught up in the Holocaust and how they miraculously survived and eventually made their way to South Carolina.

“We are excited to reach and educate young people about the Goldbergs, the Holocaust, and antisemitism,” said Baker  “because it appears many of today’s young people have demonstrated a lack of essential knowledge about Hitler’s Final Solution.”

The book will officially be unveiled in July at the annual conference of the International Association of School Librarians, gathering on the USC campus.

We invite you to read all four chapters here
https://www.frankwbaker.com/mlc/four-chapter-excerpt-we-survived-the-holocaust/

The graphic novel was an outgrowth of the educational website, Stories of Survival, which Baker created in 2020.

Pre-publication reviews:

“We Survived the Holocaust is an extremely powerful graphic novel that can help readers from middle schoolers to adults visualize and understand the atrocities of the Holocaust. Written by Frank Baker and illustrated by award-winning graphic artist Tim Ogline, this is an important personal portrayal of the horrific challenges Bluma and Felix Goldberg managed to survive in cattle cars, concentration camps, and death marches.

Frank Baker, through interviews with the Goldberg children, presents an engaging and informative overview of World War I and World War II, conditions in Europe under the Nazi regime, and what life was like for the Goldbergs from early childhood until they passed away decades later in South Carolina. Ogline’s compelling illustrations tell the personal survival stories of Bluma and Felix Goldberg in more realistic and forceful ways than can be portrayed through text-only titles.

In the book, Bluma is quoted as saying, “In a way we fear that maybe that’s why we survived – so we can tell the story.”  I cannot think of a more powerful way for the Goldberg’s story to be told than through the graphic novel, We Survived the Holocaust – The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story. I highly recommend this title to readers from young adults – adults. As a former school librarian and current educator of school librarians, I hope that this title will be on the shelves of all middle and high school libraries. The stories of how the Goldbergs, and other Jews, survived the Holocaust should never be forgotten by current and future generations.”
Dr. Karen Gavigan, interim director, School of Information Science, University of South Carolina

“The story of Bluma and Felix Goldberg successfully walks that fine line, capturing the human experience while also doing justice to the scale and monstrosity of the Holocaust, yet without resorting to horrific imagery.  Here, the reader sees the forest and the trees.  The detail provided about the broader context and the First World War is a welcome addition, as is the legacy the Goldbergs continued to build with their family and community in the U.S.  If any graphic novel has ever captured the profound love that so many survivors felt for their adopted homeland, this is it.  Tim Ogline’s detailed maps and landscapes help to create a true work of art.”
Doyle Stevick, Executive Director, Anne Frank Center, University of South Carolina

NOTE to SC middle and high school librarians: Through the generosity of the Goldberg family, each will receive one copy of the book–to be distributed during the 2023 SC Association of School Librarians (SCASL) conference next March.

All proceeds from the sale of “We Survived the Holocaust” will be donated to Holocaust education in South Carolina.

For more information, contact the author at  fbaker1346@gmail.com