Last week, 97-year-old Cantabrian Willi Huber, a decorated Nazi officer lauded for his role in the establishment of Mt Hutt ski field, died. Juliet Moses says it is an indictment on this country that there has been no real reckoning with his past. Cantabrian Willi Huber died last week. If you’re not a skier, you … Read more
Last week the discovery of Nazi symbols sprayed outside a Wellington synagogue brought shock and condemnation. But New Zealand is no stranger to antisemitism. In light of increasing ignorance about the Holocaust, we need to revisit and acknowledge our history, writes Scott Hamilton. Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Around the world, candles will be lit … Read more
A poll reveals startling gaps in our knowledge. Countering this is urgent and important, especially given the rise in division and hatred around the world, writes Melissa Derby. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is an old cliché, but an appropriate sentiment in light of results of a survey … Read more
Auckland writer Kirsten Warner on the continuing horror of the Holocaust for second generation survivors. A Facebook friend recently made contact to say he’d heard me talking on National Radio about my newly published novel The Sound of Breaking Glass. His wife was, like me, the child of a survivor of the Holocaust. He said he’d … Read more
Diana Wichtel won the non-fiction book of the year award in May with her Holocaust book Driving to Treblinka. Her partner Chris Barton writes about his own profound experiences – and life-changing revelations – when he accompanied Diana to the Nazi death camps. It was an odd place to be having a ridiculously obvious realisation about my life. … Read more
Murdoch Stephens saw Mount Eerie play in Krakow, visited Auschwitz, and wrote about how to listen to songs of unimaginable tragedy. What are the limits of processing grief through a song? Love is easy. The performer is either in love or out of it, so, for most of us, there’s no problem with identifying with … Read more
All week this Christmas week we count down the best six books of 2017. Number one: Driving to Treblinka by Diana Wichtel. ‘It is a story that will make all who read it a better human being,’ says reviewer Dr David Galler. We come into this world imbued with the spirits of our ancestors. It … Read more