Endorsements
“Everyone in the field of Holocaust Studies, education, and remembrance is asking the same question: After the last survivor is no longer, who will remember, who will tell their stories? In powerful poetry, brief historical explanations, and moving sketches, Holly Mandelkern has shown that it is possible to become a witness to the witnesses and thus to convey their stories in another powerful format to a new generation. Having been privileged to know many of the survivors and witnesses she portrays, I was impressed with the depth of her knowledge and moved by the authenticity of her testimony.”
Michael Berenbaum
Professor of Jewish Studies, American Jewish University, and former Project Director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum“In a spectrum of soundings, forms, and styles, both fixed and free, we are restored the voices of man, woman, and child, multiplied by millions... In arresting tribute to the lost and to the survivors, Holly Mandelkern’s scholarship and her mastery of verse elevate for her readers and for students of the Holocaust, the hardest, and often most poignant, lessons of life, death, and life again.”
Al Rocheleau
Past President, Florida State Poets AssociationAuthor of On Writing Poetry“Having spoken to numerous audiences about the horrors of the Holocaust, I was uplifted by Beneath White Stars as it reminds us of the human side of those who suffered. Through this poetry we are able to sense the life and indomitable spirit of the persecuted.”
Henry Birnbrey
Survivor and Holocaust educator, Breman Museum, Atlanta, GA“The human spirit is remarkable. The darkest episodes of history are balanced by some of humanity's most deeply profound expressions of kindness. Holly Mandelkern has captured the sways of humanity with her poetry and placed them in compelling historical context. Beneath White Stars is required reading for the student of the Holocaust as well as for anyone with an interest in the human experience."
Scott W. Loehr
President/CEO of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force“It would have been enough (dayenu!) had Holly Mandelkern’s brilliant book contained only her lovely and soul-searing poetry of the Holocaust. But her profoundly moving poems are reinforced and galvanized with careful contextual background and mini-biographies of the heroes and martyrs who are the heartrending center of her work. Add to all this her invaluable maps and Byron Marshall’s haunting illustrations, and Beneath White Stars becomes not just the cliched 'embarrassment of riches' but rather a cornucopia of lyricism, compassion, and enlightenment, bestowing upon the reader an utterly original perspective on this most terrible of historical events.“
Dr. Elliot Engel
Professor of English at North Carolina State University“Beneath White Stars is a marvelous, imaginative, and hallowed remembering of the Shoah that illustrates the poet’s gift for evoking the unutterable within the rhythms of loss, deprivation, and the reclamation of human dignity. This poetry, enriched by historic narratives and poignant illustrations, echoes themes of Vanderbilt University’s Holocaust lecture series, the longest-running lectureship of its kind in American higher education.”
Reverend Mark Forrester
Former University Chaplain and Director of Religious Life at Vanderbilt University“In the Holocaust, teachers and students seek meaning from history that defies understanding. With her poetry, Holly Mandelkern brings a unique sensitivity to this quest by restoring dignity to the lives and memories of Holocaust victims. Holly and I have been friends for decades, and I know many of the survivors she has written about with such warmth. The greatest compliment I can give is that my students and I now know them better because of her work.”
Mitchell Bloomer
Holocaust Educator“I received a copy of Beneath White Stars, and it kept me up most of the night reading! What a beautiful piece of literature.This is a must for your teachers and students as it's not only reflections in poetry, but the book also includes a timeline, short historical narratives to put the poems in context, and wonderful illustrations. Read the poems and be transported by the beautiful writing. Thank you, Holly, for this gift for all to read, teach, and cherish.”
Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff
Education Specialist, Holocaust Studies, Miami–Dade County Public Schools, and Director of the University of Miami Holocaust Teacher Institute“There are rare times when reading a book, particularly one on the Holocaust, one is simply blown away by its content and beauty. Such was the effect on me when I read Holly Mandelkern’s Beneath White Stars. The combination of magnificent graphics, historical background, and personal reflections in her beautiful poetry makes this a very unusual treatment of the Shoah…I look forward to sharing them at Holocaust Memorial services.”
Rabbi Fred Guttman
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Emanuel, Greensboro, North Carolina Mid Atlantic Regional Director, International March of the Living“Just when we think that everything has been written about the Holocaust, Holly Mandelkern presents this meditation on the subject that allows readers to feel events in a new way. Holly’s poems and lovingly rendered text take readers by the hand and in an intimate way lead us into the personal reality of each individual’s life. Taken together, these poems, drawings, and historical sketches show the reader that memory, in the right hands, is a healing art.”
Philip M. Smith, PhD
Department of History, Texas A&M University“A sensational read, bringing history to life in a poetic form, humane and edifying, touching the heart and mind.”
Tess Wise
Survivor, scholar, founder of the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida“This rich collection of Holocaust poems by Holly Mandelkern serves a purpose beyond what any analytical treatment of this solemn subject can provide. The poems lend dignity to the suffering, gracing with compelling beauty the sacrifice of so many martyrs of the twentieth century’s most horrific catastrophe. The uniqueness and universality of the Holocaust can never be quantified, but the verse presented in this collection does true service to the one purpose to which we must all contribute—remembering. I have been pleased to incorporate some of this fine and emotive poetry into my online course on the History of the Holocaust.”