When You Could Only See Red

Introduction

There are many stories about the Holocaust. But this one is a little bit different than some of the others. This story is about hope, seeking truth and finding light in the darkness, and also sharing to the world the realities of the lives people lived during the Holocaust- whether they were Jewish or not. 

So many people were impacted by Hitler and the Nazi Regime, and so many of these people have stories to tell about their lives during World War Two. We just have to be willing to listen to these stories- before they're gone. Even though this story doesn't follow the exact lives of real people, they are inspired by the lives and stories of VERY real people. 

With saying that, the objects and topics that are discussed in this novel can be disturbing and harsh topics for some readers, so reader's discretion is advised. However, with that being said, we must not let our generation be the one that forgets about what really happened to the Jewish people- and millions of others, during World War Two. The major goal of this story is to bring truth, light, and awareness about these topics, not to scare or offend anyone. I encourage all who read this to do your own research on these topics, so that you too can be knowledgeable, and hopefully humbled by what really happened away from public eyes. 

Now, I know what you're thinking... Why did she write a book like this in the first place? Well, I'm happy to say that I'm not a weirdo living like a hermit under a bridge, trying to make people scared, but really, I'm wanting people to be aware of the truth. 

My interest in the Holocaust and World War Two testimonies began when I was in High School. I waited so long for the ability to learn about these times, and even when I did, I didn't feel like I really learned anything. It all seemed so fast, jampacked with information that seemed to be just a few clips away on my Google browser. I was a sophomore in High School working in a College Level History Course when we were asked by our history teacher to write up a project about a time in History, we found interesting- as our end of the semester project and final grade. And so of course, I chose the Holocaust. Not only did I have an interest in this topic, but so did a Middle School teacher of mine, who showed me and my seventh-grade class images from the Holocaust on Liberation Day. Also on that exact day, there were news broadcasting showing Holocaust survivors and their families honoring their ancestors who had passed away during these dark times. 

And I had to know more. 

A few years later, when I was seventeen, I was trying to find the Diary of a Young Girl, which is the diary kept by Anne Frank when she and her family was in hiding for two years in her father's Annex in his office. I was inspired by her story after watching the Disney and National Geographic show, A Small Light, about Miep Gies and her husband- along with several others- who helped the Franks and many other Jews during the war. So, as I was looking for the diary (which I didn't find at that time, my mom found it for me at a Goodwill about two or so months afterwards) I found the book The Librarian of Auschwitz, by Antonio Iturbe, who met with survivor Dita Kraus (her real name being Dita Polachov'a) who worked in Block 31, the school block in the family camp Auschwitz. And if you have interest in these kinds of books, I highly recommend it. 

After reading the book, I started watching LOTS of Holocaust documentaries along with my mom, and her and I agreed that I should write a book or something of the sort about it. Now, I always wanted to be a writer, so this seemed like the best bet. I at first wanted to write books about multiple people's stories, but then I realized that it might not be one that I could get into very well, so I took a break for a while. 

Then I watched the movie, Schindler's List, which is one of the greatest movies about the Holocaust of all time directed by Steven Spielberg. And my whole world was changed.