Survivor Biography

Hilda M. Valentine grew up on a small farm, attended college, and moved to New York for a better life. Working in insurance claims for more than 20 years, she climbed the ranks to a claims management position and finally landed her dream job as a supervising case manager for a structured settlement company. Her office was located on the 100th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade center in Manhattan. The position started in August of 2001. But one month later, on September 11th, everything changed.

When Leah Cik Roth decides to write memoirs for her children, writer Menucha Meinstein walks into her life as a volunteer. The two develop the deepest of human bonds as together they uncover Leah's lifelong bitterness and suppressed Holocaust memories. Through soul writing, they struggle to relive Leah's stories, revealing heroic patterns of resilience from the young age of five. Her memories bring out fresh pain and renewed feelings of loss and loneliness. The Holocaust is merely a backdrop to Leah's life. Together, the two women share joy in the legacy that Leah leaves for the world.

At the 16 week foetal stage, Paul Whymark’s brain development was frozen as a consequence of the drug, Thalidomide. His journey is one of considerable self discovery, but also reveals greater societal insights. “16 Weeks and Everything After...” uncovers the remarkable fact that over the last 50-60 years the establishment has failed to genuinely independently review Thalidomide, and as a consequence, harms on developing life continue to have the potential to occur into the future.

A story of an abused woman's journey through life, from the dreary post-war days to the present day. She struggles with her narcissistic husband at home. She also faces issues during her employment with a retail giant that portrays a wholesome public image....

In March 1942, twenty-five-year-old kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger and nearly a thousand other young Slovakian women were deported to Poland on the second transportation of Jewish people sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The women were told they'd be working at a shoe factory. At Auschwitz the SS soon discovered that by putting Jewish prisoners in charge of the day-to-day running of the accommodation blocks, camp administration and workforces, they could both reduce the number of guards required and deflect the distrust of the prisoner population away from themselves.

Gidon Lev’s life can be, in some ways, expressed through numbers, symbols and dates. He was born in 1935, an only child. He was put on Transport M as number 885 and imprisoned in the Terezin (or Theresienstadt) Nazi concentration camp from the ages of six to ten. Gidon is one of two thousand children estimated to have survived the camp. His father was sent to Auschwitz, where he was tattooed as prisoner B12156. Gidon has lost twenty-six family members to the Holocaust. He was liberated in 1945. And, as of 2023, he has lived 87 years.

“Don’t cry darling. We need this baby. You will see.” With these words from her husband, Zoltán, Ibolya Rechnitzer’s fear of being pregnant during the uncertainty of wartime is somewhat eased. But in November 1942, four months after their baby, Andy, is born, Zoltán is drafted into the forced labour service of the Hungarian army and Ibolya must cope, alone, as a single mother and a Jew facing persecution in Budapest. Her son gives her a reason to fight, and Ibolya protects him fiercely during the war and after, when she must make a crucial decision that will forever alter their lives.

For 20 years Mandy had coached her clients through the turbulent waters of business and life. What she didn’t know was how important these skills would be in saving herself. On February 7, 2016, she suffered a brutal attack on her life when a college senior broke into her home in a drug-induced rage and nearly beat her to death. In this book she shares details of the attack and her journey through healing - both for herself and the man who attacked her.

This is a book about my faith journey from a young adult to my senior years. Being a survivor of COVID, I knew the LORD still had a purpose for my life. I listened to the voice in my heart and knew I needed to write this book as an encouragement to others. Events happen in life that can cause us to see ourselves as victims or survivors. I choose using my Faith "hat" to be a survivor; an overcomer in all things. You will hear about my 60-day hospital stay and 4-month home health journey and how my identified "hats" brought me through it all.

Domestic violence is a real issue in our world that is not gender-specific (some men suffer as victims, too), nor is it something that is limited to a region. This is a worldwide problem. Sadly, not everyone who has become victims of domestic violence make it out alive. While many do get out, the question is, do they stay out?

This book chronicles the journey of Eritrean-born Joseph Woldu. As a child refugee, he found himself having to adapt to changes of place, language, and customs; then as a man forced to relearn much of the same after involvement in a disastrous accident two days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. What makes Joseph's story so incredible is not that he survived change and tragedy, but how he continually found the strength to improve himself and his circumstances. His story reflects the importance good relationships play in our lives.

This is a story about a woman named Astrid who nearly dies of a life threatening disease. Shortly after, her home is destroyed by hurricane Sandy. A therapist serves as the narrative voice in the story as he recounts how her determination and fortitude helps her to strive to overcome extreme hardships and adversities...This story represents how we should never give up fighting for our dreams or our lives.

On 28th March 1944, Italian sisters Tati (six) and Andra (four) were roused from their sleep and taken to Auschwitz, to the infamous Kinder Block, presided over by Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death. By the time Auschwitz was liberated, 230,000 children had been murdered, and Andra and Tati were among 70 child survivors. They were sent to Lingfield House in Britain, a home for children orphaned or lost at the end of the war.

La historia de un joven que estuvo encarcelado injustamente desde sus 20 años hasta sus 33 y de cómo venció al sistema para quedar libre.

In late August of 2011, Shahbaz Taseer was driving to his office in Lahore, Pakistan, when he was dragged from his car at gunpoint and kidnapped by a group of Taliban-affiliated terrorists. Lost to the World is the remarkable true story of Taseer's time in captivity, and of his astonishing escape. It is a story of extraordinary faith, bravery and sorrow, with moments of kindness and humour offering a hopeful light in the dark years of his imprisonment.

Migraine Survivor is a childhood and youth story of manual migraine specialist Jyrki Mäkelä. His childhood and youth were full of violence and bullying. This is his story and how he survived.

For forty years David Meagher harboured a secret. Then in mid 2018 a text message from an old school friend forced him to confront his past and finally deal with it. Secrets and Lies is a story about child sexual abuse. The culture that enabled it. How the perpetrator groomed his victims. How it finally came to an end. And how four decades after the crimes were committed his victims embarked on a successful two-year journey to bring the offender to justice. David Meagher delivers an intimate account of the lasting impact of child sexual abuse on survivors.

Vierzig Jahre danach erinnert sich ein in Polen aufgewachsener Jude an die Jahre der Verfolgung. Er beschreibt das Leben in Radzyn, einer typisch jüdischen Stetl-Gemeinschaft im damaligen polnischen Generalgouvernement, dem Vorhof von Treblinka, Majdanek und Auschwitz, und dann den Untergang dieser Welt, wie er ihn, gerade 17 geworden, erlebt hat: mit zunehmenden Schikanen, ständiger Bedrohung, Grausamkeiten und nackter Gewalt; mit der Verschleppung und Ermordung der Geschwister, Eltern, Freunde; mit der Ausrottung einer ganzen Volksgemeinschaft.

"Stolen Plates: A True Story of Crime, Cars, and Redemption" is a captivating memoir that takes readers on a journey through the author's childhood in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Growing up with three older siblings and their parents, Larry and Vicky, the author stumbles upon a shocking discovery of stolen DMV registrations. Unbeknownst to them, their father had a connection to Jimmy Burke and the notorious Lucchese Crime Family. As the story unfolds, the author delves into the world of car theft, revealing their father's role in stealing cars and earning for Jimmy Burke. The demand for printing ...

While heartbreaking at times, these powerfully honest stories are ultimately uplifting and extremely reassuring to patients and their families. They offer the wisdom and hope that only survivors can give. Live Strong is a remarkable testament to the resilience of the human spirit.