Chil­dren’s

The Tree of Life: How a Holo­caust Sapling Inspired the World

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By – January 22, 2024

This del­i­cate­ly told, beau­ti­ful­ly illus­trat­ed true sto­ry is rec­om­mend­ed by the pub­lish­er for ages five to nine — but, in real­i­ty, it’s suit­able and use­ful for chil­dren of all ages. It cen­ters on a spe­cial maple tree whose descen­dants are plant­ed in many loca­tions, includ­ing the Muse­um of Jew­ish Her­itage in New York City.

Dur­ing the Holo­caust, a group of inmates, some of them chil­dren, smug­gled a small sapling into their con­cen­tra­tion camp and cared for it. It was so impor­tant to them that they shared their mea­ger water rations with it. Watch­ing it grow and thrive remind­ed them that, despite their harsh sur­round­ings, a future was pos­si­ble. It gave them the strength to endure the camp.

Seeds from this inspi­ra­tional tree, a sym­bol of hope and resilience, bloom today all around the world.

Award-win­ning jour­nal­ist and free­lance writer, Helen Weiss Pin­cus, has taught mem­oir writ­ing and cre­ative writ­ing through­out the NY Metro area to senior cit­i­zens and high school stu­dents. Her work has been pub­lished in The New York Times, The Record, The Jew­ish Stan­dard, and oth­er pub­li­ca­tions. She recent­ly added Bub­by” to her job description.

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