Heartbreaking Account of Dutch Jews During Holocaust

 

TITLE: Discovering Twins; No Secret is Safe Forever

AUTHOR: Stella Ter Hart

PUBLISHER: Stella Ter Hart

PUBLICATION DATE: July 27, 2021

LENGTH: 280 Pages

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The author is an award-winning choral and instrumental composer, casual author, and educator.
Stella Ter Hart was born in the small prairie town of Estevan, Saskatchewan, to Dutch immigrant parents. She now lives in rural Ontario with her husband, tending her heritage apple orchard.

Uncovering Family Secrets
"Twins run in the family, you know."

When the author was expecting her first child in 1982, her mother casually made a remark about twins running in the family. Stella had no knowledge of this fact and her mother had always been very secretive about her early life growing up in the Netherlands.

Once that first door into the author's past was opened to her, she needed to know the truth. She spent almost five years of deep genealogy diving and internet research. 

Stella discovered over 1,200 Dutch relatives that died in the Holocaust. The Jewish line in her mother's family had been residents in Amsterdam for over 400 years and they were wholly assimilated into Dutch society.

She discovered that her family had fifteen sets of twins out of approximately 550 births between 1832 and 1942. 

My Thoughts

We all know the story of Anne Frank and her family in Amsterdam. This book provides details about how other Dutch Jews were arrested, transported to concentration camps, and murdered by the Nazis.

Stella Ter Hart did an amazing job with her research and discovering stories that were passed down in her family. She was recently reunited with a distant cousin who was sent into hiding as a child and survived the war. This book includes photos of lost family members that are poignant and heartbreaking. 

The information in this book is shocking and sad. I really can't express my disgust in words. I hope the legacies of these innocent people will not be forgotten.

I did a little research of my own and discovered the following information:

• Between 75 and 80 percent of the Netherlands' Jews were killed during the war, the highest rate in Western Europe.
• Although about 150,00 Jews were living in the Netherlands in 1940, including about 25,000 German Jews who had come as refugees, only about 15,000 were counted during the postwar census of 1947.

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5

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Setting Goals for Success - A Book Review

Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals

Author: Michael Hyatt

Publisher: Baker Books

Publication Date: January 2, 2018

Length: 272 Pages



About the Author
Michael Hyatt is the former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, now part of HarperCollins. He began his career at Word Publishing while a senior at Baylor University. In the 30 years since then, he has worked in nearly every facet of book publishing.

A 5-Step Plan 
This book was released on January 2nd, but it is not just another book about New Year's resolutions. This book is a comprehensive guide on how to write, monitor and achieve goals for all areas of your life.

The author presents the following plan for achieving your most important goals;
1. Believe the possibility - Your beliefs shape your reality.
2. Complete the past - Gratitude makes the difference.
3. Design your future - Achievements and habits work together.
4. Find your why - Your what needs a why.
5. Make it happen - One journey is many steps.

"Based on decades of practical experience and the best current research on goal attainment and human achievement, this program is designed to help you find the clarity, develop the courage, and leverage the commitment you need to accomplish your most important personal and professional goals."

The Act of WRITING Goals Boosts Achievement by 42 Percent
I have a problem with writing down goals. I think about all the goals I want to accomplish this year, but they are soon forgotten. "Goals poorly formulated are goals easily forgotten." The author states that goals MUST be written down and suggests the following SMARTER model:

Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Risky
Time-Keyed
Exciting  
Relevant

This book is loaded with case studies and action steps that help you develop goals in all life domains; financial, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical, marital, parental, social, vocational and avocational.

The author provides examples of goals written in his Full Focus Planner at the end of the book. I found this format very helpful and it can be implemented in any planner or notebook.

This is the kind of book you read and then you go back and really study it in depth. I know there are many resources available on the subject of goal setting, but I believe this book provides exactly what you need for planning your best year ever. Highly recommended!

RATING: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I purchased a digital copy of this book with my own funds.

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