Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
Interesting history tidbits I’ve learned while researching my novels and short stories
The restrictive quota system for southern and Eastern European Jews predated Nazism, going back to the 1920s, and perpetuated by antisemitism, xenophobia, and national security concerns that suspected Jews of being communists. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
“We did not lift a hand to help the Jews — or perhaps it would be fairer to say that we lifted just one cautious hand, encased in a tight-fitting glove of quotas and a thick layer of prejudice” (Freda Kirchwey, Editor-in-Chief, The Nation). History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
U.S. leaders, including FDR, dismissed a proposal to bomb Auschwitz. They said the Germans would just rebuild the concentration camp elsewhere. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
“If we had behaved like humane and generous people instead of complacent, cowardly ones, millions of Jews lying in Hitler’s crowded graveyards would be alive and safe” (Freda Kirchwey, Editor-in-Chief, The Nation). History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
American Jews feared that if they urged the United States government to save more of their people during WW2, they would jeopardize their own already precarious place in society. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
Automobile pioneer Henry Ford blamed an international Jewish conspiracy for the world’s financial woes (as well as Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and making candy bars less tasty). He held Jews responsible for WW1 and WW2, both of which he opposed. Yet, Ford built the Willow Run bomber plant that made B-24s for the Allies. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
Prejudice against Jews was widespread among leading Americans, including aviation hero Charles Lindbergh. In 1941, after his notorious “Who are the war agitators?” speech, which echoed Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda and accused Jews of conspiring to force America into WW2, he was branded a Nazi sympathizer and anti-Semite. History shows America failed to end the war sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
Even though the U.S. let in more refugees during WW2 than any other sovereign nation, it set strict quotas. In the midst of the Depression, Americans feared they’d take already scarce jobs. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those escaping Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to flee to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
The U.S. debated, but rejected, the idea of bombing Auschwitz, where a million people were put to death. Some worried a bomb would miss, since only one in five aerial bombs hit within five miles of its target. History shows America failed to end WW2 sooner or admit those fleeing Nazi persecution. Read about a German Jewish family who tries to escape to the U.S. in the novel One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.
The Wizard of Oz officially opened 83 years ago today, on August 25, 1939. MGM previewed the movie in Wisconsin two weeks earlier to test its popularity in the Midwest. Viewers were wowed by Technicolor, a film first. Still, production was marred by mishaps and it was a decade before MGM recouped its $3 million investment. Read more about the making of The Wizard of Oz and its “big” and “little” stars in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve., a fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner (see NOVELS).
