Dear Colleagues,
I was asked to share this with my networks. I am moderating one of the panels on the topic of the role of the descendants of survivors in preserving memory.
ALA 2026 Panels to Explore How Authors and Librarians Are Safeguarding Holocaust Memory
Amsterdam Publishers brings leading Holocaust memoir authors to Chicago for two timely conversations on remembrance, education, and inherited testimony
CHICAGO, IL - At the 2026 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago, two special panels will examine how authors and librarians can help preserve Holocaust memory for future generations at a time when living survivor testimony is rapidly disappearing and antisemitism, Holocaust distortion, and historical illiteracy continue to rise.
Organized by Liesbeth Heenk, founder and editor-in-chief of Amsterdam Publishers, the internationally recognized publishing house for Holocaust memoirs, the programs will bring together prominent authors whose books illuminate survival, inherited trauma, resilience, moral courage, and the enduring responsibility to remember. Press are invited to attend.
"Preserving Holocaust memory requires more than publishing books. It requires partnership," said Liesbeth Heenk. "Authors, librarians, educators, and publishers all have a critical role to play in ensuring these stories remain visible, accessible, and relevant for generations to come. As living witnesses leave us, the work of remembrance becomes even more urgent."
Featured books include stories of a young girl who smuggled food into the Warsaw Ghetto and later joined the Polish resistance, a daughter uncovering the hidden wartime history of her Holocaust survivor musician parents, and descendants confronting the silence, trauma, and legacy carried across generations.
The first panel will focus on preserving Holocaust narratives beyond the era of living witnesses and on how librarians can support remembrance through collections, educational programming, and community engagement. The second will consider authors as memory keepers, exploring how memoir can connect past and present while speaking to themes of courage, loss, intergenerational trauma, identity, and resilience.
Book signings will follow both sessions.
Panel One
Saturday, June 27, 2026 | 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Diversity in Publishing Stage, Booth #5242
After the Witnesses: Holocaust Narratives and the Librarian's Role in Preserving Inherited Memory
Moderator: Sally Stieglitz, Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Long Island Library Resources Council
Participating Authors include
Janet Bond Brill, PhD – Little Edna's War
The story of Edna Szurek, who at age seven smuggled food into the Warsaw Ghetto, later found refuge in a convent, joined the Polish resistance by age ten, and survived through courage, resourcefulness, and extraordinary resolve.
Alexa Morris – The Courtyard
The memoir of Benjamin Parket, born in Paris to Polish immigrants, whose family was hidden by neighbors during the Nazi occupation. For more than two years, young Benjamin risked his life to find food while others risked theirs to keep the family alive.
Janet Horvath – The Cello Still Sings
A daughter's discovery of her Holocaust survivor parents' hidden musical and wartime past, revealing how music served as both lifeline and testimony after liberation.
Fern Lebo – The Boy in the Back
The story of Jan Blumenstein, who survived Auschwitz and Mauthausen and chose, at age 96, to finally tell his story in the aftermath of October 7, linking historical memory to the urgency of the present day.
Mark Prelas – In the Time of Madmen
An account of the wartime experiences of Prelas's parents, including his mother's forced labor in Germany and his father's escape after being targeted as Roma.
Grace Feuerverger – Winter Light
A memoir exploring the emotional legacy of being raised by Holocaust survivor parents and the lifelong search for healing, joy, and identity.
Anne Hand – Austrian Again
A personal journey through memory, ancestry, and citizenship as Hand uncovers the family history hidden behind generations of silence.
Panel Two
Sunday, June 28, 2026 | 12:30–1:20 p.m.
Chapter One Stage, Booth #1328
Authors as Memory Keepers
Moderator: Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, Chief Executive Officer, Independent Book Publishers Association
Participating Authors include
Janet Horvath – The Cello Still Sings
A daughter's discovery of her Holocaust survivor parents' hidden musical and wartime past, revealing how music served as both lifeline and testimony after liberation.
Fern Lebo – The Boy in the Back
The story of Jan Blumenstein, who survived Auschwitz and Mauthausen and chose, at age 96, to finally tell his story in the aftermath of October 7, linking historical memory to the urgency of the present day.
Jonathan Schloss – Four Survivor Grandparents
The story of four orphaned grandparents who survived Nazi persecution and rebuilt lives of meaning and legacy in America.
Grace Feuerverger – Winter Light
A memoir exploring the emotional legacy of being raised by Holocaust survivor parents and the lifelong search for healing, joy, and identity.
Martin Bodek – Zaidy's War
An extraordinary wartime odyssey tracing one man's survival through multiple armies, forced labor, and postwar rebuilding.
Anne Hand – Austrian Again
A personal journey through memory, ancestry, and citizenship as Hand uncovers the family history hidden behind generations of silence.
About Amsterdam Publishers
Amsterdam Publishers is an independent publishing house dedicated to preserving Holocaust memory through memoirs, and family narratives by survivors and their descendants. Founded by Liesbeth Heenk in 2012, the press has published more than 130 Holocaust-related books for readers, educators, libraries, and communities worldwide.
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Sally Stieglitz
Communications and Outreach Coordinator
Long Island Library Resources Council
She/Her/Hers
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