On March 9, 2020, before the coronavirus attacked Portugal and closed all schools down, I had the opportunity to speak at the Oeiras International School near Lisbon. Mrs. Linda Patient, head of the Humanities department, welcomed me warmly to the school as did the principal, Mr. Steve Lewis. I gave  presentations to Grade 6 and 7 students of A Cage Without Bars  and was delighted with the intriguing questions the students asked.

As of this writing, there have been over 10,000 cases of coronavirus in Portugal and over 250 deaths. My heart goes out to the warm and generous people of Portugal, and to everyone affected by this devastating plague. I hope that we will soon see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The newest episode of The Book of Life Podcast features me, talking about my middle grade historical novel A Cage Without Bars. This book brings to light the little-known history of Jewish children kidnapped into slavery after the expulsion from Spain in 1492. With family separation on our minds, this history is disturbingly timely.

You can hear the episode at https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-cage-without-bars.html, where you can also find a link to the written transcript. Please share with your friends and colleagues!

My interview with Anne Renaud about her Holocaust book, Fania’s Heart, was posted on March 11, 2019 on the Book of Life website. https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2019/03/fanias-heart-birthday-card-in-auschwitz.html. It’s the true story of a heart-shaped birthday card created in Auschwitz at great personal risk by women prisoners for the 20th birthday of fellow prisoner, Fania Landau Fainter. The card was made from scraps of fabric, stolen materials, and glue made out of bread and water, The real heart is now in the Montreal Holocaust Museum, and it’s one of the few surviving objects created by prisoners of Auschwitz. Fania’s Heart won the 2018 Canadian Jewish Literary Award (Youth literature). It’s aimed at readers ages 8 to 12.

I’ll be giving a talk about “The Bricha: The Jewish Underground Railroad” on Mon. Nov. 5, 7.30 p.m. at the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, Lipa Green Building, 4600 Bathurst Street, Toronto.

The Hebrew word “bricha” means “flight” or “escape”. The Bricha was the illegal underground organization in post-World War II Europe that helped Jewish Holocaust survivors escape to DP camps in Germany, Austria, or Italy, and ultimately to Palestine. I’ll speak about the history of the Bricha, the often harrowing journeys of the refugees, and the final dismantling of the organization in 1948 when the State of Israel was established. This program is part of Holocaust Education Week 2018.

I hope you’ll attend this presentation about a little-known aspect of the Holocaust.

On Sun. Nov. 5, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Nana aba Duncan on CBC’s “Fresh Air”. We spoke about my talk on Nov. 8/17 for Holocaust Education Week: “Why Should Young People Read Holocaust Literature, Anyway?”, about my parents’ experiences during the Holocaust, and my new book, “A Cage Without Bars” (Second Story Press, Autumn 2018). Here’s the link to the interview: https://soundcloud.com/…/anne-dublin-on-why-young-people-sh…. Enjoy! (Used with permission)