A very sentimental read. Because of the notes within the text (I read the advanced reader copy), the mood was interrupted a little too often. I'm sure this has been fixed in the final published edition. ( )

Confusing at times, but I teach a unit about the Holocaust in my English class and will be able to use this account as another source. ( )

This memoir is light on hard facts and heavy on sentimentality. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, of course, but I was expecting the former and got the latter, so it took me awhile to adjust my expectations while reading the book.

The Secret Holocaust Diaries is an uplifting tale of overcoming the unfathomable horrors of the holocaust and learning to survive and even thrive afterward. I read it quickly and wasn't particularly moved one way or the other, but my mother (who reads almost exclusively inspirational material) read it and adored it. So while it didn't exactly thrill me, I think that it is a good fit for it's target demographic. It is reasonably well written and leaves the reader feeling positive. ( )

Nonna bannister grew up in a Christain home in Russia during the reign of Stalin and Hitler. The story told withing the pages of this book were taken from her diary that she kept on scraps of paper in five different languages, tied up inside a small pillow she wore tied around her waist. It was with her throughout her time in the labor camp until she died.
She came to America the only survivor of her family and never let her husband know of her past. She slowly translated her diaries into English. A few years before her death she shared it with her husband with a promise that he would do nothing with it until she was gone. He kept his word.
As a child she witnessed the love of her parents and her grandmother and the Christian values they taught her. On her way to German labor camp she watched the horrors of the Nazi soldiers as they killed a baby a Jewish woman had tossed into her mothers arms as the woman ran along side the train.
This book reminded me of Anne Frank's diaries and of the book "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom. All three of these women chose to find the positive side of things and chose not to hate those who oppressed them. There were many places where I cried and just as many where I laughed
There were only two things I found wrong with the book. The editors made comments to help explain things that might not have been clear. I would have preferred they had done this as footnotes on each page, because it was a little distracting. The other thing that disappointed me was that the only pictures were the two on the back cover, yet the editors comment about the pictures she managed to bring to America with her. Since I received an ARC it is possible that they have included pictures with the final book. This is a definate must read for anyone who loves this subject or time period. ( )

Please note that this review is based on an advanced reader copy and changes may have been made to the final published edition.

Nonna Lisowskaja Banninster's story is full of potential, however its carrying out was poorly done. With its disjointed structure and inconsistencies it is hard to determine what of the book from Bannister's original diaries, from her translations of these diaries made years later, or from the editors. The greatest flaw of the work is the editors' fault, as the story is broken up by their indented notes, including reiterations of what we just read and unwelcome commentary. Even when they are useful explanations of historical fact, they distractingly break up the text and take you out of the moment.

Still, Bannister's story is tragic and inspiring, and I hope that it can be redone in a more accessible form. At a young age, she witnessed Stalin's persecution of his people, the horrors of World War II when the Germans invaded, was shipped East to several concentration camps, and was saved thanks to the kindness of Catholic hospital workers.

Most moving, is that while Nonna witnessed humanity at its worst, she did not lose her faith in God or her love of beauty. ( )