The very best moment of the OLA Superconference? It came after the Thursday morning Forest of Reading winners’ panel discussion.
I had spoken of my Ukrainian mother-in-law, who lived through WWII, surviving both the Nazis and the Soviets. Just before she died, asked me to write about her experiences in WWII, because she had never seen them in a book. We usually only see the Nazis as the enemy, not realizing that for Eastern Europeans, there were two genocidal dictators targeting them — not just Hitler, but Stalin as well. She was my inspiration for Stolen Child, which led to Making Bombs and Underground Soldier.
After the talk, many people came up and hugged me, openly weeping. Three sisters, whose late Latvian mother was also subjected to Nazi and Soviet oppression. Thursday was her birthday. They’ve been able to amass much documentation about her life and her community. I want them to write her story. A Bulgarian librarian friend, whose history is similar. Ekaterina, please write your family’s story! My books are their stories as well. We get such a sanitized version of WWII history in the western world, largely because we allied ourselves with Stalin.
And of course, what’s happening in Ukraine now — deja vu all over again. Putin is holding off until after the Olympics. I dread what will happen then.
