You have only to dip into this astounding memoir to see that the suffering that marked Nonna’s early years was the very thing that God used to shape this remarkable woman. Denise George and Carolyn Tomlin have managed to give Nonna Bannister the same feeling of literary and historical importance that John and Elizabeth Sherrill brought to Corrie ten Boom in The Hiding Place. Read it and weep or read it and rejoice, but above all, read it.

CALVIN MILLER

PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, BEESON DIVINITY SCHOOL

What a marvelous service has been provided by Denise George and Carolyn Tomlin in bringing to light the untold story of Nonna Bannister! This inspiring volume provides a window into the personal and painful reflections of one of the darkest periods in human history. Yet readers will be strengthened by reading this most moving and hopeful account of courage, faith, and forgiveness.

DAVID S. DOCKERY

PRESIDENT, UNION UNIVERSITY

This book is absolutely captivating. It is an extraordinary glimpse inside the oppressive nature of Russian Communism and the viciously evil heart of Nazi Germany. But, the revelations of human depravity manifested in horrific acts of brutality and murder notwithstanding, rays of God’s Light appear in the form of a Russian Orthodox grandmother, a frail Jewish boy, and a group of Christlike German Catholic nuns and priests. These diaries are at once heartbreaking, hopeful, and unforgettable.

LYLE W. DORSETT

BILLY GRAHAM PROFESSOR OF EVANGELISM

BEESON DIVINITY SCHOOL

THE SECRET HOLOCAUST DIARIES

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The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister

Copyright © 2009 by NLB Partners. All rights reserved.

Cover and interior photos are used by permission from the Nonna Bannister family collection.

Designed by Jacqueline L. Nuñez

Published in association with the literary agency of WordServe Literary Group, Inc., 10152 Knoll Circle, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bannister, Nonna, 1927-2004.

The secret Holocaust diaries : the untold story of Nonna Bannister / by Nonna Bannister; with Carolyn Tomlin and Denise George.

      p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4143-2546-0 (hc)

1. Bannister, Nonna, 1927-2004. 2. World war, 1939-1945—Women—Ukraine—Kostiantynivka (Donetska oblast)—Biography. 3. World war, 1939-1945—Children—Ukraine—Kostiantynivka (Donetska oblast)—Biography. 4. World War, 1939-1945—Prisoners and prisons, German. 5. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)—Ukraine. 6. Kostiantynivka (Donetska oblast, Ukraine)—Biography. I. Tomlin, Carolyn Ross. II. George, Denise. III. Title.

DK508.835.B36A3 2009

940.53’18092—dc22

[B]                                                                                    2008050099

Printed in the United States of America

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