Auntie Ann's Letter

Auntie Ann's Letter is a graphic non-fiction book centered around the story of Ann Tarkieltaub, my great-great aunt and a Holocaust survivor. Ann did not speak about her experiences during World War II until she was sick and dying of breast cancer. Then she wrote one letter to her granddaughters, my mother's second cousins, recounting her first-hand experience as a Jew in Auschwitz. I used this letter to create this book, which is catered toward children and teenagers ages 12-18, as well as older audiences looking for a raw and heartfelt story about World War II. The book details Ann's journey from leaving Poland to surviving the war and ending up in Dallas, Texas.

I want this book to provide readers with an opportunity to learn about the horrors of the Holocaust through the story of one survivor. As a 16-year-old Jewish high schooler in the twenty-first century, I believe that it is my duty to carry on Ann's legacy by making her voice heard through this book.