Mom, We still miss you today. Your book brings you back to life. We love you and always will. Thank you for being such a special person in our lives. Love, John and Kathy Bannister

 

Nonna, Through your diaries and notes, the world is hearing your eye-witness account of the Holocaust. The reader can feel your pain, understand your fear, sense your loss--yet experience the happy childhood before the War. Perhaps those years were the ones that gave you courage and strength to endure the atrocities placed before you. As Henry, John and Kathy speak about their love for you--I see a strong woman whose primary role in life was that of wife and mother. I hear the classical music you loved, smell your favorite flowers--lilacs, and sense your strong faith in God. As the co-author of The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister, I am grateful to be given this emorous responsibility of sharing your story with the world. Carolyn Tomlin - co-author

 

Mr. Henry Bannister, It was such an honor and pleasure to meet you last Saturday at Madison Academic High School's Madison Kidd Books & Cafe event. You are such a gracious man and I'm so glad your family is sharing your wife’s story with the world. Looking forward to reading her book. Pam McCoy - New fan & friend

 

I will be glad, yet sad, to read this book. John & Kathy, your mother was a strong woman to share these memories with the rest of the world. We need to be sad, and we need to never forget. May the Lord bless you as your continue to miss her.

 

Nonna, I haven't read your diaries yet but will purchase the book and read them this month. Thank you for allowing the Lord Jesus Christ to guide and direct you and bring forth the truth again that evil will not prevail. Love will always win! Our Lord Jesus Christ took the penalty of death for every soul on this earth and freedom from death is His life for our life. I'll write again after I read your book. Thank you. Karen Abbotts

 

every non believer in the holocaust should read this book. It is truly a story of unheard of courage and love of family. It was great in the way it was written and a must read for every school age child to learn the history of our worl - both good and bad. Many a tear was shed reading it and I'm sure will be shed when I reread it again and again.

 

To Nonna's family and those who knew her, I will buy and read and share this book. I had tears in my eyes when I read, and pondered, this website. There is something sobering and majestic about overcoming such hardship, though Nonna likely did not know how the events that touched her life--and through her, yours--would play out in the world at large. I can see from the previous commentary that Nonna's strength, wisdom, and capacity for love were deep. Thank you for sharing her story. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

We must never forget the suffering and pain Hitler reigned on innocent people. There are many who are saying that the holocaust never existed - I say shame on them! For this reason we need to be reminded and our children's children need to be reminded of how cruel the world can be. We must never forget and continually ask for forgiveness of anyone who says this didn't happen. They are lost and confused. God bless the Bannister family and thank you for sharing with the world your pain and suffering.

 

Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman to have lived her life after the war with love and joy. To have kept her secret for so many years, without the scars showing through, is a true testament to her character. Can't wait to read the book.

 

May God bless each one of you and your families!!

 

I was honored to be a guest at the Exchange Club in Jackson TN, on April, 7,2009. John Bannister and his father told the remarkable story of how this story came to be this marvelous book. The hardships that now we can only imagine. The strong Christian faith that kept Nonna going each day and the promise to someday tell this story. I was moved by how she lived her life and raised her family. A remarkable story. When I learned that a longtime friend of our family,Carolyn Tomlin, had co-written this story I knew the story of Nonna Bannister would be a must own.

 

My precious mother, through your amazing love you showed me that in life all things are possible if only you believe. You touched all who were blessed enough to know you with your grace and your strength. That grace will prevail over evil always. The lessons you taught me growing up were the kind that only one who knows such truth could teach, and the gift of your love lives within my heart even still. William Henry Bannister Jr.

 

Remembering can be painful but forgetting is dangerous. I am grateful this brave woman has the courage to remember and the support of a loving family to walk through this with her in the waning time of her life. I look forward to remembering with all of you through this book. May God be praised!

 

This is one of the best books I have ever read. The woman was amazing, the story was amazing, the timing is divinely directed. I have been touched on so many levels while reading it. I am going to buy a copy for my mom and sisters.

 

Thank-you for sharing your diaries and making them into a "must read" book. Words cannot fully explain how I felt after reading Nonna's story. Her story has really touched me and will stay in my heart forever.

 

To the family of Nonna Bannister, As a Young by, I remember my Uncles and Aunt returning from WWII, but did not understand. As I grew and read about the horrors inflicted during that time, it was difficult to believe that Humans could be so cruel. But what is even more amazing, is how a woman so treated could retain such a sweet and positive attitude thru such suffering. Books such as Nonna's and Anne Franks must be preserved forever in the belief that we can overcome Evil and make this world the place She wanted it to be.

 

Hi John and Henry, This is Shari Moorhouse (your cousin) Jeans daughter. I had lunch with Uncle Pete today and we were talking about you. So I googled you and found this website. Congratulations on the book and I was so sorry to hear that Nonna has passed away. She was the sweetest lady. I will by the book soon. I am giving you my email address if you want to stay in touch sometime. Please tell Henry hello for me. He might remember who I am he is a very nice man. Take care..Shari sharbearaustin@yahoo.com

 

George Santanya wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It seems, at least in the way I personally see events unfolding, that mankind is embarking upon a journey of repetition in relation to the Holocaust. The only apparent difference being that the swastika has been replaced by the headscarf, jihad and a much smaller world. In regard to my statement, I'm always amazed at the subtle ways God quietly speaks and prods – I was recently channel surfing (1 day ago) and happened across Schindler's List, although I have seen it several times, I was riveted to the screen and reduced to tears and prayer into the wee hours of the early morning asking God to use me to make a difference. After the movie, I got on my computer and searched Auschwitz – trying to understand what could motivate an entire populace to foment such unmitigated evil. The following morning, after 3 hours of sleep, I got up, took my son to school and later saw a friend I hadn't seen or much less talked to for almost ten years. We just grew apart in our lives – but through a dream he called me and we rekindled and reconnected our friendship. Our conversation reinforced the subtle message/nudge given the night before. And now, web surfing, I find this – coincidence, I doubt it. I want to purchase this book not only for the reason that it appears to be a profound work, but so I can decipher why I have been led down this path. The cry of "Never Again" unfortunately rings hollow unless God is in the mix. The end result, whether it be by mass execution or natural causes is inconsequential; what matters is what the holder of the life did with their life while they were living. Was their life lived for God? Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, the more things change, the more the song remains the same. May God use this book to wake us from our slumber; hopefully so that "Never Again" will never happen again.

 

I just finished reading the book about Nonna's life. The first thought that comes to my mind is that how fragile our freedom truly is and how we must never take that freedom for granted here in America. If we don't continue to fight for it. We could have history repeating its' self. We must fight against the power of evil no matter the cost. Thank you so much for sharing Nonna's story and her unfailing Faith in God. She is truly an inspiration to us all.

 

Today on my Mother's birthday I hope we all take time to remember the awesome responsibility we have to keep our discourse civil and closely aligned with the truth. The horrors my mother lived through were born in the hubris of hateful words and the de-humanization of people through the use of divisive and manipulative propaganda. We must be vigilant so that we are not misled into a similar world of hate. I thank God for my precious Mother and all that she taught me.

 

ani ma'amin b'emunah shelemah - I believe with perfect faith. Those words were on the lips of my Jewish people as they were marched into the gas chambers. These words are from the Thirteen Principles of Faith, penned by the great scholar Maimonides. One of these principles states "I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah, and though he tarry, I will wait daily for his coming." Many Jewish people who knew Messiah had come already--believers in Messiah--also perished in the camps. To those gentile Christians reading this web page . . . may your hearts be pierced with the fervent words of Paul whose heart's desire and prayer to God was for his people to see who Messiah really is. Those are my words of hope . . . that you will pray, that you will love and share the Good News because of the hope that is within you.

 

I read this book through the audio CD and enjoyed it immensly- seeing this troubled time through the beautiful eyes of Nonna. With the audio interview at the end it was almost like meeting her and the family. Her diary gives us a rare glimpse of how a beautiful family life was torn apart, first by the communists and then the Nazis. She witnesses much of the evil and cruelty that the Germans inflicted on innocent people, barely escaping with her life. The incident where she escaped from the killing pit showed how smart and resourceful she was, amid the German murders. But her message is also clear, as taught by her father, to not harbor hatred, learn to forgive and learn to forget. Though we can not forget mans' curelty to man, lest we repeat such horrible events. Nonna was such a strong person, facing hardship and death, yet later able to put it all aside and raise a happy family in the USA. She was such a good child and follow the lessons of her parents. Surely an admirable woman , someone to emulate and a story to stay with me.

 

Nonna, hi from your motherland! Konstantinovka - a place where you father, mum, the brother and many other relatives are buried. The house where you lived Here has remained. We have made a lot of work after arrival to us Zach - your grandson, Nonna. In russian it is possible to know here: http://www.konstantinovka.com.ua/node/11851 http://www.konstantinovka.com.ua/node/11998 http://www.konstantinovka.com.ua/node/12048 God bless you! The member of the Club of friends of Nonna Bannister in Konstantinovka Vladymyr Berezin berezin2004@bk.ru