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Ella Burakowski

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.hiddengoldbook.com

Twitter

Ask_Ella

Genre

Young Adult, History, Nonfiction

Member Since

August 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/ellaburakowski

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Most people know me as Ask Ella in The Canadian Jewish News, I've been writing an advice column in The CJN for the past 20 years. Along with my column, I'm the Operations Manager at the paper, having grown to that position through many years of working at different jobs at the paper.

In 2020 as the Covid pandemic became a reality and the newspaper business was going the way of the dinosaurs, The CJN was forced to close, which put me into retirement.

I was born to Holocaust survivors, Shoshana Gold and Fishl Burakowski, who met after the war in Foehrenwald, a displaced person's camp in Germany. Together they smuggled on an Aliyah Bet ship to make a new life for themselves in Israel. Ella and her older sister Sarah, were both born in Israel, Most people know me as Ask Ella in The Canadian Jewish News, I've been writing an advice column in The CJN for the past 20 years. Along with my column, I'm the Operations Manager at the paper, having grown to that position through many years of working at different jobs at the paper.

In 2020 as the Covid pandemic became a reality and the newspaper business was going the way of the dinosaurs, The CJN was forced to close, which put me into retirement.

I was born to Holocaust survivors, Shoshana Gold and Fishl Burakowski, who met after the war in Foehrenwald, a displaced person's camp in Germany. Together they smuggled on an Aliyah Bet ship to make a new life for themselves in Israel. Ella and her older sister Sarah, were both born in Israel, before the family moved to Canada.

When I was 14, my mother died in front of me of a massive heart attack. When she died, she took with her every story, every experience of how she survived the Holocaust. She took with her the reason she used to scream in the night, the reason I was different than the other kids. There was so much I didn’t know.

It wasn’t until I became an adult that I was interested in the story of how she survived, but it was too late to hear it from her.
My Uncle David Gold, my mother’s brother was still alive. Using his memories I followed their journey through the Holocaust. I felt compelled to write my family’s story while he was still able to describe the events my family endured during one of the most horrific periods in human history. He passed away in February of 2017.

Writing Hidden Gold has allowed me to reconnect with my mother and walk in her footsteps through the darkest time in her life.

As a 2nd-generation survivor, I am all too aware that I am a unique link to the past and the future. Very soon there will be no one left to directly tell these harrowing stories of survival. By writing Hidden Gold, I am passing on this remarkable story, in the hope of teaching and influencing for the better, the next generations.

Hidden Gold has won an honorable book award from the Ontario Library Association and has been read by thousands of kids. My family’s suffering is used to teach so we can truly say “Never Again.”

There is a free study guide available through the website www.hiddengoldbook.com ...more

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Ella Burakowski’s books

Average rating: 4.36 · 324 ratings · 39 reviews · 1 distinct work • Similar authors

Hidden Gold: A True Story of the Holocaust

4.36 avg rating — 324 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions

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37 posts
Ella Burakowski's Blog

Justice Harvey Brownstone’s Interview

Imagine my shock when I received a message through the Hidden Gold website from an Ontario Criminal and Family Court Judge, Justice Harvey Brownstone.

Here is part of what that message said:
“I recently read Hidden Gold by Ella Burakowski, and was absolutely captivated by this incredibly moving story of the ordeal endured by Ella’s grandmother, mother, uncle and aunt while being hidden in a barn in Read more of this blog post »

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Published on February 23, 2021 04:32 • Tags: book, creative-nonfiction, education, history, holocaust, thriller, ww2

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Ella’s Recent Updates

Ella Burakowski and 607 other people liked Nilufer Ozmekik's review of The Names: "Florence Knapp’s debut novel, The Names, absolutely lives up to the hype as one of the most anticipated fiction releases of the year. With its thought-provoking and highly creative speculative premise, this novel explores how a single name can define" Read more of this review »
Aug 20, 2025 05:45PM · see review
Ella Burakowski voted for The Women as Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction in the Opening Round of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
Nov 18, 2024 06:33AM · like
Ella Burakowski is now following Ariel Lawhon Author of The Frozen River
Sep 30, 2024 04:06AM · like
Ella Burakowski entered a giveaway By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 30, 2024 02:01AM · like · see giveaway · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ella Burakowski and 29 other people liked Stacey B's review of Hidden Gold: A True Story of the Holocaust: "After finishing this book, I went back to read the author's bio again on her profile page. It's very difficult to be able to wrap your arms around someone else's history. But I see the transparency from mother to author in this emotional well written b" Read more of this review »
Feb 09, 2024 02:34AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Hidden Gold by Ella Burakowski. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Hidden Gold by Ella Burakowski <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Ella Burakowski (?)

“You'll never be sorry that you did - only that you didn't”
― Ella Burakowski

17 likes

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Holocaust and gen...: Young Adult Holocaust novels	13	119	Apr 29, 2018 11:16PM

Ella’s Quotes

“I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another. ”
― Brenda Ueland

62 likes

“You'll never be sorry that you did - only that you didn't”
― Ella Burakowski

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“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
― Elie Wiesel

tags: activism, apathy, hate, indifference, inspirational, love, opposite, philosophy

41982 likes

“You cannot change the wind, but you can adjust the sails.”
― Elizabeth Edwards, Resilience: The New Afterword

tags: life

38 likes

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.”
― Elie Wiesel, The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, The Accident

777 likes

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