Izzy's Fire: Finding Humanity In The Holocaust

by Nancy Wright Beasley

Edna Ipson, Holocaust survivor, now 93 years old, sees her family's story of struggle and survival recorded and published. Brunswick Publishing has just released Izzy's Finding Humanity in the Holocaust by Nancy Wright Beasley, which focuses mainly on the Ipson family's life in hiding in a Lithuanian farmer's potato field.The book depicts how 13 members of five Jewish families survived the Holocaust through their own ingenuity and the generosity of a poor Catholic farm family. All 13 Jews ended up living in a 9'x12'x4' underground hole as World War II raged around them. Some lived underground for about seven months before being liberated by the Russian Army.Dr. Michael Berenbaum, project director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (1988-1993) and author of The World Must The History of the Holocaust as Told in the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum, says, “Izzy's Fire is filled with the passion of one woman determined to do justice to the story of another woman who lived in hiding throughout the war years. The war has soul. One feels the intensity of the struggle to survive. One senses the decency of those who were ready to rescue and the evil that haunted a mother and father and their young child in the dangerous world they lived. Nancy Wright Beasley has told a powerful story with dignified restraint. She has given voice to an underreported side of the Holocaust – life in hiding.” Adriana Trigiani, author of the best selling Big Stone Gap trilogy, offered early praise for the book. According to Trigiani, “Nancy is a passionate, dedicated writer who has written a searing story, sure to capture readers with Izzy's Fire. She proves herself to be a storyteller who uses firsthand accounts and research with equal resolve.” Beasley draws from personal interviews, research and numerous memoirs, including extensive memoirs from Israel “Izzy” Ipson, who helped his family escape from Kovno Ghetto, one of the most notorious killing fields for Jews in Lithuania. The Ipps, as they were known then, relocated to Richmond following their liberation and later changed their name to Ipson. The story has been re-created at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia.Izzy's Fire, which encompasses Virginia Standards of Learning at a variety of levels, will be taught as a pilot project in several eighth grade language arts classes in Chesterfield County public schools during the 2004-05 school term.

Genres: Nonfiction, Holocaust, History, World War II, Memoir

289 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book because Jay Ipson, the founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum and the son of the Izzy of the book's title, will be speaking at my church this Sunday. He will be speaking about the Holocaust and his family's experience.

The book itself is well-researched. The story is told by Eta Ipp, who became Jay's mother and Izzy's wife. We learn about her youth in Lithuania and marriage to Izzy. During the late 1930's, life for Jews in Lithuania (as in other countries) became more and more restricted, until they were forced to live in ghettos in unbearable conditions. Izzy arranges for his family, including 8-year-old Jay, to escape with the help of sympathetic Christians, and they live for a time in a series of barns in the countryside. Eventually they have to move to a literal hole in the ground, only four feet high, where they are joined by nine other people. They live there for three months before Lithuania is liberated. Afterwards, life is still difficult for Jews, and the family moves to Germany and finally to America, where they settled in Richmond, Virginia.

I have visited the Virginia Holocaust Museum, but now that I have read the book, I plan to visit again to see the recreation of the underground "room" and other artifacts from the Ipsons' story.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of a Lithuanian Jewish family that survived the holocaust held me spellbound. What unleashes such demons of death and destruction upon mankind? "Never again" is a noble slogan but genocide has happened time and time again since Nazi Germany. Izzy's family knew a Christian farmer who provided shelter for his family and others who escaped from the Kovno ghetto. I can't fathom the courage it took for this farm family to provide refuge for their Jewish countrymen. If they had been caught it would have been an instant death sentence. The farmer's wife in "Izzy's Fire" fed thirteen people, living underground in a potato field, every day for three years. Her own family had barely enough food to survive. After being entombed for so long, the Jewish survivors were giddy with joy when the Russian army liberated their country. I give this book the highest rating. It both terrifies me and gives me renewed faith in the everyday goodness of ordinary people.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because one of my students who is a reluctant read presented this book for a book talk project. I am always looking for books to add as literature circle options during our unit on justice/injustice in Holocaust literature. Most of the book choices that we have available to the middle schools are works of fiction, obviously many of them are based on true stories, but have fiction included nonetheless. Izzy's Fire a great resource for middle school reader's especially those living around Richmond, as my students do. It has inspired many students to go and visit the Virginia Holocaust Museum, and educate themselves and their parents on the Holocaust. I really enjoyed how the story comes full circle with a the reunion at the end!

[Lorri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Izzy’s Fire: Finding Humanity in the Holocaust by Nancy Wright Beasley is an extremely intense and compelling memoir.

It is the story of five Lithuanian Jewish families who managed to escape the Kovno Ghetto during the Holocaust. What is most remarkable about Izzy’s Fire, is not the fact that the families escaped the Kovno Ghetto, but the fact that they were hidden by a Catholic family.

Nancy Wright Beasley writes with compassion, yet also with a sharpness, not withholding or color coating the information presented. The ugliness is there for all to read, but so is the inspirational relating of the events. She offers hope when bleakness surrounds the environment. That is the magnificence and beauty of her writing.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a moving book about a family's struggle during the Holocaust. This story tells the tale of Jay Ipson's family during World War II. For those of you who do not know, Jay Ipson is one of the founding members of the Virginia Holocaust Museum. You must visit that museum if you ever have the opportunity. Read the book first and it really makes the museum come to life. Very sad---very real.

READ THIS BOOK!

[Beth Neu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and researched. It is amazing how much Izzy and his wife could remember from their time in Lithuania. The book was written so many years later and the extra effort the author put forth to write this book was evident. I highly recommend this heart-wrenching, yet rewarding account of life for Jews living in Lithuania at the outbreak of World War II.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful story of a Jewish family that survived the Holocaust in Lithuania because they were hidden by Christian farmers. I have actually met one of the survivors and seen the Holocaust Museum he helped found in Richmond, Virginia.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book! It will make your heart ache for what this family and thousands of others went through. Very well written and engaging to the end.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book...subject matter is depressing but these people were inspirational. Want to visit the museum in Richmond that they opened.

[Will Waller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, told in first-person, moves along pretty quickly. It is a grim, dark, and disturbing. Of our history, that we need not forget. the Holocaust, and particularly its effects on one particular family in Lithuania, are the subject of this book. Written by a friend, she writes in The Voice of Etta, one of the persons who suffered greatly due to the Nazi occupation of the country of Lithuania. Is a heroine tail, and it is one that we must continue to study. If we want to avoid the horrors of this. Of human history, we must continually remind ourselves of the depravity that the human race is capable of. The writing is good, and the story is ultimately hopeful. Still, this is not a light-hearted tale and it is one that does not pull any punches. Good book.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book after meeting the author at the James River Reginal VAASL Conference. Beasley has done an extensive amount of research and follow-up to tell this important story. The connections to Richmond, VA make it an especially worthwhile read since the family she follows helped found the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

The Ipp family story begins in Lithuania's Kovno ghetto. After escaping to a Catholic family's farm, they remain hidden in a small potato hole which is recreated in the Virginia Holocaust's Museum's interactive display. These human stories often times get lost among the timelines, battleplans, and facts of WWII. This bring the humanity (and lack thereof) of WWII to light in a touching way.

[Susan Poling · Rating 4 out of 5]

The true story of a family who escape a ghetto , flee to the country and end up living underground, in a potato hole with Nazi's marching in the fields around them. It is humbling to know how ingenious and strong they could be.

[Becky Harrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moving

The book was moving and enlightening about the cruelty of some and compassion and bravery of others. Sometimes the book was too detailed and slow moving, but
The topic was so interesting, it
Held my attention.

[Brent Seheult · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a really good read, well written. It could be that my interest is during this time period. I also found it interesting that they created a Holocaust museum in Richmond Va. Loved this book. Great read

[Beatrice Ann Applegate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning from history

I am so glad true stories about the Holocaust are written and published. We have to remember. This book was well written and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read it. Will be looking for others. Thanks to the family that was able to share.

[Danah DeMartin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably Poignant

I found this to be one of the most interesting , touching books of the 100 or more that I’ve read.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting to have the back story on the Richmond Holocaust museum.

[Margaret Elder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting story. The author has recorded a family's experience during the Holocaust and afterward that is so worthy of everyone's notice. I have always been interested in first-person accounts of the Holocaust, and though this is not written by a survivor, it is based on a survivor's recordings and interviews with family members, etc. The nicest part of this story was the upbeat ending, and I especially liked it because the family ended up in Virginia.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holocaust stories are always difficult for me to get through, however, this one will inspire you more than crush you. The authors of the story live in Richmond, VA and have created a museum replica of the cave they dug and lived in for a year. Amazing!

[Mercy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

[Melissa Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this, the go to the Virginia holocaust museum in Richmond. Both excellent.

[Lina Kerbelyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to give rating to a personal account... Yet, I do think it's worth reading.

[Bonnie Weiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a profoundly moving account of one family’s struggle to survive the Holocaust and make it to America. Well written and researched, this book will stay with you.