.....I was moved by your experiences and your message... I too am a child of survivors and a teacher at the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, NY.     - Sandy R. 7-12-16

MAY 17, 2016 Review from Warsaw, Poland

Dear Karen,

I finished reading. This was without any doubts one of the most important book in my life. Not only because it is written with inner passion and with visible story-telling and writing skills, but rather because it shows also the essence of the story of my life.

I had a very difficult and dark childhood, with too strict, demanding and emotionally chaotic father who turned over years into a heavy alcoholic. I hated him so much, for who he was, for what he did to me, my sister and my mom. I was constantly afraid of him beyond my capabilities to deal with it. My life was a nightmare then. When I was a teenager I was already isolated from him. I built a shield, and I locked him outside my world. ...........I did not see that by doing this (and that could not be avoided at that time) I deeply hurt myself......,...my world turned up side down............ Now I can feel pure love for him, pure love to myself and every people, even those who did hurt me. I just let go. I let go my atheism, I know that there is a  divine power, I felt it and I keep feeling it. I am not a realigious person, but I let spirituality to my life and I understood that our material form of being is a temporary stage, we came from..... I did what you did, in my own world, I challenged my fears and hatred. And I triupmhed. I will have more challenges and happy moments but I am equipped now with a perspective on life that I think we share.

I believe your book is very important. I believe everybody should do in their life what you did in yours. I believe that we may get to the next level of our humanity if we all get what you and me understood and implemented.

Now, a young Polish guy was crying while reading many words you wrote. It was a cathartic read, as Professor Emman Chedade Randazzo stated (a Palestinian saying this... is so beautiful). I felt close to you and shared many feelings that you expressed in this memoir. I felt this obvious closeness to you, a Jewish woman from America, daughter of a man, who had to kill any love in his life in order to survive the nightmare of Shoah. And the reason he had to do that is related to evil people from my tribe, my nation. It opens up so much. I just want to say, never mind it sounds crazy, that I love you for what you did in your life to overcome what he felt about Polish murderers of his beloved ones and his own ability to love and share love.

I wish you all the best and you can be sure that there is at least this one man in Warsaw today, who is sending you the best energy all the way to Chicago and your life. I hope one day I will have a chance to meet you again .......And you can be sure I will send the same energy to Arie Kaplan, his spirit. Maybe this deed coming from a Pole, who belongs to Krystyna Franciska part of our community and opposes the Jablonski and Kordash part of our community, will bring your father's soul some calm.

J....

MAY 18, 2016   A review from my speaking engagement at North Shore Senior Center

................We had a speaker yesterday who brought a message of forgiveness which was riveting and memorable. Karen L. Kaplan is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who inflicted on his family the suffering he had experienced. She wrote and self-published her memoir of a traumatic life and her escape from the torments of untold millions of Jews over the millennia. Her journey into wellness was successful because she learned to forgive. An important theme of her story is the epigenetic effect of those centuries of evil oppression on the DNA of a people. If you don’t know Karen, get in touch with her. The healing message she brought us is one which will greatly bless the people at Trinity. She lives in Highland Park and her email is karenkaplan@att.net. Her webpage is www.KarenLKaplan.com. She is a compelling and articulate speaker who brings a message which all the world should hear. 

John F Swenson

March 15, 2016    Rev. David J. Wood Senior Minister at the Glencoe Union Church   Karen is an outstanding speaker.  She communicates her story clearly and with great compassion.  She doesn’t just talk about forgiveness—she shows us what it means in real life.

Her story reminds us of why forgiveness is not just an ideal why it is essential to the reality of our lives and to knowing the fullness of life as God intended it to be.

She reminds us that forgiveness is costly—and why choosing not to forgive is even more costly.  Again, thanks for being with us.

Peace,

Rev. David J. Wood

Senior Minister at the Glencoe Union Church