Again this week I'm linking up with the girls for Friday Favorites. For this week I did have more favorites then the past few weeks so lets get on it...
On Wednesday evening I headed over to the final debate for our leadership race for the PC Party of Nova Scotia. This is the one I really wanted to go to since it was the last one and the closest to home for me. Since it is coming down to the final weeks of a very long (too long to be honest) race for leader things have gotten somewhat nasty. I will not lie, I'm profoundly disappointed by one of the candidates who I know is a truly good man, but lets not get into that because we are here for my favorites of the week. The candidate I'm supporting Tim Houston, has anyways made me proud, I have watched him grow since coming onto the scene as MLA for Pictou East in 2013. Wednesday night at the debate I watched him take on petty/nasty bull (for lack of a better word), with the grace I want in my leader. My heart swelled with pride for him, happy knowing I call him a friend. Now, I'm even more excited for the leadership convention, even though I have already mailed in my ballot. Win, lose or draw he has done an amazing job and will continue to do great things.
Another one of my favorites which has been basically on repeat since it came it has been the Carrie Underwood album Cry Pretty. I love Carrie and this album is another great one. I actually love all the songs which is not always the norm for me because normally there is always one or two that I will skip over, not so with album. I think my top three songs from the album are Love Wins...because it just seems like something we all need to hear right now with all the issues going on around the world and how really we all just need to love each other and figure things out....Champion because it is just an awesome song, great to have on the work out playlist by the way....Ghosts on the Stereo, again just another great song. If you like Carrie and you haven't checked out this album yet I strongly suggest you go and listen to it soon! The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian Jews, who survived Auschwitz and eventually made their home in Australia. In that terrible place, Lale was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival—literally scratching numbers into his fellow victims’ arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust. Lale used the infinitesimal freedom of movement that this position awarded him to exchange jewels and money taken from murdered Jews for food to keep others alive. If he had been caught he would have been killed; many owed him their survival.
There have been many books about the Holocaust—and there will be many more. What makes this one so memorable is Lale Sokolov’s incredible zest for life. He understood exactly what was in store for him and his fellow prisoners and he was determined to survive—not just to survive, but to leave the camp with his dignity and integrity intact, to live his life to the full. Terrible though this story is, it is also a story of hope and of courage. It is also—almost unbelievably—a love story. Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. For Lale—a dandy, a jack-the-lad, a bit of a chancer—it was love at first sight and he determined not only to survive himself, but to ensure that Gita did, too. His story—their story—will make you weep, but you will also find it uplifting. It shows the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.
Like many survivors, Lale and Gita told few people their story after the war. They eventually made their way to Australia, where they raised a son and had a successful life. But when Gita died, Lale felt he could no longer carry the burden of their past alone. He chose to tell his story.
These stories of survivors of the Holocaust are some of my favorite stories to read because I can't imagine how they survived and the devastation they lived though. I haven't gotten too far into yet but I know already that it is going to be a great read that is for sure.
Alright, that is all from me this week. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be back on Monday with something great for you to read (fingers crossed). Happy Weekending!
