Questions About Is It Night or Day?: A Childhood Immigration Journey from Nazi Germany to America in 1938

by Fern Schumer Chapman (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (4)

Fern Chapman The number of Jews murdered in each country and their percentage of the pre-war Jewish population:
(Source: Encyclopedia of the Holocaust)

Austria 50,0…moreThe number of Jews murdered in each country and their percentage of the pre-war Jewish population:
(Source: Encyclopedia of the Holocaust)

Austria 50,000 -- 27.0%
Italy 7,680 -- 17.3%
Belgium 28,900 -- 44.0%
Latvia 71,500 -- 78.1%
Bohemia/Moravia 78,150 -- 66.1%
Lithuania 143,000 -- 85.1%
Bulgaria 0 -- 0.0%
Luxembourg 1,950 -- 55.7%
Denmark 60 -- 0.7%
Netherlands 100,000 -- 71.4%
Estonia 2,000 -- 44.4%
Norway 762 -- 44.8%
Finland 7 -- 0.3%
Poland 3,000,000 -- 90.9%
France 77,320 -- 22.1%
Romania 287,000 -- 47.1%
Germany 141,500 -- 25.0%
Slovakia 71,000 -- 79.8%
Greece 67,000 -- 86.6%
Soviet Union 1,100,000 -- 36.4%
Hungary 569,000 -- 69.0%
Yugoslavia 63,300 -- 81.2%(less)

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What I want to know is why was her aunt so mean?

Fern Chapman Hi, Lily -

You ask an interesting question. Is It Night or Day? is a work of historical fiction, but I took my mother's story and reported what she tol…moreHi, Lily -

You ask an interesting question. Is It Night or Day? is a work of historical fiction, but I took my mother's story and reported what she told me. My mother, Edith, is quick to defend Aunt Mildred, saying that this woman saved her life. But Mildred was cruel, even abusive, to Edith.

Coming from a wealthy American family, Mildred felt that by marrying Uncle Jack, a German immigrant, she had lowered her social status. They could barely afford their bills during the Depression and, if they took in Edith, the family would receive $48 a month that would help cover their monthly costs. Mildred resented this arrangement and resented Edith, who came to symbolize the family's need for money. So Mildred decided she would make the situation work for her by requiring Edith to do all the household chores.

I have had the opportunity to talk to others who escaped the Holocaust by coming to America as children by themselves, and several told me that they were treated as servants in their new homes as well. Sadly, many of these children, including Edith, suffered several traumas at an early age. They faced the challenges of immigration as unaccompanied minors, the losses of family, homeland, language, and identity, and the difficulties of living in unloving homes.(less)

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I want to know why people didn't like jews back then?

Emma Hitler didn't like Jews because they were different from him at that scared him.…moreHitler didn't like Jews because they were different from him at that scared him.(less)

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"What happened to Edith later in life?" Those interested can find answers in my other books. MOTHERLAND captures our return visits to her small German town in 1990 and 1994. Through words, images, and historical documents, LIKE FINDING MY TWIN tells of how 8th graders reunited Edith with her childhood immigration friend. Readers of STUMBLING ON HISTORY witness a memorial installation for the family.

Fern Chapman Those interested can find answers in my other books. MOTHERLAND captures our return visits to her small German town in 1990 and 1994. Through words, i…moreThose interested can find answers in my other books. MOTHERLAND captures our return visits to her small German town in 1990 and 1994. Through words, images, and historical documents, LIKE FINDING MY TWIN tells of how 8th graders reunited Edith with her childhood immigration friend. Readers of STUMBLING ON HISTORY witness a memorial installation for the family.(less)

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