Ask the Author: Heather Dune Macadam
Answered Questions (20)
Heather Dune Macadam
Sorry, I missed this. I think it depends on your daughter and how mature she is and how sensitive. I read Holocaust books when I was 9 or 10, and re-read them. I was drawn to the subject matter. Rena's Promise is tough but I think a 13-year-old is mature enough to read it. 999 is a more intense nonfiction book, and the new book Starcrossed, is a love story first and foremost, though it has some tough scenes towards the end. Thanks for asking and tell your daughter I am happy to answer questions on my Facebook https://www.facebook.com/999themovie page or here;) HD xx
Heather Dune Macadam
You can find out by reading my mystery! The Weeping Buddha https://www.amazon.com/Weeping-Buddha...
Heather Dune Macadam
Wow... That is a great question. I have to say that the answer would have been quite different before I met Edith. Edith was able to answer all of the questions that I had, which I only became aware that I needed or should have asked Rena. 999 is actually those answers. What I wish I could share with Rena--though I speak to her in my heard often!--was information I unearthed that would have given her a sense of closure.
1) SS Taube was executed for his crimes; Caroline Moorehead found evidence of that and wrote about it in her book "Train in Winter."
2) SS Juana Borman, the woman with the dog--who I think was the SS who murdered the young girl in that horrible scene in Auschwitz I--was also executed. I suppose I would have like Rena to see the photo of Borman to confirm that she was the one we wrote about, but evidence points to that fact.
3) I found out what actually happened to Mama and Papa. This is not comforting, as they were murdered, but they were not gassed and they were not dragged to death in Tylicz. They were shot with about 200 other Jews and their gentile friends in April 1942, in the Jewish cemetery outside of the Jewish ghetto in Nowy Sacz.
4) I would like her to see the photos of Adela and to know that I know Adela's family and that Rena's memory of Adela is why 999 was written. It all goes back the the beautiful redhead, whom we lost.
And so, in many ways, Rena's prayer as the children went to the gas chamber, asking God to smite just one Nazi, was answered many times over. When I stand outside Block 10 and look up at the still boarded up windows that look out at the execution wall, I often have a sense of a fissure in time. I imagine that Rena is looking out and witnessing Russian POWs being shot, and I send her a message: you are going to survive this thing and you are going to tell the world what you saw, and I am going to help you. It is our covenant.
And this: When I went to Tylicz in 2015, I wanted to find Andrzej's grave. I spent two days and was about to leave when I noticed a graveyard I hadn't seen before. There was about 2-feet of snow. (I posted this on Youtube!) What the short film does not show is what I say in my mind's eye when I found the grave. I saw the shadow of a German guard standing at the gate, and as I pushed the snow away from the headstone, I heard Rena's voice, saying "Thank you, Heather." I have never wept so hard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2OPl...
1) SS Taube was executed for his crimes; Caroline Moorehead found evidence of that and wrote about it in her book "Train in Winter."
2) SS Juana Borman, the woman with the dog--who I think was the SS who murdered the young girl in that horrible scene in Auschwitz I--was also executed. I suppose I would have like Rena to see the photo of Borman to confirm that she was the one we wrote about, but evidence points to that fact.
3) I found out what actually happened to Mama and Papa. This is not comforting, as they were murdered, but they were not gassed and they were not dragged to death in Tylicz. They were shot with about 200 other Jews and their gentile friends in April 1942, in the Jewish cemetery outside of the Jewish ghetto in Nowy Sacz.
4) I would like her to see the photos of Adela and to know that I know Adela's family and that Rena's memory of Adela is why 999 was written. It all goes back the the beautiful redhead, whom we lost.
And so, in many ways, Rena's prayer as the children went to the gas chamber, asking God to smite just one Nazi, was answered many times over. When I stand outside Block 10 and look up at the still boarded up windows that look out at the execution wall, I often have a sense of a fissure in time. I imagine that Rena is looking out and witnessing Russian POWs being shot, and I send her a message: you are going to survive this thing and you are going to tell the world what you saw, and I am going to help you. It is our covenant.
And this: When I went to Tylicz in 2015, I wanted to find Andrzej's grave. I spent two days and was about to leave when I noticed a graveyard I hadn't seen before. There was about 2-feet of snow. (I posted this on Youtube!) What the short film does not show is what I say in my mind's eye when I found the grave. I saw the shadow of a German guard standing at the gate, and as I pushed the snow away from the headstone, I heard Rena's voice, saying "Thank you, Heather." I have never wept so hard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2OPl...
Heather Dune Macadam
I love these kind of questions, but of course right now I am reading mostly research books in French! However, my bedtime reading has been a wonderful memoir Nostalgia Isn’t What it Used to Be by the French actress, Simone Signoret, who was part of the clique at the Café Flore where our lovers hung out. During Covid lockdown I read Kate Atkinson, Life After Life; the Elizabeth Jane Howard Cazalet Chronicles and a wonderful David Mitchell novel, Black Green Swan. My husband and I love to read fiction because it isn’t work.
Heather Dune Macadam
Ah, another lost girl story. This one is a love story based in Paris! Star-Crossed: A Romeo and Juliet Story in Hitler’s Paris which is an amazing story that takes you into the lives of artists hanging out at the Café Flore, in the midst of the occupation. Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre knew the lovers we are writing about, so it is very colorful and dramatic. I am writing it with my husband, the fantastic journalist, Simon Worrall. He is fluent in French and all of the interviews and research are in French. I can read French but I am useless in conducting interviews. He helped me with German translations for 999 and is always my first and best editor, as I am his, so it makes sense to work together. Especially, as it is a love story. We are really excited about the book, which will be released in January 2022, with Kensington Citadel, who published 999.
Heather Dune Macadam
Oh, fiction is SO much fun! It is like eating ice cream, so you have to love it. But nonfiction is my staple diet. It feeds my soul and my purpose for being. I makes me feel that my life has meaning.
Heather Dune Macadam
What really shocks me is the absolute degradation of women. I knew it was bad, but it was so much worse than even Rena had told me. Despite working with Rena on Rena’s Promise for two years, she never told me that selections were carried out in the nude. She kept that from me. Then there are the actual numbers of women who died in 1942, which we will never know accurately because their deaths were not recorded until the fall of 1942, and even then those numbers show major discrepancies between survivor accounts and SS records. I was challenged by one journalist, who felt like I was using hearsay in my accounting of the mass selection held in December 1942, rather than the reports made by the SS. “So we are supposed to believe the SS, instead of the testimonies of multiple witnesses—men and women, alike, who were there?” I asked. “Do you really think the SS wanted to record killing 10,000 women in a single day?”
The fact that no one has ever reported that selection, except for me, is almost as shocking as the fact that it occurred. Why have women's death been so under reported and recognized? It is scandalous to me.
The fact that no one has ever reported that selection, except for me, is almost as shocking as the fact that it occurred. Why have women's death been so under reported and recognized? It is scandalous to me.
Heather Dune Macadam
Well, I don’t know that I have ever stopped! In all respects it was 10 years of work, as I had started working on a documentary about the first women, before I sold the book to Kensington Citadel Press. The last 3 years were all out, nothing but research and writing though. I traveled to archives in Slovakia, DC, interviewed survivors and families in Canada, Australia, Israel. I worked extensively with the USC Shoah Foundation, the Auschwitz Museum research staff, and the Museum of Jewish Culture in Bratislava, Slovakia. Mostly, I worked with Edith.
Since the book came out in January 2020, I have learned about four other survivors who are still alive. Only two are still able to speak about their experiences, but I just finished filming interviews them for the documentary film on my book, 999. I feel it is so important that we keep this chronicle of their experience alive for future generations, so I am still at it!
Since the book came out in January 2020, I have learned about four other survivors who are still alive. Only two are still able to speak about their experiences, but I just finished filming interviews them for the documentary film on my book, 999. I feel it is so important that we keep this chronicle of their experience alive for future generations, so I am still at it!
Heather Dune Macadam
When you meet a woman who was on the first transport your life changes. I met my first survivor back in 1992, Rena Kornreich Gelissen. Rena and I wrote her memoir (Rena’s Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz ) together and remained close friends until her death. I never thought I would find another survivor, but when I met Edith Friedman Grosman, I was once again pulled to tell the first girls and women’s story. This time it would be on a much larger scale though. I wanted to tell as much of the story as I could unearth and include as many survivors and non-survivors in the book. 999 is a tribute all of those young women. It is my attempt to find lost girls and give them a place in history and our hearts.
Heather Dune Macadam
Hi Jackie! It is so great to see you here on Goodreads and thanks for posting your questions from the Syosset Library Blog, which is a great resource for readers - no matter you read! I simply love doing events and meeting with readers of my books, even though Zoom keeps us at a distance, we are able to meet with readers all over the world and that is wonderful.
You know writers live fairly solitary lives, so getting to do events and meet our readers is like being let out of a cage. Sometimes I feel like my Dalmatian, I want to jump up and down and wag my tail with joy!
You know writers live fairly solitary lives, so getting to do events and meet our readers is like being let out of a cage. Sometimes I feel like my Dalmatian, I want to jump up and down and wag my tail with joy!
Heather Dune Macadam
I do hope so, but if not they will find their way onto our website. The issue, of course, is having a dramatic arc that tells a story versus simple research. Documentaries have to fulfill a storytelling structure in much less time than a book and some of these newer stories, due to the virus outbreak, are hard to capture because everyone is in lockdown. I can't send a crew or even myself to film the women, who need to be safely isolated from the outside world. Meanwhile, photos are being collected. Thanks for asking. I hope you are safe and healthy! HD
Heather Dune Macadam
Oh, what an interesting question but you imply that I had the strength myself, and I think the strength came from Edith and the families connected with this amazing story. Edith is a force of nature. She pulses with energy and she had such confidence in me that I had to!
In fact, I tried to avoid writing this story for almost 10 years before my husband looked at me and said, "This isn't just a documentary. You have to write the book!"
I rarely do what he tells me to, but I am grateful I did (for once!).
I do get a bit like a hound dog around research and find it very hard to let go once I find the scent, not sure that is strength either. I might just be stubborn! The hardest part was letting it go to press because even now there is information coming in that enhances the story. I have actually been contacted by three more women, who survived and are alive today! And other families have contacted me with information and photos of girls who did not survive. That takes strength for sure. Thank you again for your kind words and for appreciating the hard work that went into 999. Bless you and your family. Did you see the website for the documentary? We are editing now! HDx
In fact, I tried to avoid writing this story for almost 10 years before my husband looked at me and said, "This isn't just a documentary. You have to write the book!"
I rarely do what he tells me to, but I am grateful I did (for once!).
I do get a bit like a hound dog around research and find it very hard to let go once I find the scent, not sure that is strength either. I might just be stubborn! The hardest part was letting it go to press because even now there is information coming in that enhances the story. I have actually been contacted by three more women, who survived and are alive today! And other families have contacted me with information and photos of girls who did not survive. That takes strength for sure. Thank you again for your kind words and for appreciating the hard work that went into 999. Bless you and your family. Did you see the website for the documentary? We are editing now! HDx
Heather Dune Macadam
She worked on the book for 4 years. It never got published.
Heather Dune Macadam
I just did! You can actually join a Giveaway for the new book: 999 too! Just follow the link below. I will confess that I thought I would never return to this subject matter but was pulled back to it and my next book is ALSO going to be about a young woman during WWII (shhh...;)
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
Heather Dune Macadam
I have a novel that is about women that I just loved writing - it is funny and full of great characters and I can't wait to discuss it hear on Goodreads as soon as we're in contract for publication.
Heather Dune Macadam
To get rid of your inner critic, which is mostly ego and fear telling you you suck--you don't suck. Writing is hard. You have to work at it. Be willing to work. A lot!
Heather Dune Macadam
I don't think inspiration has anything to do with writing. I just write, like I breathe.
Heather Dune Macadam
I met Rena and the rest is herstory - our meeting is written about in Rena's Promise.
Heather Dune Macadam
Working at home where my dog can sit under my desk and my cat can sit on it.
Heather Dune Macadam
I don't. I'm too busy to be blocked:)
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