While we do not usually gravitate towards Holocaust narratives, when we heard about Danica Davidson and Eva Mozes Kor we could not pass up the opportunity to interview Danica. Unfortunately, Eva passed away before the release of their joint book, I Will Protect You, and therefore could not be interviewed. This made the book that tells her story all the more precious. We were impressed to see Danica working to make Eva’s dream a reality. Below are some of the highlights from our conversation.
BookishlyJewish: How did you meet Eva Kor and get involved in this project?
Danica: Eva gave a speech at a college about an hour from where I live. I had learned about it through my temple newsletter, and I had never met someone who’d survived Auschwitz as a child. I was also reading a lot of Jewish-themed books and seeing Jewish speakers because I’d recently experienced antisemitism while working as a journalist and was trying to do something about it. So I was hoping I could interview Eva for a magazine.
I introduced myself to her after her speech and mentioned I’d written and published sixteen kids’ books. I was just trying to let her know I was a professional author and not wasting her time. But her whole expression changed as soon as I said that. She exclaimed that she wanted to write a kids’ book, because she said you need to reach kids about the Holocaust and antisemitism before 12 for it to do any good. Holocaust education in America usually starts at 12 or older (or not at all) and Eva said it’s not working because the prejudices are already set in there. We started talking about how we could do a kids’ book together.
BookishlyJewish: What was it like working together? Any special memories you would like to share?
Danica: It started with me interviewing her. I also read and sampled kids’ books that dealt with the Holocaust and other difficult subjects to see how they accomplished it. Then I’d bat ideas off Eva. After I had a good sense of her story and what she wanted, I started writing it and sending her chapters one at a time. The rough draft spilled out in a fever dream in three weeks. Eva was ecstatic.
One thing that might surprise people is that Eva had a great sense of humor and could be really colorful in how she talked. She described moving to America as being like moving to the moon. She also was full of energy and never seemed to stop working, even when she was tired. She would get up at the crack of dawn (or something like that) and be right to work. Sometimes she would call me in the evenings to discuss the chapters I’d sent her, but I’d already be tired for the day and want to talk about it the next day when I was refreshed. But she would still be ready to work.
Eva and I got really close when we worked together. It broke my heart when she died unexpectedly just fifteen days after we accepted Little, Brown’s offer on the completed manuscript. She knew our book would be published, but I wish she were here to see it.
BookishlyJewish: This is obviously a difficult topic. How did you and Eva decide on an approach for younger readers?
Danica: Eva knew she wanted to reach kids, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it. That’s why she hadn’t written a children’s book on her own. She was really good at visiting elementary schools and talking to kids, but writing is different.
The biggest thing that makes this work as a kid’s book is the fact she was a kid herself when she survived Auschwitz. So it’s written from a child’s point-of-view, and I’m used to writing in kids’ voices.
I told her I thought the book would be the best for kids if it read like a novel, had short chapters, kept a fast pace, explained some of the bigger picture stuff. She agreed and agreed. Most of my ideas she liked.
When I was in elementary school, my dad taught me about the Holocaust, and then I would go to school and tell the other kids. So I guess that’s how I got my start as a Holocaust educator. But what’s really helpful is that I remember how my dad explained it to me so that I would understand. I used those memories to get the right tone for this. There isn’t anything in this book (besides what happened to Eva) that I didn’t know about in elementary school, either from my dad or from books I read.
BookishlyJewish: Who is the ideal audience for this book? What do you hope they take away from reading it?
Danica: The book is middle grade and aimed for ages eight through twelve. It can be read by older people, too, and I hear from adults who read it and say they learned a lot. Parents might want to read it with their kids, especially if it’s the kid’s introduction to the Holocaust.
There is so much ignorance out there about the Holocaust, from people not knowing what Auschwitz is to people comparing anything they don’t like to Hitler, so this book aims to teach people what the Holocaust actually was. It also goes into the history of antisemitism, so people will not only have a better understanding of how we got to the Holocaust, but also be able to recognize antisemitism as it manifests today. I hope readers will check out more Holocaust books, because no one book can capture such a huge subject.
I also hope it helps young people better recognize extremism and propaganda in whatever forms they take.
BookishlyJewish: What has been the audience’s response to the book?
Danica: Well, besides the handful of people trying to ban it, censor it and get it cancelled in our current system of attacking kids’ books, the response has been really positive. I hear from parents who say they’re reading it to their kids and the kids are completely engrossed. I hear from people who say, “They don’t teach this in schools!” I’ve even heard people say this book has changed their lives.
BookishlyJewish: Do you have any particular favorite Jewish author or book?
Danica: That’s really difficult to pick! But since it’s on topic, David A. Adler and Sonia Levitin were two writers who had a big impact on me in elementary school with their Holocaust books. Adler’s We Remember the Holocaust was a book I got from the Scholastic Book Fair at my school, and it respectfully and honestly tells kids about what happened in the Holocaust as a whole. It meant a lot to me that he endorsed Eva’s and my book.
Levitin’s book Journey to America is fiction, but it’s inspired her family escaping Nazi Germany. It was narrated by a girl like me and pulled me into her world.
Bio: Danica Davidson is the author of almost twenty books for middle grade and young adult readers, ranging from serious nonfiction to Minecrafter adventure novels to manga how-to-draw books. Please visit her website at www.danicadavidson.com for more information on her books, writing advice for kids, lesson plans and more.