The Story of Lithuanian Kovno Ghetto Holocaust Survivors Published.

Izzys Fire: Finding Humanity in the Holocaust, a book by Nancy Wright Beasley about Kovno Ghetto survivors, is set for release. The book centers on 13 members of five Jewish families who survived the Holocaust through their own ingenuity and the generosity of a poor Catholic farm family. All 13 Jews ended up living in a 9x12x4 underground hole as World War II raged around them. Some lived underground for seven months.

Lawrenceville, VA (PRWEB) November 4, 2004 -- Brunswick Publishing announces Nancy Wright Beasleys first nonfiction book, Izzys Fire: Finding Humanity in the Holocaust, for release in January 2005.

Dr. Michael Berenbaum, project director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (1988-1993) and author of The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust as Told in the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum, says, Izzys Fire is filled with the passion of one woman determined to do justice to the story of another woman who lived in hiding throughout the war years. The war has soul. One feels the intensity of the struggle to survive...Nancy Wright Beasley has told a powerful story with dignified restraint. She has given voice to an underreported side of the Holocaust - life in hiding."

The book centers on 13 members of five Jewish families who survived the Holocaust through their own ingenuity and the generosity of a poor Catholic farm family. All 13 Jews ended up living in a 9x12x4 underground hole as World War II raged around them. Some lived underground for seven months.

Adriana Trigiani, author of the best selling Big Stone Gap trilogy, offered early praise for the book. According to Trigiani, Nancy is a passionate, dedicated writer who has written a searing story, sure to capture readers with Izzy's Fire. She proves herself to be a storyteller who uses firsthand accounts and research with equal resolve."

Beasley used personal interviews, research and numerous memoirs, including extensive memoirs from Israel Izzy" Ipson, who helped his family escape from Kovno Ghetto, one of the most notorious killing fields for Jews in Lithuania. The Ipps, as they were known then, relocated to Richmond following their liberation and later changed their name to Ipson. The story has been recreated at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia.

Beasley's journalistic career spans 25 years, beginning with seven years as a state correspondent for The Richmond News Leader. She has been a personal columnist and contributing editor for Richmond Magazine since 1997. Beasley has written several national award-winning columns and articles for the magazine, as well as for other publications.

A recipient of a masters degree from Virginia Commonwealth Universitys School of Mass Communications, Beasley now teaches there.

The book will be available through regular book trade channels in bookstores and on-line. For more information, please call 434-848-3865.

# # #