I’m an 85-year-old Jewish writer. Most young people today know nothing about the Holocaust. Some say it never happened. It is inconceivable to imagine that in a civilized society humans could kill so many million innocent people for one reason only–because they were Jews. Even animals kill only for food, not out of hatred. As a boy I was jealous of my friends who felt the care and love of their grandparents. Mine were murdered in Auschwitz.

Yes, many non-Jews were murdered as well but one-third of the Jewish population was wiped out during the Holocaust and our civilization suffered for it. Those living today, sick people and even anti-Semites could have benefited from their medical contributions. But the murdered Jews were not there to help them.

Young people today know nothing of the Holocaust, or very little, which means that the unthinkable—man’s inhumanity to man, can rear its ugly head again—and again. We can’t let that happen. Remembering the horrors of the past will remind us that hatred is a deadly force and the unthinkable can happen again—and again.

I have never figured out why people are anti-Semitic or bear so much hatred in other regards toward groups of people because of their skin color or religion and I have stopped thinking of reasons. I do know that hatred is a learned experience and I no longer search for reasons and just accept it as a sad truth.

Think of it, when an infant is born there are already groups of people who hate that innocent baby if he/she is black, white, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, rich or poor. They are hated at birth for any one of those reasons. It’s up to us to do what we can to enlighten young people while they’re in grade school, high school or in the universities about the Holocaust. It’s the only way we can honor those who were murdered and make sure it will never happen again.

What can we do to counter hatred? The answer is to keep history in our teachings, keep it in our music (John Lennon–“Imagine”) and keep the Holocaust current. Soon the Holocaust survivors will be gone. Who will speak for them? Only the living will be left to pay tribute and pass the story of this horror to others.

I have written a novel that some reviewers recommended should be part of senior high school teachings. I didn’t write it to make money from this book. I’m not rich but have enough to live comfortably. My goal is to put my novel it in the hands of young readers so they know that when injustice caused by hatred  raises its ugly head they will speak out against it from the beginning.

We could have stopped Hitler!

So here’s my novel. It’s a story about one man’s revenge. It’s not necessary to buy a print copy because the cost is very little on Kindle.

THE CHEMIST’S SHOP BY RICHARD BRUMER IS A GRIPPING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER WRAPPED AROUND A LOVE STORY.

NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE FOR ONLY $3.99

Pharmacology professor Michael Ross retires from the world of academia in 1970 and opens a community pharmacy in a peaceful upstate New York town. He puts the horrific tragedies of his past behind him and finds serenity in his new life. That is, until he recognizes a customer as former Nazi SS officer, Hans Stern.

Michael looks into Stern’s cold steel-blue eyes, clenches his fists and boils inside, remembering how his three young daughters were taken from him and gassed, and his wife, Ilona, was tortured, raped and stripped of all dignity by Stern, twenty-five years earlier in Auschwitz.

Face to face with this evil being, Michael forces himself to stay calm. In that moment, he experiences two opposing but related feelings. One is anger, the other exhilaration.

Michael could not protect his family then, but he can avenge their deaths now. It isn’t just about killing Stern. That would be too easy. His death has to be slow, painful, and diabolical, and it begins with a game of chess.

Available online from Barnes and Noble and Amazon as a paperback or on Kindle for only $3.99

Visit Richard’s website by clicking here.