Cami Ann Green is an established academic writer and an award-winning author of human-interest stories. She is in several Scandinavian publications, both in Finland and the US, with such pieces as face-to-face interviews with legendary novelist James Michener, and iconic feminist Betty Friedan.
According to a first-ever 50-state survey on Holocaust knowledge, 63% of American Millennials and Gen Z did not know six million Jews were murdered (additionally, 41% said the number was 2 million or less) and 11% of survey respondents believed Jews caused the Holocaust.
On a positive note, 80% said it is important to continue teaching this part of history, partly so it is not repeated again.
Among the nationwide population, the AJC: American Jewish Committee found that 24% of Americans know "not much" or "nothing at all" about the Holocaust, with 90% of those who responded believing it is important for schools to teach the history of the Holocaust.
Traditionally, school districts have heavily relied on textbooks on the general history of World War II to fulfill their state’s mandate to teach Holocaust history, with teachers continually looking for engaging ways to teach a uniquely terrifying period of history. Since the adoption of a new federal law, the Never Again Education Act, signed into law by President Trump in 2020, teachers may apply for grants to assist them with curriculum materials for the history of the Holocaust and its relevance to growing antisemitism today.
A Maryland teacher believes that her students relate to the Holocaust period when she talks about the exclusionary laws targeting Jews in Germany in the 1930s because “middle schoolers are all about who’s in the club and who’s not in the club.” Meanwhile, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies does not think the subject should be taught just as history, because then it becomes easy for students to say, “It happened then, it happened there, it has no relevance here.” He maintains that connecting the topic with everyday people is essential.
A recently released historical memoir The Yellow Star That Wasn’t: Scandinavia, Miami And Me introduces a geographic area that is not a common part of the Holocaust-related writings: the often-forgotten Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The book combines stories with historical facts into a mesmerizing personal narrative that makes students of the Holocaust relate on a more personal level while letting them see how history and culture continue to affect the way we still view human relations, specifically in the area of tolerance and the fight against antisemitism.
Readers get important historical facts (for instance, that Hitler occupied Denmark and Norway on the same day in 1940 while Finland and Sweden were left alone) without being over-whelmed by mind-numbing information, in a way that the previous literature about the years 1940-1945 has not done. Often misunderstood or ignored, the Scandinavian situation has long been the focus of Green’s ongoing speaking engagements where much of the material evolved as an expression of the interest of listeners.
Among praise for The Yellow Star That Wasn’t:
"(the book) successfully weaves the writer's personal story into a narrative of acceptance/intolerance/resilience of the Jews in Scandinavia before, during and after the events of WW-II. Ultimately it's an inspirational story on several levels."
Another said, "The history of the Scandinavian Jewish experience of the Holocaust was full of information that was new to me. The comments the writer's lectures stimulated reveals the great connection to victims and survivors that lives in the generation that grew up right after WWII. This connection inevitably will fade in the following generations - to their peril."
"While it was the title that intrigued me (so contrary to the history I thought I knew), it was the personal story that kept me mesmerized. We are all products of the people who raised us!"
One reviewer stated, "I learned history not found in any of my history books in high school."
Cami Ann Green is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at cami@chofstadter.com. The Yellow Star That Wasn’t: Scandinavia, Miami And Me is in paperback or Kindle from Amazon and other quality booksellers. More information is available at the website at http://www.seagreenpress.com.
About Cami Ann Green:
A European and U.S.-educated lawyer, Cami Green has a PhD in Educational Leadership, and certificates from the University of Geneva (International Organizations) and the Hague Academy of International Law (Diplomatic Law). In spite of a sizeable body of academic writings (most recently, Modern Consuls, Palgrave Macmillan, July 2020), her love for human interest stories has remained a constant through her life.
Among Green’s unique qualifications for The Yellow Star that Wasn’t: Scandinavia, Miami, and Me are her proficiency in all Scandinavian languages, and her ability to make the personal into the universal – particularly as it relates to history – by her focus on the human experience. Through ongoing lectures and writings, she understands what Americans want to know about her own personal journey to an obsessive interest in the part of Holocaust history that involves the four Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), all with their own unique experiences. She has also presented at the Holocaust Teacher Institute, University of Miami.
Throughout her career, Green was committed to international education and was active in many organizations that shared the goal of preparing coming generations for the new global community. Among them: AALS (Association of American Law Schools) Section on Graduate Programs for Foreign Lawyers (founding president; newsletter editor); Florida Commission on International Education (University of Miami School of Law Representative); Florida State Commission on International Education; and NAFSA: Association of International Educators (national Parliamentarian). She was also a member of the Consular College, Washington, D.C. and a member and secretary of the Consular Corps of Miami.
Contact:
Cami Ann Green
Cami@chofstadter.com
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