For many years, most people, including my sister and myself, were unaware that our mother's escape from Paris, France was necessitated by her being Jewish. Until the latter part of his career, most fans were unaware that Robert Clary was a Holocaust survivor who had spent 31 months in concentration camps. As Jews in Paris in the early 1940s, my family endured the entire spectrum of experiences resulting from Nazi occupation. Some members hid in their home towns without ever being arrested. Some were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Fortunately for her, my mother managed to escape and join the French Resistance in order to do her part to remove the menace to her normal existence. My Uncle Robert was not as lucky, but survived 31 months in 4 different concentration camps. Their biographies, "One of the Lucky Ones" and "From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes" give detailed accounts of their wartime experiences. Their survival took great courage and luck combined with a dash of talent in order to survive. Their greatest legacy, however, is not only learned by reading or hearing of their wartime experiences, but also by understanding how they refused to let their experiences keep them from living full, satisfying lives. In addition to enjoying life after the war, they both used their survival to help others make the most of their lives. "Talent Luck Courage" highlights their stories and explains how these two courageous individuals influenced my sister and me, the second generation of Holocaust survivors, to seek adventures of our own.
After a 38-year teaching career that took her to three continents and three states in the U.S., Brenda Hancock published her mother's biography, "One of the Lucky Ones," in 2013. This is her second work of nonfiction. She is currently working on a novel loosely based on her experiences teaching with the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Taegu, Korea. Brenda lives in Fayetteville, AR with her husband and their two spoiled rotten little dogs.
