Author Description

A powerful true story of a Jewish woman’s survival, resilience, and identity during the Holocaust. For readers drawn to Jewish history, Holocaust narratives, and stories of extraordinary female strength, Shura offers an intimate and unforgettable journey through one woman’s fight to survive. Born in Lithuania at the dawn of World War I, Shura grows up in a world already shaped by upheaval. As a teenager, she uncovers a secret that alters the course of her life. Years later, as a wife and mother during World War II, she is thrust into the horrors of Nazi persecution. In a desperate act of courage, she leaps from a train bound for Majdanek, hides in the Belarusian woods, and survives alongside the Bielski resistance—the same partisan group depicted in the 2008 film Defiance (starring Daniel Craig). Against unimaginable odds, Shura endures—and ultimately rebuilds her life in Mexico, carrying with her the weight of memory, loss, and love. Written by Dr. Batia Cohen—a scholar and educator with more than three decades of experience teaching history—Shura is crafted with careful historical insight and vivid, intimate storytelling. The story explores the quiet, day-to-day resilience required to survive displacement and trauma, and the enduring power of identity, memory, and hope across generations. Perfect for readers of Holocaust memoirs and Jewish historical narratives such as The Choice and The Lost Wife. This edition is a translated and revised version of Una Amapola Entre Cactus, originally published in Mexico in 2012.