Remember My Story: A Girl, a Holocaust Survivor, and a Friendship That Made History

Ages 10 And Up, Grades 5 to 17

The inspiring true story about how a modern teen girl and her Holocaust-survivor friend fought against hate to create change.

In 2018, fourteen-year-old Claire Sarnowski stood with ninety-two-year-old Alter Wiener in front of the Oregon state senate to champion a cause the two friends both believed in: making Holocaust education mandatory in their state’s public school curriculum. Theirs was an unexpected friendship—she was in elementary school when they met, and he was an aging Holocaust survivor whose memoir she had read—and together they were going to change the American education system.

Alter had spent decades speaking to audiences of all ages and backgrounds about the Holocaust, teaching that “never forgetting” could help spread tolerance and prevent such an atrocity from happening again. But Claire knew hate crimes were still being committed, in her own town and even in her own school. She didn’t want Alter’s efforts on Holocaust education to be in vain.

From strangers to friends to law-changing history makers, Claire and Alter’s mission was always simple: Remember this story. This page-turning memoir is a tribute to a man who survived the worst of humanity, an ode to friendship and community, and an empowering call to activism.

About the Author

Claire Sarnowski spearheaded Senate Bill 664 (2019), which mandated Holocaust and Genocide Education in Oregon schools. She is a top fundraiser for the National MS Society and a national managing committee member for STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities. When she is not studying at Boston University, Claire resides in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with her parents. She invites you to follow her on Instagram @ClaireSarnowskiAuthor.

Sarah Durand is a New York Times bestselling collaborator whose projects include Renia's Diary: A Holocaust Journal by the late Renia Spiegel and her surviving sister, Elizabeth Bellak; Brave Adventures by YouTube phenomenon Coyote Peterson; Breakaway by US Women's Soccer star Alex Morgan; and My Shot by WNBA All-Star Elena Delle Donne. Before she became a writer, Sarah was an editor, with a sixteen-year career at Avon Books/William Morrow and Atria Books. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two daughters.