It was the memoir that became the backbone of the book, overlaid with research into the broader history of Przemyśl, including the experiences of other Poles, and the broader history of World War II. Stefania’s personality leapt off the page, and there was so much more to her story than I had realized.įight for Thirteen Manuscript (a page of Stefania’s memoir). Credit Philip Cameron.īut the deepest insight into Stefania herself came when Ed shared his mother’s unpublished memoir. Przemysl ghetto (Sharon Cameron, Ed Burzminski, and two Polish guides in the former ghetto of Przemsyl).
These little slivers of experience, even though they were second-hand, didn’t just shape the book. We talked to historians and visited the death camps. We found the curve in the railroad tracks where Max Diamant jumped from a moving train. We walked the streets of Przemyśl and searched the city archives, finding where the Diamant family had lived in the ghetto and the site of a German tool factory where Stefania worked. We interviewed one of those hidden children, and we interviewed Helena Podgórska, who at six years old was just as much of a hero as her sister. We stood in the attic where thirteen Jewish men, women and children had been hidden behind a false wall. And then, three weeks after Stefania passed away, Ed and I went to Poland together, to discover his mother’s life.Įd and Sharon, Przemysl Archives. She was in the last year of her life, and so never knew that she met me. He told me stories, shared photos, and even took me to meet his mom. As the child of a Holocaust survivor and a Holocaust rescuer, Ed had incredible memories. But it was reaching out to her son, Ed Burzminski, that really opened up Stefania’s world to me.
But the research for THE LIGHT IN HIDDEN PLACES was by far the most fascinating I’ve ever done, because for the first time I had an in-depth focus on one particular person: Stefania Podgórska Burzminski.īefore I had even decided to write the book, I watched hours of interviews with Stefania, getting a grasp on her life. History is what makes fantasy feel real, and pulling from reality is just the way I write. Guest Post from Sharon Cameron, author of The Light in Hidden Places, on her research for this incredible, powerful book about one of history’s hidden heroes.Īll of my books have required a huge amount of historical research––even the sci-fi. A Story that Feels Real: Bringing History to Life
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