Endorsements

HOLODOMOR QUOTES

Endorsement from Marta Baziuk

Executive Director of the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC)

“The Holodomor (man-made famine in Ukraine of 1932-33) was denied by the perpetrators, the Soviet authorities, from the time of its occurrence until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Those who survived and witnessed the famine in Ukraine did not dare discuss this taboo subject and could not commemorate the dead. Thus, Teodora Verbitskaya’s memoir Two Regimes and the paintings of her daughter Nadia are incredibly valuable as eyewitness testaments to events that Soviet officials did their utmost to hide.  Mimi Shaw and Kelly Bowen are to be commended for preserving and sharing these rare and moving personal accounts of a family during times of unspeakable horror, both under Soviet and Nazi rule.”  

 

Endorsement from Jars Balan

Interim Director of the Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta, Canada

“The story told by Two Regimes is remarkable, as is the story about how it was discovered and came to be shared through the efforts of Mimi Shaw and Kelly Bowen. Simply put, it is a story of survival, against great odds, of a family that lived through a civil war, two decades of brutal Soviet tyranny, the Second World War and the terror unleashed by the Nazi occupation of Ukraine. The memoir by Teodora Verbitskaya, and the paintings and sketches by her daughter, Nadia, document a violent era that spanned the artificial famine, or Holodomor, in Soviet Ukraine, the Stalinist Terror of the 1930s, and the Holocaust that ravaged Jewish communities caught up in the brutal dictatorship of Hitler’s Third Reich.  A great debt is owed to Mimi Shaw and Kelly Bowen for rescuing from oblivion this unique and personal record of man’s inhumanity to man as well as the ultimate triumph of the human spirit in the face of incredible adversity.”

 

HOLOCAUST QUOTES

Endorsement from Dr. Michael Berenbaum

 

Two Regimes is a powerful but ever so painful memoir of a woman who lived through Stalin’s famine in Ukraine and witnessed Hitler’s Final Solution. Twice cursed by history, we are twice blessed with Teodora Verbitskaya’s commitment to memory and the talent of her daughter Nadia’s haunting paintings.”

-Dr. Michael Berenbaum

Director at the Sigi Ziering Institute

Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies American Jewish University Los Angeles, California

Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust

Endorsement from Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff

“As a Holocaust Educator and consultant as well as a Jewish Child Survivor of The Holocaust of 1933-1945, I am frequently asked to review curriculum and projects meant for Educational use on the subject of the Holocaust. When I first met with Ms. Kelly Bowen, one of the owners and co-editors of the exhibit and book “Two Regimes”, I was not aware of this very interesting piece of Holocaust history. After meeting with Ms. Bowen numerous times and researching the “Two Regimes” exhibit and the history, I am impressed enough with the work done that I do wish to add my name in recommending and supporting this very worthwhile project for classroom use and for museum exhibits. Both the exhibit and the book and curriculum lessons of “Two Regimes” will greatly assist teachers in meeting the mandate to teach the Nazi Holocaust of 1933-1945. I highly recommend this very worthy project.”

-Dr Miriam Klein Kassenoff

Holocaust Education Consultant, Miami Beach, Florida, 33140

Endorsement from Dr. Karen Glendenning

“The book is beautiful and a real contribution. So many people don’t look at holocaust material because it is so horrific and gruesome. This is a way to educate even young children with something beautiful and powerful but with the message still intact. It seemed to flow evenly with the artwork thoughtfully placed. The narrative in first person from an observer makes it a unique perspective from a generation that is sadly disappearing. It is so wonderful that you were able to put this outstanding contribution together.”

-Dr. Karen Glendenning

Professor of Psychology, Fort Valley State University, 2009-present

Professor of Psychology, Florida State University, 1974-2009