Creating Beauty from the Abyss by Lesley Ann Richardson

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The Amazing Story of Sam Herciger, Auschwitz Survivor and Artist

A Search For Artistic Freedom in the Shadow of the Holocaust.

About the Book

Seeking a World of Art and Beauty in the Shadow of the Holocaust

The enthralling story of Sam Herciger provides us with a heart-wrenching and powerful Holocaust memoir. It traces the journey of an aspiring young artist who embarks on a passionate quest to find artistic freedom during the danger-filled period of Nazi hegemony in Europe. Sam’s life is then caught up in some of the most dramatic events of the 20th century.

His intriguing adventures begin in prewar Poland, where Sam grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home. It is there that he meets a mysterious figure on the banks of the shining Vistula River, a man who prophesies he would one day achieve fame. Sam’s desire to study art leads him into countless places of peril, including Stalin’s Russia and Nazi Germany. Yet, the creative vision which drove him on gave him the courage to endure unimaginable trials, as did the inspirational works of art he encountered.

Sam Herciger’s panoramic story shows that steadfast commitment to the ideals of love, beauty, and truth can conquer seemingly invincible evil. It is a testament to the greatness of the human spirit.

Launched on Yom Hashoah, 28 April 2022

Article in the Jerusalem post: https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-700388

Television interview: https://israeltvnetwork.tv/its-all-about-the-aliyah_s03e01-lesley-ann-richardson/?channel=its-all-about-the-aliyah

Details

Author: Lesley Ann Richardson
Series: Holocaust Survivor True Stories, Book 19
Genre: Holocaust
Tags: Audio rights available, Award-winning Publication, Foreign Rights Available, Holocaust memoir
Format: paperback
Length: 382
ASIN: B09QH3SM6T
ISBN: 9789493276109
List Price: $19,95
eBook Price: $4.99

In her book Creating Beauty From the Abyss, Lesley Richardson has chronicled the life and experiences of Sam Herciger, a most remarkable Jewish artist who survived some of the most perilous and tumultuous times that occurred for both his people and Europe in the last century. Richardson’s descriptions, sensitive and compassionate, enable us to enter Sam’s suffering and at the same time help us to maintain the hope that one day he would be able to transform the most evil and cruel actions he experienced from fellow human beings into art. He does emerge from these horrors as an artist who restores the dignity and indestructible value of every person made in the image of God. I highly recommend reading this book.

– Jan Wilson, Vancouver Island

Congratulations to Lesley on another wonderful book, and I am looking forward to gifting many friends with it.

– Stan Sholar, retired rocket scientist, member of Logos Research Associates

This gripping testimony presents a vivid tapestry, weaving the dark Genocide together with the bright will of one man who longed to express his art. Sam’s works remain a testimony of triumph.

– Dr. Meridel Rawlings Ph.D., author of Fishers and Hunters, Stain Remover

Lesley Ann Richardson has given us a monumental work of historic fact and power.

– Christine Darg, Founder of The Jerusalem Channel

In Creating Beauty from the Abyss, I became Sam Herciger’s shadow. Witness hell as it breaks over Poland, ripping apart Sam’s world. His audacious choices keep him racing against the insatiable appetite of the Nazi Beast. The author masterfully highlights WWII through the history of Allied and Nazi decisions, which result in mayhem on the ground as experienced by this idealistic young Jew. How is it that an Inextinguishable Hope keeps leading him on, refusing death? This gripping testimony presents a vivid tapestry, weaving the dark genocide together with the bright will of one man who longed to express his art. Sam’s works remain a testimony of triumph.

– Dr. Meridel Rawlings Ph.D., author of Fishers and Hunters and Stain Remover

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Lesley Ann Richardson

Lesley Ann Richardson is originally from Queensland, Australia, where she grew up and eventually studied English Literature and Theology. In the 1980s she moved to Israel, and spent a number of years working for different Christian organizations in the land. While there, she met and married her husband, David Richardson, in Christ Church in the Old City of Jerusalem. David was a Canadian, who himself had a remarkable life story, which she also set down in a book. Later she went on to publish Bible Gems from Jerusalem, an award-winning work on history and theology in the feasts of Israel. Lesley is presently living on Vancouver Island, Canada, the home of her late husband, and devoting herself to writing and teaching.

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