SHORES BEYOND SHORES
From Holocaust To Hope, My True Story
PRAISE for Shores Beyond Shores
“Irene Butter’s story is not your standard holocaust memoir. Instead, it recounts what happened to one family both during and after the war, and captures vividly the time from release from concentration camp to greeting a life back. It is compelling reading, and makes one realise how what happened in the immediate aftermath may have overshadowed the rest of Irene Butter’s life..”
Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger
“Irene Butter’s book is a triumph of clarity and concision, written with a passionate intent to inform and with not a shred of self-pity. It is by turns profound and intimate, and bears witness to the resilience of a family who drew strength from one another even through the darkness of the Holocaust. It is a shockingly honest and hopeful book.”
Andrew Solomon,
National Book Award Winning Author of The Noonday Demon and author of Far From The Tree Parent's Children, And The Search For Identity
“Shores Beyond Shores is a work of great clarity, beauty and humanity, borne in the face of unimaginable horror. What Irene Butter has achieved is something I’d always thought impossible: a Holocaust memoir that draws the reader into the abyss but is, above all, life affirming.”
Bram Presser,
National Jewish Book Award winning author of The Book of Dirt.
“Enemies are people whose story you haven't heard, or whose face you haven't seen.”
Irene Butter
Buy her book here!
"Young Reni, a girl on the precipice of adolescence, takes us through the darkest days of the Holocaust and her budding understanding of the human spirit. What I found was heart, courage, tenderness, and hope. Not since the Diary of Anne Frank, have I been so touched by a book that grapples with the dark abyss of the human condition during the Holocaust. This book is a revelation about what sustains the human spirit, what is far stronger than hate." Jacqueline Sheehan, NYTimes bestselling author
When the Dutch police knock on their door, Irene and her family are forced to leave their home and board trains meant for cattle. They are taken to Nazi-controlled prison camps and finally to Bergen-Belsen, where Irene is a fellow prisoner with Anne Frank. With limited access to food, shelter, and warm clothing, Irene’s family needs nothing short of a miracle to survive. Irene’s memoir tells the story of her experiences as a young girl before, during, and after the Holocaust, highlighting how her family came to terms with the catastrophe and how she, over time, came to view herself as a survivor rather than a victim. Throughout the book, her first-person account celebrates the love and empathy that can persist even in the most inhumane conditions.
“Irene’s message about the role one voice can play on the world is more relevant than ever,” says Can of Worms publisher, Tobias Steed, “we are particularly delighted with the acquisition of Irene’s memoir, her words send a poignant message against hate at a time when anti-Semitic, fascist and xenophobic movements around the globe are experiencing a resurgence. Irene, through her book, reminds us of the impact one person can have in choosing to follow the mantra, ‘never a bystander’ — a phrase she adopted only 33 years ago, after her own voice was silenced by her cousins in the years after the Holocaust. Now, Irene Hasenberg Butter is a well-known inspirational speaker on her experiences during World War II. We are indebted to agent Mary Bisbee-Beek for bringing Irene’s story to our attention.”