D-Day 75th Anniversary Blog Tour


June 3-11, 2019
Welcome to the D-Day 75th Anniversary Blog Tour!
Seven novelists are commemorating the brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Thank you for joining us as we remember their heroism and sacrifice.
Our novels illuminate different aspects of the war—from the landing beaches of Normandy to Nazi-occupied Europe to the US Home Front. Each day, visit with a new author as we share about our stories, our research, and our unique settings. With each blog post, you’ll have the opportunity to win that author’s novel–plus a chance to win a packet of ALL NINE featured novels and a gorgeous signed hardback copy of Everything We Have: D-Day 6.6.44, the new commemorative book from the National World War II Museum!
Giveaway Details
For a chance to win ALL TEN books, please visit each blog, collect the answers to ALL SEVEN questions, and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway on the BLOG TOUR PAGE. The contest opens June 3, 2019 at 1 am PST and closes June 16, 2019 at 11 pm PST. The winner will be announced on Monday, June 17, 2019. *Note* Several of the titles will not be released until later—these will be mailed after the release dates.
To win the prize of ALL TEN books, you must have collected ALL SEVEN answers. The winner must be prepared to send ALL SEVEN answers within 48 hours of notification by email, or a new winner will be selected.
Cathy Gohlke

The Medallion
Two couples’ lives are ravaged by Hitler’s mad war but forever linked through the fate of one little girl.
Inspired by true events of Poland’s darkest days and brightest heroes, The Medallion paints a stunning portrait of war and its aftermath, daring us to believe that when all seems lost, God can make a way forward.
Reminiscent of Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key and Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale.

TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION

Three summers ago a friend sent me a link to a news story—in Lithuania, a WWII escape tunnel had just been discovered by an international team of archeologists using modern technology.  Something about the details of the place rang familiar—as if I’d “been there.”

And then I remembered: Years before, while doing Holocaust research, I’d viewed a powerful documentary, SHOAH, in which Claude Lanzmann, over an eleven year period, had traveled the world to interview surviving Holocaust camp inmates, SS commandants and Jewish, German and Polish eyewitnesses of the “final solution—Nazi efforts to systematically exterminate human beings.”

During the war, as the Russians closed in on occupied Lithuania, Himmler feared the discovery of Nazi wartime atrocities.  He ordered eighty Jewish prisoners to dig up and burn bodies (approximately 70,000 Jewish and 30,000 others mostly from the Jewish community in Vilna) that the SS had shot and dropped into mass graves in the Ponary Forest. The prisoners realized that to eliminate witnesses, they, too, would be murdered once their gruesome labor ended.   Shackled and emaciated, the men contrived to dig, by night, an escape tunnel from their pit of imprisonment to the forest’s edge.  They had only their hands, spoons, and a few electricians’ tools to do the job.

Until new technology (using radar and radio waves to scan the area) in 2016 verified the existence of the tunnel, the story had been relegated to the stuff of myths—an escape tale too fantastic to believe. Nova aired a documentary revealing the scientists’ search and tunnel discovery in 2017.

One of the long ago interviews by Claude Lanzmann included that of Issac Dogim (sometimes spelled Itzhak Dugin) who, in the process of digging up bodies, found those of his family (some sources sited his mother, three sisters and their children.  Some sources sited his wife and sisters). According to the story I read, Dogim identified the partially decomposed bodies of his family by their clothing, and his wife by the medallion she wore around her neck—a medallion he’d given her on their wedding day.

As I reread transcripts containing Dogim’s interview, and began researching details, I asked the Lord to show me the greater purpose of this story—what in this would bring Him glory and what would He teach me through its writing?  What will bless and encourage readers? 

About the same time, my sister and others sent me numerous links to Irena Sendler’s story. Irena was a Polish Catholic social worker who developed a network within Żegota (an underground Polish Council to Aid Jews) to rescue children during WWII.  Despite terrible risks, they smuggled 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto and certain death at the hands of the Nazis, then hid them in Polish homes, convents, churches and hospitals until the end of the war. 

Of the 2500 Jewish children her network helped to save, approximately 2,000 were found after the war.  Though their parents had been murdered (most at Treblinka), many were united with extended family, thanks to matching lists of Jewish and assigned Aryan names) that Irena had kept hidden in a buried jar.  Approximately 400 to 500 children were never found.

Theories abound regarding the whereabouts of those 400 to 500.  I couldn’t help but wonder:  What became of those children?  What became of one? 

And what of those who risked everything to hide those precious children?  If I had bonded, loved and treated a child as my own for several years, believing their parents dead, would I give up that child at war’s end?  Would I lie to keep them? 

Sacrifice, making hard decisions, struggling for the moral high ground and obedience to God are not ideals relegated to wartime.  They are the ongoing stuff of life. The legacies of Irena Sendler and Issac Dogim entwined to form a story in my heart and mind, giving birth to The Medallion.

 
Question to answer for the Rafflecopter Giveaway: What is the name of the forest where the escape tunnel was dug? Remember to write this down as you will need all the clues to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway.
To enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway on the BLOG TOUR PAGE, enter your name and email address (we need these to notify the winner). Then select an author’s name and enter the answer to that author’s question. You only need to enter the Rafflecopter once to be entered in the giveaway, but you can earn up to seven entries by answering all seven questions in the Rafflecopter. But don’t forget…to win, you must have collected ALL SEVEN answers. You can enter the Rafflecopter each day, or you can enter all your answers at once any time before June 16, 2019 at 11 pm PST. US mailing addresses only, please.
RAFFLECOPTER ENTRY ON BLOG TOUR PAGE

Three-time Christy, and two-time Carol and INSPY Award-winning author, Cathy Gohlke, writes novels steeped with inspirational lessons from history. Her stories reveal how people break the chains that bind them and triumph over adversity through faith. When not traveling to historic sites for research, she, her husband, and their dog Reilly, divide their time between Northern Virginia and the Jersey Shore, enjoying time with their grown children and grandchildren. Visit her website at www.cathygohlke.com and find her on Facebook at CathyGohlkeBooks.

Cathy is offering an additional giveaway: To win a signed copy of The Medallion share this post on Facebook and/or sign up for Cathy’s newsletter on her website at cathygohlke.com and leave a comment at the end of this post.

Schedule for the D-Day 75th Anniversary Blog Tour
Be sure to visit each site for a chance to win ALL NINE featured novels, plus the commemorative D-day book!
Note: Links will go live on the post date.
June 3: AMANDA DYKES, author of Whose Waves These Are
June 4: CATHY GOHLKE, author of The Medallion
June 5: LIZ TOLSMA, author of When the Heart Sings
June 6: SARAH SUNDIN, author of the Sunrise at Normandy series: The Sea Before Us, The Sky Above Us, and The Land Beneath Us
June 7: AMANDA BARRATT, author of My Dearest Dietrich
June 10: VALERIE LUESSE, author of Almost Home
June 11: MELANIE DOBSON, author of Memories of Glass

Comments 87

  5. I am nearing the end now of Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale. It’s a powerful book, and I can’t wait to read yours.

    Reply

  6. I shared your post on my Instagram ( Lost_in_a_book_reviewer ) and signed up for your newsletter. Looking forward to reading and reviewing your book!

    Reply

  7. Powerful stories of bravery and faith, thank you for writing this book. This post was shared to my Facebook page, and my timeline, as public. I’m already signed up for your newsletter.

    Reply

  10. Cathy, thank you for this fascinating and moving post! I am so looking forward to reading The Medallion!

    I shared this on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and I am signed up for your newsletter. Thank you for the chance to win a copy of this book!!!

    Reply

  11. Cathy, I shared your post on FB and am signed up for your newsletter. These stories are so powerful, and how you choose to write them ~ so touching. I’ve read about Irena Sendler before. And knowing Itzhak Dugin’s heart-wrenching story will bring extra layers of meaning and pain as I read The Medallion. Thank you for writing it & the opportunity to win a copy.

    Reply

  12. I shared your post to FB & signed up for your Newsletter. I cannot imagine all the atrocities you came across during your research for your book! Thank you for shedding light on these people and this time! The information about the men digging the tunnel is fascinating!

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your encouragement and for helping to spread the word about The Medallion, Lisa. You are absolutely right–the research was brutal for this novel–very difficult emotionally. We are so blessed to live where and when we do. I don’t take those things for granted anymore. God bless!

      Reply

  13. I am reading The Nightingale right now, and love it. Thanks for mentioning that the Medallion is similar — it is now next on my reading list! The info you have in this post is fascinating — I’ve never heard of this tunnel before.

    Reply

    1. Susan, I was so moved by “The Nightingale.” There are so many aspects to the horrors of war, so many stories that have been told and never told. I hope you enjoy The Medallion.

      Reply

  14. Shared on Facebook and signed up for newsletter. Would love to read your new book. I’m reading My Dearest Dietrich now. Blessings

    Reply

    1. Lelia (Lucy), thank you! I just finished reading My Dearest Dietrich by Amanda Barratt. She and her book will be featured on our D-Day Anniversary Tour tomorrow and I’m looking forward to that. It is an amazing book and mostly factual. There are a couple of story threads that are fiction, but the portrayal of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is wonderful. I hope you enjoy Medallion. God bless!

      Reply

  18. I have read your other books and have liked them all. I will definitely read The Medallion. I also signed up to receive your posts.

    Reply

  19. I signed up for your newsletter (I thought I had already done so) and look forward to reading The Medallion. It sounds fantastic!

    Reply

  22. I’ve loved your books Cathy and just ordered your new book. Thanks so much for using your wonderful gift to bless others.

    Reply

  24. Pingback: D-Day 75th Anniversary Blog Tour

  25. Hi Cathy! I have shared this post and signed up for email subscription to your journal. Until today, I have never heard of the Holocaust Tunnel. I am a PBS Passport member and will put the Nova program about it on my watchlist. In the meantime, I hope to win, or purchase your book and read it. Thank you and Be blessed!

    Reply

    1. I know you will find the video fascinating, Dorothy. That gave me a lot of inspiration for my story. I hope you enjoy The Medallion. God bless, and thank you for sharing!

      Reply

  27. I shared this blog post and I’m already signed up to your newsletter. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!

    Reply

  30. I subscribed to your newsletter. Looking forward to reading your books. I am always glad to find new authors to read! Thanks for the chance to win your book, God Bless You!

    Reply

  33. Shared this on FB, I’ve been receiving your newsletter for a long time now. I so enjoy your books.

    Reply

  34. I am looking forward to seeing these documentaries. I am so excited about your new book!

    I shared the post of Facebook and also have already signed up for your newsletter.

    Reply

  37. I subscribed to your newsletter. I enjoy your books and can’t wait to read this one. Thanks for the chance to win.

    Reply

  41. Hi, Cathy, Shared on FB and Twitter and am already signed up for your newsletter. What a great giveaway…thank you for your part in it. I can’t wait to read The Medallion

    Reply

  42. I subscribed to your newsletter. I love historical fiction, especially when based in fact. WWII has always been one of my favorite eras to read about, and all of the books in this giveaway offer such different perspectives. I look forward to reading all of these books. Thank you for offering these giveaways.

    Reply

    2. Thank you, Shelly! We all appreciate your enthusiasm for our books. Yes, they do give different perspectives, so that’s been a joy to work together on this blog tour.

      Reply

  43. Just joined your newsletter crew! I remember hearing about the tunnel discovery on the news…and I am still in awe of it. So many amazing life stories & miracles took place during such a dark war.

    Reply

  45. I subscribed to your newsletter. This is a fascinating and tragic story. As I enjoy genealogy and history, I have been doing more study on WWII over the last few years, as I try to track family members and their service.

    Reply

    1. Yes Becky. There are stories upon stories–so many that will never be known. It’s a privilege to discover them and to learn from so many readers. I’m glad you saw the newscast about the tunnel discovery–fascinating! God bless!

      Reply

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