Author to Discuss Book On Couple Who Saved Jews During Holocaust

The following press release was submitted by the village of Grayslake: 

On Saturday, May 3 at 2 p.m. author Marty Brounstein will discuss his book, Two Among the Righteous Few: A Story of Courage in the Holocaust at the Grayslake Heritage Center & Museum, 164 Hawley Street. Brounstein will share the story of Frans and Mien Wijnakker, who saved the lives of at least two dozen Jews during World War II and the Holocaust. This true and remarkable story has a personal connection to the author, which he reveals during the program. 

Since 1991 Marty has led the consulting firm, The Practical Solutions Group, serving a wide variety of clients across many industries on issues of leadership and organizational effectiveness. Through this work, he has written seven books, from contributing author to solo author, including Communicating Effectively For Dummies and Coaching and Mentoring For Dummies.  

But his eighth book is quite different and special. It has put Marty in the interfaith business, as he has a story of a Christian couple, Frans and Mien Wijnakker, who saved the lives of at least two dozen Jews in the Netherlands during World War II and the Holocaust. This book takes Marty back to his early career as an educator, when he taught history including the Holocaust.  

Marty has been on quite an unexpected journey of sharing this special story with audiences. Since he started in the fall of 2011, two-and-a-half years into this journey, he has completed 235 events and counting. The engagements have been in such places as churches, synagogues, community centers, Hadassah groups, people’s homes, Rotary Clubs, bookstores, schools, universities, libraries, book clubs, a Holocaust museum, professional conferences, and workplaces. In fact, he has been a speaker for Holocaust Remembrance Day events, such as in April 2013 at the renowned Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. He’ll be such a keynote speaker again in the Chicago area in spring 2014.  

His talks have occurred throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and other cities as well, including Phoenix, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Los Angeles. In baseball lingo, Marty is batting .1000 in terms of positive audience response. So the journey to share this special story continues. 

The museum is located at 164 Hawley Street in the heart of downtown Grayslake. For more information, contact Dave Oberg, Executive Director at 847-543-1745 or doberg@villageofgrayslake.com. For more information about the Grayslake Historical Society, call 847-223-7663 or email ChaRenehan@aol.com.  ###