As a young Jewish child living in the small shtetl of Eishyshok in Poland, Yaffa Eliach was rooted in family, community, and history. Yaffa loved helping her Grandma Alte, a photographer, who took portraits of the people of Eishyshok that they would send off to relatives around the world. When Yaffa was six, the Nazis marched into Eishyshok. Yaffa’s family escaped; most of the town’s 3,500 Jewish citizens were killed. Yaffa and her family survived the war in hiding, moving from place to place. After the war, she came to the United States and became a historian. Years later, President Jimmy Carter invited her to help create a Holocaust memorial for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Yaffa embarked on a 17-year global journey to collect photographs of her fellow Jewish citizens of Eishyshok. The resulting “Tower of Life” exhibit celebrates the lives and people of her village: “A world filled with love, laughter, and light.” This remarkable account is a superb testament to its subject, acknowledging dark times and awful truths but focusing on light and life. Spirited, sometimes appropriately moody ink, watercolor, and digital collage illustrations perfectly match the story’s shifting tenor throughout.    (Ages 7-10)

A moving biography of the woman who created The Tower of Faces, a powerful exhibit at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.

Sydney Taylor Book Award (Gold Medal)

A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book

★ "...There are many picture books about the Holocaust, but this one stands out with Gal's beautiful watercolor pictures and the true account of one woman's goal that her community never be forgotten. A beautiful tribute....Highly recommended." - School Library Journal, starred review

★ "A stunning tale . . . . bursting with detail and life. . . . A magnificent and moving tribute to a loving community and an extraordinary woman." - Booklist, starred review

★ "A powerful tribute....Moving." - Publisher's Weekly, starred review

★ "An affirming tribute to a Jewish past that was lost in the Holocaust as well as to one survivor's work." - The Horn Book, starred review

" ...A loving testament to light and hope and the vision of a remarkable woman." - Kirkus Reviews

"...the book's message is consistently optimistic... Stiefel paints a truthful portrait appropriate for those just beginning to learn about the Holocaust....Gal's artwork...is dramatic and accessible...a book that ensures [Eliach and her town] will not be forgotten." - Jewish Book Council

There once was a girl named Yaffa. She loved her family, her home, and her beautiful Polish town that brimmed with light and laughter. She also loved helping her Grandma Alte in her photography studio. There, shopkeepers, brides, babies, and bar mitzvah boys posed while Grandma Alte captured their most joyous moments on film. And before the Jewish New Year, they sent their precious photographs to relatives overseas with wishes for good health and happiness.

But one dark day, Nazi soldiers invaded the town. Nearly 3,500 Jewish souls - including family, friends, and neighbors of Yaffa - were erased.

This is the stunning true story of how Yaffa made it her life's mission to recover thousands of her town's photographs from around the world. Using these photos, she built her amazing TOWER OF FACES, a permanent exhibit in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, to restore the soaring spirit of Eishyshok.