"I'm a daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I'm very loud and proud on social media, and I write World War II thrillers that center around the Holocaust. So I am fodder for the haters out there," said bestselling Jewish author and North Shore resident Lisa Barr.
She has received hundreds of one-star book reviews, faces some 50 threatening social media comments daily, and even found herself on a blacklist of Jewish authors.
At the same time, Barr is troubled by some who say nothing.
"I am dismayed and disgusted by those authors who have made millions off of books relating to the Holocaust and remained silent," she said.
"The climate has changed," said Fern Schumer Chapman, an award-winning author and speaker.
For the last 20 years, she has spoken at hundreds of Chicagoland schools about her book,
Is It Night or Day?
It details her mother's experience escaping Germany in 1938 as one of 1,200 children rescued by Americans as part of the One Thousand Children project.
"This is not strictly a Holocaust story. This is an American story. It's an immigration story, and it ultimately leads to a large discussion of the historic responsibility of being an upstander," she said.
Now, those speaking engagements are drying up. "In past years, we were getting canceled. I think there's a whole new trend. And the trend is to simply not invite at all," she explained.
But authors are pushing back on the hate and the harm.
"We have to raise awareness for the broader public and let authors know they are not alone," said author Alison Hammer, Co-President and a founder of The Artists Against Antisemitism (AAA), which formed in the weeks after the October 7 attacks.
This fall, the group launched a social media campaign (@theartistsagainstantisemitism) to say: ENOUGH. They're documenting the ongoing actions against Jewish authors, supporting one another, and sharing resources for their colleagues and others in the industry.
For example, in partnership with the Jewish Book Council, AAA created a guide for booksellers to make their stores a safe space.
On Nov. 13, they'll launch their second annual auction to support Project Shema and fund training for artists and college students to learn to respond to antisemitism.
Many of the authors involved in AAA have also contributed their own reflections to the newly released book,
On Being Jewish Now
, edited by author, podcaster, and publisher Zibby Owens. All profits will support The Artists Against Antisemitism.
"I'm like the accidental activist," said Barr, a founder of AAA, a contributor to Owens' book, and on tour with her own book, The Goddess of Warsaw, which highlights the Warsaw ghetto uprising when Jews fought back against the Nazis. "This book gives me a strong platform to talk about what is going on in the Jewish book world and to discuss a time and a place in history that feels eerily relevant right now."
For those who want to help, these authors ask that you read their books, ask your local bookstore and library to stock them, and bring them to your book club.
"We have to stand together," said Barr.
Julie Mangurten Weinberg is a Northbrook-based freelance journalist with 25+ years of experience in broadcast, print, and digital media.
