Book Clubs
Gabrielle loves to exchange ideas with book club members
Contact her for book club participation, real or virtual
Api’s Berlin Diaries
“The discussion of this book in my book club was one of the best ever.”
— Amazon Verified Purchase
Api's Berlin Diaries has to be one of the most touching, intriguing, and engaging historical pieces I have ever read.
— Online Bookclub Review
“The discussion was passionate. An excellent read,”
— Amazon Customer
Discussion Questions
What struck you most about the story?
Why is this story of 75 years ago of interest to us today?
Do you know anyone with personal experience of World War II? If so, how has their story affected your attitudes and ideas?
How have your ideas changed by reading this book?
How responsible do you feel for beliefs or actions of your parents, grandparents, and beyond?
Have you ever thought about the influence of the past on your own lives?
How the long shadow of the Nazi past caught up with Robinson and why she wrote the book
We are not responsible for what our ancestors did but we are accountable. How Edward Ball’s Slaves in the Family helped Robinson overcome her reluctance to tell her story
Ordinary citizens in totalitarian regimes. A doctor’s daily life in Berlin 1945. Conditions in medical bunkers
Effects of a steady diet of propaganda and lies
The process of de-Nazification
German guilt and German silence
All our political responsibility. What would I have done?
The power of stories to create empathy
Renewed appreciation of what binds us together, a lesson reinforced by Covid and protests against racism
Why and how to tackle a difficult past
Robinson welcomes your questions and insights on telling your own story.
Better Homes of South Bend
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin, 1963
Discussion Questions
What does the story tell us about the importance of fair housing?
What does it show us about how to work for social change?
What has changed since the 1950’s and what has not?
Your ideas what can be done today?
What is situation where you live?
What makes a group of houses a community?
Jim Crow in the North, then and now. The situation in South Bend
Redlining and housing segregation in the North
What has changed since the 1950’s and what has not?
The importance of home ownership for future generations: the children of Better Homes
A Case for Reparations?
Housing discrimination, then and now
German Settlers of South Bend
Discussion Questions
19th century immigration and immigrants today
the assimilation process
chain migration
hyphenated Americans and their contributions to American society
Why people emigrate then and now
Assimilate or not?