Mildred Schindler Janzen, 95, is visiting Beloit High School on Wednesday, Oct. 2 to meet with the sophomore literature and composition class and other students and community members doing a study over Janzen’s 2020 book Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin: One Woman’s Remarkable Escape from Nazi Germany with Mrs. Stacy Behrends. Janzen was a teen living in 1945 Nazi Germany before emigrating to the United States in 1947. She now resides in Ellsworth, Kan. 

Behrends was inspired to reach out to Janzen after Mrs. Tammy Channell mentioned that her dad had attended one of Janzen’s speeches. Behrends found Janzen and her daughter’s numbers online and spoke to both of them before planning the book study event. 

In total, about 22 people are participating, and Behrends is still accepting sign-ups. If you would like to join, you need to let Behrends know, purchase or borrow your own copy of the book, and read it on your own before Oct. 2. Behrends has invited some community members through Facebook communication to join her class on Sept. 25 for a discussion over the same book.