Former Daingerfield resident returns to promote new book on Holocaust

World War II stories are becoming harder and harder to come by. One former Daingerfield resident has made sure her mother’s and uncle’s stories are around for years to come. Brenda Hancock, a former Daingerfield High School Teacher, was recently in Daingerfield promoting her book based on their stories, Talent, Luck, Courage.

In 1968, Bruce and Nicky Holland moved to Daingerfield and purchased what became known as the Holland’s Hill House Café. Their daughter, Brenda, was at school when the Hollands made the decision to move from Irving to Daingerfield. The Holland Hill House Café, located beside Daingerfield’s motel became a favorite place for many in the area to eat, including Daingerfield's state championship winning football team from 1968.

Brenda’s mother, Nicky, was a young Jewish woman who had immigrated to Paris, France. Once the Nazis invaded France, and more specifically Paris, her life changed drastically. As a Jewish indeterminee or a person with no nationality, Nicole was included on the list of the first round-ups of Jews. Barely missing arrest, she escaped to unoccupied France and took on a new, non-Jewish identity. Nicole managed to find work and friends and along the way became a member of the French Underground in order to do whatever she could to rid France of the Nazi invaders. When the Germans began retreating, she even joined the Underground fighters she had supplied with messages and arms as the only woman fighting with them as liberators. Upon her return to Paris, she joined the CAVF, an organization of the former French Underground. Through this job, she searched for lost family members and a way to build a future without hatred, fear, and the devastation of war. Her story was shared in Hancock’s first book, One of the Lucky Ones.

Nicky’s brother, Robert Clary, was not lucky enough to escape arrest. He spent 13 months in four different Nazi Concentration Camps. Robert was also a part of the Gross-Rosen Death March which included 4,000 men. Only 2,000 men survived the march that lasted from Jan. 21, 1945 until Feb. 4, 1945. Robert was one of those. He was rescued by Patton’s Army from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945. After his rescue, Robert became an actor and star on “Hogan’s Heroes.” He then decided to share his story through his autobiography, From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes.

Talent, Luck, Courage intertwines the two stories, while intermingling Hancock’s story as a second generation Holocaust survivor. According to Hancock, “Their survival took great courage and luck combined with a dash of talent in order to survive. Their greatest legacy, however, is not only learned by reading or hearing of their wartime experiences, but also by understanding how they refused to let their experiences keep them from living full, satisfying lives. In addition to enjoying life after the war, they both used their survival to help others make the most of their lives. Talent, Luck, Courage highlights their stories and explains how these two courageous individuals influenced my sister and me, the second generation of Holocaust survivors, to seek adventures of our own.”

A limited number of Hancock’s Talent, Luck, Courage are available at the Daingerfield Public Library. The book can also be purchased on Amazon, as well as Clary’s autobiography, From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes. Hancock’s first book, One of the Lucky Ones, is currently out of print.