We Share the Same Sky

In 2009, Rachael Cerrotti, a college student pursuing a career in photojournalism, asked her grandmother, Hana, if she could record her story. Rachael knew that her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and the only one in her family alive at the end of the war. Rachael also knew that she survived because of the kindness of strangers. It wasn’t a secret. Hana spoke about her history publicly and regularly. But, Rachael wanted to document it as only a granddaughter could. So, that’s what they did: Hana talked and Rachael wrote.

Upon Hana’s passing in 2010, Rachael discovered an incredible archive of her life. There were preserved albums and hundreds of photographs dating back to the 1920s. There were letters waiting to be translated, journals, diaries, deportation and immigration papers as well as creative writings from various stages of Hana’s life.

Rachael digitized and organized it all, plucking it from the past and placing it into her present. Then, she began retracing her grandmother’s story, following her through Central Europe, Scandinavia, and across the United States. She tracked down the descendants of those who helped save her grandmother’s life during the war. Rachael went in pursuit of her grandmother’s memory to explore how the retelling of family stories becomes the history itself.

We Share the Same Sky weaves together the stories of these two young women—Hana as a refugee who remains one step ahead of the Nazis at every turn, and Rachael, whose insatiable curiosity to touch the past guides her into the lives of countless strangers, bringing her love and tragic loss. Throughout the course of her twenties, Hana’s history becomes a guidebook for Rachael in how to live a life empowered by grief.

This recommended reading and discussion guide was shared by Racheal Cerrotti and sponsored in partnership with Blackstone Publishing.

Book club questions for We Share the Same Sky by Rachael Cerrotti

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

Rachael’s life has been deeply affected by her grandmother’s stories and the journey that she took as a result. How have memories in your own family passed from one generation to the next? In what ways have those stories shaped or influenced how you relate to the world and the choices you make?

Rachael believes that sharing the darkness of her grandmother’s story, as well as her own experiences with loss, makes the light of humanity in these stories shine brighter. What do you think she means by this? In what ways do you agree or disagree?

Rachael and her grandmother, while under very different circumstances, both developed deep and life-altering relationships across cultures, faiths, geography, and other divides. What is the value of such relationships to expanding our sense of self and our understanding of the world?

Hana writes that it is best not to think about our vulnerability and to “pretend we are wearing a soft tailor-made suit of armor” that cannot be pierced. How do you think traits like this, which helped Hana and other victims of trauma survive their experiences, can also pose a challenge when seeking to rebuild one’s life?

Rachael writes about the significance in her life of continuing to speak to those who are no longer here. What do you think she means by this? Have you had this experience in your own life with someone you lost? (Writing prompt: write a letter to someone who has passed away. What do you want to share with them about your life and the world as you perceive it today?)

Rachael shares that Hana was saved by the kindness of strangers. What examples of this kind of altruism and care have you seen in the world today?

In chapter 13, Rachael writes, “Current events felt strange and cyclical, as though a new thread were being spun into the web of family stories I was retelling.” What does she mean by this? How, if at all, do you see threads of the past in your present?

In chapter 16, what does Rabbi Melchior mean when he says, “We can hear—most of us can hear—but only within a certain limit of tones. If they are too high or too deep, the ear doesn’t work. You can see up to a certain distance and then no longer. Our senses are limited, so why should our understanding or our knowledge not be limited?”

The theme of home is present for both Hana and Rachael throughout the book. How is the concept of home experienced as both a physical space and an emotional one?

In her eulogy, Hana writes that “Life is a lottery. I never bought a lottery ticket. As far as I am concerned, I won the biggest and most important ticket: LIFE…” How does Hana’s experience as a Holocaust survivor contribute to her appreciation of life? Do you see this thought as one that conflicts with her survivor’s guilt?

We Share the Same Sky Book Club Questions PDF

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