Gary W. Toyn

What happens when readers encounter history they were never taught—and can’t look away from? An exploration of memory, silence, and what painful history asks of us once we know it . Many important stories from World War II never made it into our textbooks. One account is of the Ponary Massacre in the Baltic country of Lithuania. Here, over 100,000 people— 72,000 of them Jews—were murdered in what has come to be known as the Holocaust by Bullets. But what makes the Baltic Holo

Orange spray-painted swastika on a Utah bike trail, documented to report to city authorities I was enjoying a gorgeous autumn afternoon bike ride on a paved trail near Layton, Utah. The air was clear, the mountains stood sharp and tall, dusted in snow. For a couple of hours, I couldn't imagine a better escape from the world. Then I rolled up to this: a large, bright orange swastika spray-painted across the middle of the trail. It stopped me in my tracks. I stood there staring

From historical atrocity to modern-day antisemitism, the terrifying parallels between 1941 and 2025 For the last three years, I’ve been researching and writing my next historical novel that focuses on the Holocaust’s earliest, yet most overlooked events. Unlike those who live in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, most of the English-speaking world know next to nothing about it, and are unaware of its significance. I'm talking about the " Holocaust by bullets , " where where

Former historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Elder Marlin K. Jensen once spoke about “ Witness Trees ” located in "the Sacred Grove," a significant historical/religious site for the Church near Palmyra, New York. I was greatly intrigued by this idea. First off because Elder Jensen was a significant role model in my life. As a young man, he led my congregation as the "Bishop" and was also the leader of my youth group. But more important, I had never co