HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — Young people heard from a woman Tuesday who wrote a book about her parents' extraordinary experience during World War II. 

Her book is called "Meant to Be." 

Her mom was sent to concentration camps in Europe, and her dad was a prisoner of war in Japan when the U.S. dropped the second atomic bomb.

Roslyn Franken gave the presentation at Springstead Theater on Tuesday. 

"My parents were the ultimate victims of hate," Franken said.

Franken said her mother escaped the gas chambers three times while in concentration camps in Europe, including Auschwitz. She said her father was a Dutch naval recruit and was captured by the Japanese, later surviving after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. 

"As we see the rate of hate rising in the world today, we need to be reminded of stories like this to remind us and remember what this kind of hate and evil and discrimination can lead to if we don't stop it," Franken said. 

But despite what her parents went through, she said they went on to live a happy life. 

"My parents were the most positive people you could have possibly met. You think how could that be after all they suffered," Franken asked. "That gives people hope that you can go through terrible things in life, but you can still move on and find joy in the aftermath," she added. 

That mentality is something Franken had to embody herself while battling cancer at the age of 29. 

She hopes the students will learn from her parents' story and be inspired themselves. 

"The kids today, they're our future, so they need to know, they need to hear stories like this. They need to know the truth. They need to know what they can do to make life better for them so when they grow up, they live in a better world," she said. 

Franken said there are plans to make her book into a movie.