Description
Book SynopsisOn March 15, 1939, Helen Waldstein’s father snatched his stampedexit visa from a distracted clerk to escape from Prague with his wifeand child. As the Nazis closed in on a war-torn Czechoslovakia, onlyletters from their extended family could reach Canada through thebarriers of conflict. The Waldstein family received these letters asthey made their lives on a southern Ontario farm, where they learned tobe Canadian and forget their Jewish roots.
Helen Waldstein read these letters as an adult – this changedeverything. As her past refused to keep silent, Helen followed thetrail of the letters back to Europe, where she discovered livingwitnesses who could attest to the letters’ contents. She has hereinterwoven their stories and her own into a compelling narrative ofsuffering, survivor guilt, and overcoming intergenerational obstacleswhen exploring a traumatic past.
Table of ContentsForeword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Map
Family Tree
Opening the Box
Leaving Home
Letters to Antwerp
Starting Over
Letters to Canada
Searching In Europe: 1997–1998
My Aunts and Uncles
My Grandparents
War Breaks Out
The Family Copes
The Letters Stop
Imagining
After the War
Finding Home
Searching for Family Again
Searching for Family One Last Time
Epilogue
Endnotes
Selected Bibliography
