What do you do when you get an email from your rabbi with the subject line, “HELP”? I say, “I’m not sure I can, but I’ll give it a try.” This is how another project started. The congregation I belong to, Shir Shalom in Woodstock, VT, has been gifted the permanent loan of a Holocaust … Continue reading A Sacred Trust
When am I going to write another book? People ask me that a lot. I usually hesitate to answer because the next book just hasn't germinated yet. I know I should write more, but that isn’t the stuff books are made of. I don’t want to write a should. I want to write something that … Continue reading A Book Proposal
My mother tells how Heinz Lichtenstern, her father, escaped a transport to Auschwitz in 1944. Notified that he, along with all men aged 16 to 55 then in Theresienstadt, would be leaving soon, he had said his tearful goodbyes to his family. At the transport, before boarding, Heinz once again showed the family’s Paraguayan passport. … Continue reading Searching for Stories
Dave asked me what I knew about the letter of notarization that accompanied the falsified Paraguayan passport. “Nothing,” I replied, “but I’ll see what I can find out.” I looked again at the letter. The notary’s stamp was clear. I did some internet sleuthing and I found his son, Avner Herzfeld, living part-time in Switzerland … Continue reading A Story of Notarization
We bought lunch at a kiosk before boarding the bus from Zurich to Lucerne along with the passport survivors and their families. Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland, sat next to us and I took the opportunity to show him the documents I had brought with me. He closed his eyes and gave a visible … Continue reading Walking with the President
In a few weeks I am going to a state ceremony honoring Konstanty Rokicki in Lucerne. I will be attending through an invitation from Ambassador Jakub Kumoch, who is the Polish Ambassador to Switzerland. Who is Konstanty Rokicki? And how did I receive an invitation from an ambassador? This is a long story and deserves … Continue reading Passport Update
I have been traveling to Connecticut a lot. I don't mind. All the hubbub around Tutti's Promise gives me an excuse to visit my parents. When people ask me about driving down to Southern New England I say my parents like it when I visit - but the truth is I like the visits too. … Continue reading Vote of Confidence
When I arrived at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on July 19, 2017 I took a minute to wander. I said ‘hello’ to the Holocaust survivor who was sitting at a desk greeting visitors and I noted the sign on the information kiosk which advertised a book signing that afternoon. Then I headed up … Continue reading The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
I received a delightful postcard from Europe yesterday. One of my primary sources is a woman who, like my mother, was also in Westerbork as a child. She had previously written and thanked me for sending her a copy of Tutti's Promise. This time she was writing to tell me what she thought of it. … Continue reading Captured Time
Four years spent researching and writing Tutti's Promise One year spent editing and preparing the book for publication Two minutes to pitch it to the Jewish Book Council Yesterday afternoon I left my house and took a plane to Westchester, NY. It was one of Cape Air’s cozy Cessna 402s with room for nine passengers … Continue reading Five Years in Two Minutes
