First published 2007
Rummaging through his parents' attic, Richard Hollander uncovers a trove of letters from his father's family in Krakow, Poland. As the Nazis tighten their grip, the family's desperate pleas for help reveal their harrowing day-to-day struggle to survive. At the same time, Richard's father Joseph fights a legal battle to avoid deportation and certain death. Torn between his family's plight and his own fight for life, Joseph must confront impossible choices in this gripping true story of wartime tragedy and personal sacrifice.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, world-war-ii, non-fiction, biography-memoir, jewish
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, personal-sacrifice
Setting: Krakow, Poland
Period: World War II
285 pages · Hardcover · Cambridge University Press
Content warnings: death, war