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On March 15, 1939, Helen Waldstein's father snatched his stamped exit visa from a distracted clerk to escape from Prague with his wife and child. As the Nazis closed in on a war-torn Czechoslovakia, only letters from their extended family could reach Canada through the barriers of conflict. The Waldstein family received these letters as they made their lives on a southern Ontario farm, where they learned to be Canadian and forget their Jewish roots.
When Helen read these letters as an adult, everything changed. As her past refused to keep silent, Helen followed the trail of the letters back to Europe, where she discovered living witnesses who could attest to the letters' contents. She has here interwoven their stories and her own into a compelling narrative of suffering, survivor guilt, and overcoming intergenerational obstacles when exploring a traumatic past.
Foreword vii
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Map xvii
Family Tree xix
Opening the Box l
Leaving Home 19
Letters to Antwerp 27
Starting Over 45
Letters to Canada 65
Searching In Europe: 1997-1998 79
My Aunts and Uncles 107
My Grandparents 121
War Breaks Out 137
The Family Copes 157
The Letters Stop 173
Imagining 187
After the War 195
Finding Home 229
Searching for Family Again 235
Searching for Family One Last Time 257
Epilogue 265
Endnotes 277
Selected Bibliography 279
Overview
On March 15, 1939, Helen Waldstein's father snatched his stamped exit visa from a distracted clerk to escape from Prague with his wife and child. As the Nazis closed in on a war-torn Czechoslovakia, only letters from their extended family could reach Canada through the barriers of conflict. The Waldstein family received these letters as they made their lives on a southern Ontario farm, where they learned to be Canadian and forget their Jewish roots.
When Helen read these letters...