Author : Michael Melnick
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 : 0975948512
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (759 download)
Book Synopsis Terror Has No Diary: Annals of a Gay Jew and His Comrads Behind a Holy Wall in Nazi Europe by : Michael Melnick
Download or read book Terror Has No Diary: Annals of a Gay Jew and His Comrads Behind a Holy Wall in Nazi Europe written by Michael Melnick and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the 7000 Jews living in the Baltic seaport of Libau (Liepaja), Latvia when the Germans invaded on June 21, 1941, only 200 remained alive when the city was liberated May 9,1945. Of these, maybe two dozen were hiding within Libau itself. This story is about 12 of them. Eleven adults were in the care of Robert and Johanna Sedols who hid them in a cellar behind a false wall constructed with the "holy bricks" of the demolished Choral Synagogue; the lone child was cared for by a widow, Otilija Schimelpfenig, in the secure comfort of her home. For their courage and moral stature, the Sedols and Mrs. Schimelpfenig are memorialized as "Righteous Among the Nations" at Yad Vashem. How these 12 Jews arrived at their hiding places, and how they endured until liberation, is a remarkable story, one of miracles. Inscrutable miracles, cast naked upon the ruins by men and women of courage and cunning, not saints.