September 1, 2019
“You are surely informed about the situation of all Jews in Central Europe…help us to follow our children.… It is our last and only hope.“
That was the desperate plea of Alfred Berger, mailed in a letter to an American stranger who happened to share his last name. Fifty years later, after languishing in a trunk in a California attic, the letter improbably found itself in the hands of journalist Faris Cassell, who wouldn’t rest until she had discovered the ending to the story. In 1939, as the Nazis ratcheted up their persecution of the Jews in Vienna, Alfred and his wife Hedwig had exhausted their money, connections, and emotional energy to find escape routes for their two daughters. Now they were desperately trying to join them. Cassell’s research took her across the United States, Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, and Israel, uncovering an extraordinary story of heart-wrenching loss and enduring love that will move any reader. Was Alfred and Hedwig’s desperate plea answered? Did they and their daughters survive? Readers will find the answers here.
That was the desperate plea of Alfred Berger, mailed in a letter to an American stranger who happened to share his last name. Fifty years later, after languishing in a trunk in a California attic, the letter improbably found itself in the hands of journalist Faris Cassell, who wouldn’t rest until she had discovered the ending to the story. In 1939, as the Nazis ratcheted up their persecution of the Jews in Vienna, Alfred and his wife Hedwig had exhausted their money, connections, and emotional energy to find escape routes for their two daughters. Now they were desperately trying to join them. Cassell’s research took her across the United States, Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, and Israel, uncovering an extraordinary story of heart-wrenching loss and enduring love that will move any reader. Was Alfred and Hedwig’s desperate plea answered? Did they and their daughters survive? Readers will find the answers here.