Faris Cassell

In 1939, as the Nazi closed in, Alfred Berger mailed a desperate letter to an American stranger who happened to share his last name. He and his wife, Viennese Jews, had found escape routes for their daughters. But now their money, connections, and emotional energy were nearly exhausted. Alfred begged the American recipient of the letter, “You are surely informed about the situation of all Jews in Central Europe . . . . By pure chance I got your address . . . . My daughter and her husband will go . . . to America . . . help us to follow our children . . . . It’s our last and only hope . . . .” After languishing in a California attic for decades, Alfred’s letter ended up in the hands of Faris Cassell, a journalist who couldn’t rest until she discovered who couldn’t rest until she discovered the ending of the story. Traveling across the United States as well as to Austria, the Czech Republic, Belarus, and Israel, she uncovered an extraordinary story of heart-wrenching loss and unforgettable love that endures to this day. Did the Bergers’ desperate letter find a response? Did they—and their daughters—survive? Did they leave living descendants? You will find the answers here. A story that will move any reader, The Unanswered Letter is a poignant reminder that love and hope never dies.

One Holocaust Family's Desperate Plea for Help

The Unanswered Letter

A Holocaust Survival Story

Inseparable

See the Holocaust through the Eyes of Children. Stefan and Marion Hess's happy childhood was shattered in 1943. Torn from their home in Amsterdam, the six-year-old twins and their parents were deported to a place their mother called "this dying hell"—the infamous concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. Inseparable is the vivid account of one family's struggle to survive the Holocaust. In the camp, the children ran from SS soldiers, making it a game to see who could get closest to the guard towers before being warned they would be shot. Stefan and Marion witnessed their father beaten beyond recognition, dodged strafing warplanes, and somehow survived in a place where "the children were looking for bread between the corpses." Above all, this is the unforgettable story of a young mother and father who were willing to sacrifice everything for their children. From the Hesses' prosperous pre-war life in Germany to their desperate ride in a bulletstrafed boxcar through the rubble of the collapsing Third Reich, Faris Cassell weaves Stefan and Marion’s personal memories and historical details into a gripping narration of their family’s heroic fight for their lives. As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the Hess twins' account of their childhood ordeal forces the reader to grapple with pure evil. And more important, it is an opportunity to offer the most meaningful of tributes to victims and survivors of the Third Reich—remembrance.

Faris Cassell

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