Raymund Schutz, Ph.D. in legal history, senior researcher at the city archives of The Hague

A very impressive true story that deserves to be told. This book is a victory in more ways than one. First of all, on the silence that resulted from the trauma suffered by the survivors of the Shoah. But it is certainly also a victory over the extermination ideology of the National Socialists. It was the intention of Hitler and his cronies to wipe Jews, Roma and Sinti and political opponents off the face of the earth and to make their memory disappear forever. This book is proof that this endeavor failed. Bertil Oppenheimer has reconstructed his parents’ story through a tenacious and in-depth research of archives in several countries. The result is a scientifically sound reconstruction of how his parents survived the Nazi persecution. The author rightly expresses concern about current developments in the world. It is hoped that the power of the reasonable word, of reason and of humanity will prevail over extreme currents and the ideology of violence. This book is a plea for humanity and an indictment of extremism. I wish it the many readers it deserves.