When war broke out, in 1939, she was already achieving her first successes, As a harpist she had been heard at the Salle Erard. Her stories were appearing on the children's page of 'Le Figaro' and broadcast on Radiodiffusion Francaise, her 'Twenty Jataka Tales' being brought out by a London publisher; she was just founding a children's newspaper. Later she was betrayed to the Sicherheitsdienst and as a prisoner of importance was held at their HQ on the Avenue Foch. After a daring attempt to escape, via the roof, she refused to give parole and was sent to Germany, where she was kept for most of the time in chains, before being shot at Dachau. She was posthumously awarded the George Cross and the Crois de Guerre.

    The barbarity of the Nazis is well documented. Less well known are the events that preceeded Hitler's rise to power. Rob Sewell gives a picture of the tumultous events - the 1918 revolution, the collapse of the Kaiser's regime, the short- lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, the Kapp putsch in 1920, the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 and the ensuing revolutionary upheavals culminating in the abortive Hamburg uprising, finally Hitler's rise to power in 1929-33. Above all this book shows, in the decisive (and tragic) role of the German workers' leadership, the answer to one of the key questions of the modern era: how was it possible for the mightiest labour movement in Europe to be trampled under the iron heel of fascism?

    But her diary, kept from 1900 to her death in 1945, and her brief essays and letters express, as well as explain, much of the spirit, wisdom, and internal struggle which was eventually transmuted into her art.

    Only in the waning days of World War II, did he begin to learn of the terror and cruelty that would come to characterize the Nazi reign. And only after years of soul-searching would he begin to accept the role that he had played. This complelling story complements and expands on Heck's autobiography, A Child of Hitler, in which he describes his childhood and life as a member and high-ranking leder of the Hitler Youth. The final chapters of the book introduce us to Heck's relationship with Helen Waterford, author of Commitment to the Dead and a survivor of the Aushwitz death camp. These two met in 1980 and formed a truly unique partnership. Heck and Waterford gave presentations side-by-side to audiences at more than 300 colleges and universities. The final chapter repeats many of the questions audiences would ask and Heck's answers. His openness provides much insight into the how's and why's of the Holocaust.

    But this was not his destiny. This resilient, emotive eleven-year-old boy grew up far too quickly as the Nazis marched through Poland on their mission to exploit and exterminate the Jewish people. His entire world was literally destroyed, piece-by-piece. Evicted from his home and separated from his family, he was forced to live in ghettos and concentration camps for more than five years. He witnessed the atrocities and failures that shattered nations and devastated generations. Jacob struggled, adapted and learned to survive while facing horrifying circumstances, losing everything except his own humanity. Written decades after his liberation and immigration to a new world, this harrowing, breathtaking, insightful and emotional story follows a young man's journey through innocence, desperation, regret and hope.