Letters from the Lost

A Memoir of Discovery
On March 15, 1939, the author's father snatched the last exit visa from a distracted clerk to get his wife and child out of Prague. This work offers a narrative of suffering and rescue, survivor guilt, and overcoming obstacles to intergenerational dialogue about a traumatic past.
On March 15, 1939, Helen Waldstein's father snatched his stampedexit visa from a distracted clerk to escape from Prague with his wifeand child. As the Nazis closed in on a war-torn Czechoslovakia, onlyletters from their extended family could reach Canada through thebarriers of conflict. The Waldstein family received these letters asthey made their lives on a southern Ontario farm, where they learned tobe Canadian and forget their Jewish roots.

Helen Waldstein read these letters as an adult – this changedeverything. As her past refused to keep silent, Helen followed thetrail of the letters back to Europe, where she discovered livingwitnesses who could attest to the letters' contents. She has hereinterwoven their stories and her own into a compelling narrative ofsuffering, survivor guilt, and overcoming intergenerational obstacleswhen exploring a traumatic past.