Eternal Strangers

It's hard to imagine suddenly losing home, country, and civil liberties simply because of your religion. Ursula Bacon teaches in such a heartfelt way how not to succumb to being a victim of circumstances. This book is a prequel to her wonderful world War II memoir "Shanghai Diary" and it answers many questions about the conditions in Germany under Nazi occupation. In today's tough times, the wisdom in these pages is still relevant: Don't let the bullies get you down. Act with honor and courage. It's a story I could read over and over.

After having read Shanghai Diary, I was waiting with great anticipation for Ursula Bacon's next book "Eternal Strangers." It did not disappoint. When I read a book in one and a half days, I consider it an excellent read and that's exactly how long it took me to read this book. It takes place before the years Ursula spent in a Shanghai ghetto as a young girl with her family escaping the horrors of Hitler's Nazi machine. It focused on the early years of her parents and extended family living in a beautiful, idyllic area of Germany where life was good until the unthinkable happened; leaving everything you possessed except for a small suitcase of clothing for the sole purpose of survival. Possessions became meaningless in their flight from evil. When I finished the book, I became immobilized for awhile in the solitude of my room contemplating today's current situation in the Middle East. Could a holocaust happen again? If you are interested in this period of history, this book takes you right there. You feel the strain of a family maintaining a normal life but at the same time fearing the daily anxiety of being hauled off by the Gestapo. I highly recommend this book to be reminded of the horrors of evil. We must not forget!