My young Czech friend, Judita Matyasova, is an outstanding writer, with a book about Kafka on her resume along with many feature articles in newspapers and magazines. During her research for a story, she came across a surprising -- and untold -- event from World War II: the rescue of 150 Czech children from the Nazis. Taken to Denmark, the children were later dispersed throughout Sweden. After the war, they settled in various countries around the world, losing touch with one another.
Judita calls the tragedy of these kids' departure "Czech Sophie's Choice" because their parents could choose only one child for rescue. In most instances, mother, father, and the remaining children were murdered by the Germans. For Judita, finding these surviving "children" (most in their eighties or nineties today) and writing their stories has become an obsession. She has visited them in several European countries, and later this month will travel to Israel.
She has been unable to find financial support for this quest, and thus has financed all her travels and research with her own money -- not plentiful for a young writer. Unless those of us who think it's important to keep the Holocaust history lesson alive help, the story will die because Judita is out of money and the survivors will not be on this earth much longer. I am hoping that you'll join me in writing a check -- no matter how small -- to assist Judita in her quest. When the book about these children is written, all of us will be able to take pride in having helped to memorialize this important piece of history. There's no tax deduction for these contribution -- only satisfaction.
Please read Judita's own description of her work by clicking on the link below, and send a check made out to "Czechs Abroad," and send it to:
Czechs Abroad
c/o Judita Matyasova
Korunni 79
130 00 Prague 3
Czech Republic
www.czechsophieschoice.com
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