1. Freedom 12. Gift 3. Gefilte fish 154. Stains 195. Eighteen for life, ten to remember 276. Talking funny 357. The Best 448. Courage 539. Having Babies 7110. Once was a family 8311. Gambling 8912. Don’t tell me what you can’t do 10113. The queue 10814. Another world 11915. Secrets and half truths 12916. Violets and lily of the valley 13917. On the run 15618. A story to be told, again 166Photos 187Acknowledgments 203About the Author 207Amsterdam Publishers Holocaust Library 209Connected family stories of unspeakable loss, cultural dislocation, chutzpah, hope, deception and love.“There are secrets I will take to my grave,” Martha Ash told her daughters. “I don’t want you to think I am a hero,” declared their father Feliks. The past in Poland was to be left behind. Martha and Feliks were determined they would create a future in Melbourne and a loving family environment. It was time to enjoy the good life they could only dare to dream of as they struggled to survive the Holocaust. Helen Schamroth and her sister Eve unraveled fragments of their parents’ harrowing experiences that were endured and overcome with extraordinary courage. Helen’s eighteen connected stories tell of unspeakable loss, cultural dislocation, chutzpah, hope, creativity, deception and love.“There are secrets I will take to my grave,” Martha Ash told her daughters. “I don’t want you to think I am a hero,” declared their father Feliks. The past in Poland was to be left behind. Martha and Feliks were determined they would create a future in Melbourne and a loving family environment. It was time to enjoy the good life they could only dare to dream of as they struggled to survive the Holocaust. Helen Schamroth and her sister Eve unraveled fragments of their parents’ harrowing experiences that were endured and overcome with extraordinary courage. Helen’s eighteen connected stories tell of unspeakable loss, cultural dislocation, chutzpah, hope, creativity, deception and love.