Eighteen for Life

"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.