A Thousand Kisses: The Letters Of Georg and Frieda Lindemeyer, 1937-1941

The Lindemeyers were an affluent, close-knit family living in Dusseldorf, and among a minority of German Christian families of Jewish origin. After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the Lindemeyers, like all "non-Aryans," began to be discriminated against. Realizing that the climate of the country was increasingly hostile to them, they managed to send their three children to England. As the war began, and the oppression against the Jews intensified, Georg and Frieda tried desperately to move to England themselves. They never succeeded. In 1941, they were sent off to a concentration camp in Minsk where they both died. The letters in this book begin in 1937 when Edith, the first of the children, left home, and end in 1941, on the day George and Frieda were deported to Minsk. They are the letters of any loving parent—full of deep affection, pride, and anxiety. And they are also a testament to the immense courage of the family as they struggled to remain strong, hopeful that they would one day be together again.