Lecture
Clandestine letters into a Nazi prison

Presented by the Jewish Public Library

Tue, 10/27/2020
7:30 PM Online

JEWISH BOOK MONTH 2020 on Zoom

"Clandestine Letters into a Nazi Prison"
with Helmuth von Moltke

It is September 1944 in Berlin. The Allies are bombing the city on a daily basis. Helmuth von Moltke is in prison awaiting trial and presumably execution for his opposition to the dictatorship. The Nazis are unaware that the prison chaplain is smuggling letters between Helmuth and his wife Freya. The two write almost daily sharing their fears, emotions and experiences until January 1945 brings the trial before the hanging judge, a death sentence and execution. The letters are kept private until Freya’s death in 2010 and are now available in English.

Letters read by Helmuth Von Moltke, Trudis Goldsmith-Reber and Michael Crelinsten.

Born in Germany before WWII, Helmuth von Moltke was displaced by the war and educated in South Africa and at Oxford University. He worked in management positions in Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, United States and Canada. He has been active since the 1990s in supporting the Kreisau Foundation for European Reconciliation located on the former family estate in Krzyzowa, Poland.

Introduced by Trudis Goldsmith-Reber, English Programming Committee co-chair.