The author's parents were the first of this extended family to escape Vienna before the holocaust. They settled in Chicago where they then helped others escape by providing documents and refuge. They saved letters from cousins and friends and the author's grandparents who got as far as Shanghai on their way to the United States before World War II began in the Pacific. After Pearl Harbor there was little mail for the duration of the war. When the war ended in 1945, Her grandmother wrote regularly and the story was finally revealed from both sides of the ocean. The letters were found in 2007. They have been translated and extensively annotated. Also included are brief memoirs of the escape of other family members and a few treasured recipes.