Irma's Passport: One Woman, Two World Wars, and a Legacy of Courage
Catherine Ehrlich
(Author)
Description
Golden-haired Irma grew up in Imperial Austria believing that wars and prejudice were fading-only to have her life upended and her identity challenged to the core by two world wars. History confronts Irma time and again. Arch-Nazi Adolf Eichmann plays a twisted role in the fate of her prominent Jewish politician husband, Jakob Ehrlich, and her own escape from Vienna. After arriving with her son first in London and then in New York, Irma encounters a dazzling world of power elites, including Chaim Weizmann (the first president of Israel), British parliamentarians, and other renowned figures, and ultimately gets a chance to bring relief to refugees-an effort to which she devotes herself wholeheartedly. Narrated alternately by Irma's granddaughter, Catherine, and Irma herself, this account of Irma's journey from Czech country girl to grande dame in New York is a riveting, intimate tale of aspiration, activism, and world-changing national movements. Part personal memoir, part historical drama, Irma's Passport is ultimately a tribute to human dignity, a story in which one woman can restore the lives of many and courage is a victory in itself.Product Details
Price
$16.95
$15.76
Publisher
She Writes Press
Publish Date
October 12, 2021
Pages
248
Dimensions
5.5 X 8.4 X 0.8 inches | 0.65 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781647423056
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
About the Author
Catherine Ehrlich is a nonfiction writer. Trained as an Asian linguist (University of Michigan) and diplomat (Johns Hopkins SAIS), she has been a trade representative, interpreter, public relations executive, and marketing consultant in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan as well as New York, Washington DC, and Seattle. She served as a fundraiser for the Audubon Society of Portland and is a director of the Arts Mandalay Foundation. She and her husband, John, take inspiration from nature out of home bases in Oregon and California. Irma's Passport is the culmination of six years of research and writing focused on the true story behind her grandmother's testimonial memoirs. She splits her time between Portland, OR and Mill Valley, CA.
Reviews
"Gripping, poignant, and inspiring, this true tale illustrates how pride can help to power through suffering and create meaning. Author Catherine Ehrlich, drawing heavily on vivid memoirs written by her grandmother, has added depth of research, beauty of language, and a haunting present-day perspective to the life of an extraordinary woman of Vienna during wartime and beyond."
--Dori Jones Yang, author of When the Red Gates Opened "Working with her grandmother's journals, Catherine Ehrlich chronicles the indomitable Irma Ehrlich's war years journey from a small town in Bohemia through Prague, Vienna, London and, finally, New York. But this is far more than a Holocaust story. Her granddaughter has given us historically significant testimony wrapped in a family tale, and an inspiring and satisfying story of a life of service."
--Scott D. Seligman, author of The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902 "Irma's Passport is at once a multi-layered personal journey, chronicle of a momentous time, and story of human triumph over state-sponsored evil. The book is both historical and immediate, as the author uses her grandmother's journal entries as the fulcrum on which to rest the book. At one point Vera Weizmann, wife of diplomat Chaim Weizmann, says, 'You have a gift to make one feel what you say.' Irma also has a gift to make us feel what she has written, and we are the richer for it."
--Barry J. Schumacher, international affairs strategist
--Dori Jones Yang, author of When the Red Gates Opened "Working with her grandmother's journals, Catherine Ehrlich chronicles the indomitable Irma Ehrlich's war years journey from a small town in Bohemia through Prague, Vienna, London and, finally, New York. But this is far more than a Holocaust story. Her granddaughter has given us historically significant testimony wrapped in a family tale, and an inspiring and satisfying story of a life of service."
--Scott D. Seligman, author of The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902 "Irma's Passport is at once a multi-layered personal journey, chronicle of a momentous time, and story of human triumph over state-sponsored evil. The book is both historical and immediate, as the author uses her grandmother's journal entries as the fulcrum on which to rest the book. At one point Vera Weizmann, wife of diplomat Chaim Weizmann, says, 'You have a gift to make one feel what you say.' Irma also has a gift to make us feel what she has written, and we are the richer for it."
--Barry J. Schumacher, international affairs strategist
