BECAUSE OF EVA

BECAUSE OF EVA describes Susan's Jewish journey through her own personal heart of darkness, and was inspired by painful gaps in her family's history. Two questions loomed ever since childhood: (1) What happened to her maternal grandfather, who her grandmother left in 1938? (2) Was it true that "no one in our family was lost in the Holocaust because we were all safely here, in America" or was it a myth, wishful thinking, or simply a lie?

BECAUSE OF EVA tells how a seemingly simple search for the mysterious woman who buried Susan's grandfather inspired her to track down family members she'd never met, and fly to Budapest and Ukraine to see where relatives lived and died before and during World War II and the Holocaust.

BECAUSE OF EVA combines World War II and Holocaust history with genealogical research after two generations of divorce and separation caused a major breakdown in family ties.

Here's how it begins:

"Sometimes, when I was very young, I saw the people with blue numbers on their arms in neighborhood stores or walking down the street carrying bundles. But mainly, I remember seeing them on the New York City subways in the late 1940's, especially on sultry days when hot air blasted in through open windows as the trains roared down dark tunnels, and ceiling fans whirred above us but brought little relief from the sweltering heat...."
(c) Susan J. Gordon 2016