Behind the Red Curtain

We had a father, a mother, and in the blink of an eye, we lost them…. From the root, let a branch remain. Let their memory live forever…. (Ifa Demon)

As I looked at the postcard with a view of my native town, I recognized the exact place where I had been standing late at night, sixty years earlier, sobbing violently in fear and despair because I had nowhere to go.

Maya Rakitova’s family has already faced innumerable obstacles and hardships together, having lived through the Communist Party purges that culminated in the disappearance of Maya’s father. But when the Nazis occupy their hometown of Vinnitsa, Ukraine, in 1941, new and terrifying threats surround them. Nine-year-old Maya quickly learns to hide her Jewish identity as her mother, with “uncommon courage,” fights to protect her, relying on the kindness of friends and strangers. A story of survival and victory over the dual terrors of the Stalinist and Nazi regimes, Behind the Red Curtain is Maya’s testament to her mother’s love and strong will.