Irma's Passport

In this gripping family tale, Catherine Ehrlich explores her Austrian grandparents influential lives at the crossroads of German and Jewish national movements. Weaving her grandmother Irmas spellbinding memoirs into her narrative, she profiles a charismatic woman who confronts history with courage and rebuilds livesfor herself and Europes dispossessed.Starting out in Bohemias picturesque countryside, Irma studies languages in Prague alongside Kafka and Einsteinand so joins Europes intelligentsia. Tension builds as World War I destroys that world, and Irma marries prominent Zionist, Jakob Ehrlich, bold advocate for Viennas 180,000 Jews. Irmas direct words detail the weeks after Hitlers arrival when Adolf Eichmann himself appears to liberate Irma and her son from Vienna.Irmas stunning turnaround in London unfolds amidst a dazzling cohort of luminariesChaim and Vera Weizmann, and Viscountess Beatrice Samuel among them. Irma finds her voice as an activist, saving lives and resettling refugees, and ultimately moves on to New York where her work resumes among high-profile friends like Catskills hostess Jennie Grossinger.Along the way, Ehrlich queries her familys fate: what was behind Eichmann's twisted role in her grandparents lives? How was Irma able to focus outwardly when her own life was in crisis? Part intimate memoir, part historical thriller, Irmas Passport is an inspiring true story about remarkable women whose unsung courage restored the world we know.This is a book for fans of Edmund de Waal, Erik Larson, and Alexander Wolff.