Hiding in a Cave of Trunks: A Prominent Jewish Family's Century in Shanghai and Internment in a WWII POW camp.
Ester Shifren is the descendant of five generations of British Jewish Nationals living in Shanghai for more than one century. She and her family were interned by the Japanese during WW II. After the war her family scattered to the four corners of the earth, many she would never see again. Ester managed, between 1987 and 2004, to tape three interviews of her parents, that yielded 100 transcribed pages of invaluable information for use in her book. She has lectured extensively internationally about her life, the multi ethnic groups and cultures, and the Japanese incarceration of Far Eastern Allies, in Shanghai. Ester lived in Hong Kong for three years before leaving China for Israel in 1951, embarking on a voyage that eventually led to more emigrations—the first in 1957, to South Africa, birthplace of her four children, then to Canada, and finally to Los Angeles, California. She loves the arts and is a professional pianist and visual artist—all of which helped diminish unwelcome memories, and carry her through some extremely difficult life experiences. In 2005 Ester featured in England in the BBC1 program, "We'll Meet Again," and was a guest lecturer for several days at the Imperial war Museum. She has been interviewed extensively and featured in newspapers in South Africa, England, Canada, and in Chinese and English Newspapers in the US.