Title: Passport to freedom
First published: 2005
Description: Synopsis



Bracha, a 19-year-old Czech farm girl, throws off the shackles of her austere orthodox Jewish life, and runs away to Antwerp in 1936. Four years later, after a failed love affair, she finds herself alone and abandoned by all as the bombs begin to fall. A chance encounter with a stranded Italian merchant seaman, who becomes her lover, changes her fortunes as he helps her walk to freedom, avoiding the German advance across Belgium. Tragically though, after an arduous journey and a series of amazing escapes they are forced to part and she crosses into France alone.
She is not long in France when an incredible coincidental meeting on a refugee clogged highway with an acquaintance from her past, changes both their fortunes – as forming a close friendship with her, they help each other and succeed in making it to Calais.
However, Bracha finds herself separated from her friend, and all her sacrifices made getting there seem in vain as with hundreds of others she fails to get aboard the last ship taking refugees. As the Germans close in and the town is obliterated all around, she is at least consoled when she is reunited with her friend.
Despite their seemingly hopeless situation both women still refuse to give up, and incredibly speaking no English, Bracha, with her friends help, persuades a Royal Naval officer in charge of one of the last small fishing boats to leave carrying wounded troops, to let them aboard, and so finally escapes Calais just before it falls to the Germans.






Statistics

	Chapters	56
	Pages	554
	Paragraphs	5,309
	Lines	17,904
	Words	170,594
	Characters (No spaces)	770,950
	Characters (With Spaces)	939,156
Subjects: Biographical novel, Fiction, Jewish women, Jews, Rescue, World War, 1939-1945
Places: Antwerp, Belgium, Calais, Czechoslovakia, Europe, France
People: Bracha Esther Klein-Ova
Time periods: 1936-1940
LC classification: PR6112.A995 P37 2005