Читать книгу Escape to Africa - Henri Diamant - Страница 6

Foreword

The decision to write this memoir was motivated by several factors, two of which were truly vital and should be mentioned here.

The first one came by way of our daughter Michele. Her interest in family roots, and her intense curiosity about my years in Africa, became the most compelling arguments for this work.

The second is linked to our 2005 European trip. My wife Leila and I went there for a reunion of cousins (on Grandma’s Soffer side of the family) near Vienna, Austria, and for a visit to the Czech Republic. During the reunion, I heard more about the Diamant/Soffer history than I had ever been exposed to before. And that made me realize that I needed to leave some kind of legacy for posterity. By the way, our reunion might as well have been held at the UN, considering all the various languages that were used between us; Czech, German, Yiddish, Hebrew and English. Spanish and French were not represented because cousins from Chile and France could not make it to Austria.

I should also mention that the journey through the Czech Republic became, quite unexpectedly, an unquestionable emotional experience. I was much surprised at the depth of my feelings when, after almost 70 years, I saw once again our Grandparents’ homes in Kravsko and Lostice. That clinched it, and I started writing the minute I returned home.