'I found my mother's story of escape from the Nazis hidden in a shoebox'

"This was my mother's freedom suitcase' with all her possessions after fleeing Nazi Germany, she recalled."

"The diaries were written in Sutterlin, a Gothic-style script taught in German schools from 1920 as sophisticated and modern, later banned by Hitler."

"The family had to flee, and the cache Helen found gave a glimpse into the turmoil of the time."

"I was astonished to find my mother's diaries, the daughter of a Jewish doctor in Nazi Germany, Helen John said."

Helen John uncovered her mother Kitty Fehr's diaries while clearing out her late mother's belongings. These diaries, written in the now-banned Sutterlin script, provide insight into Kitty's life as a Jewish girl in Nazi Germany. The Fehr family, once prominent due to her father's medical career, faced persecution after Hitler's rise, leading them to flee. The discovery symbolizes both a personal and historical connection to the horrors faced by Jewish families during that time, highlighting the importance of preserving such memories.

Read at www.harrowtimes.co.uk