The last letter John ‘Hansi’ Gruschka received from his mother read ‘Dear Hansi. Unfortunately tomorrow I leave. Lots of kisses.’
In these short few words, he knew he would never receive another letter from his mother again.
For Jewish families in Czechoslovakia, the threat of Nazi occupation was approaching.
The Grusschka family lived close to the border of Germany, and decided it was time to escape to safety. John’s father and sister left for Palestine, while he boarded a train to England to live with distant relatives in 1939.
Family matriarch Helene Gruschka stayed behind in Prague to look after her own mother, who was too frail to flee.
“As a little boy at my age, it was more of an adventure than anything else. Because I didn’t realise what was imminent,” Mr Gruschka says.
Read the full article by Lisa Clarke at ABC News.