A Shadow in the Darkness

Many say the world changed forever on September 1, 1939, when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. But for Jews in Germany, the decline in their living conditions had begun long before. In November 1938, during the Kristallnacht riots, Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes were brutally vandalized and destroyed across the country. Ezra Kaplan, his wife Anna, and their son Jacob lived in an apartment above Ezra's prosperous medical practice in central Berlin. Their property was one of the many Jewish-owned establishments that fell victim to widespread destruction. With their home and livelihood shattered, the Kaplan family faced a grim future-deportation to a concentration camp in Poland seemed inevitable. Desperate to avoid this fate, Ezra knew they had only one chance to survive: escape. Their best hope was Switzerland, but fleeing carried the terrifying risk of being shot if caught by Nazi patrols. Despite the danger, the Kaplans resolved to take the chance, knowing their lives depended on it.