About the Book

Over the last few years as the twilight of her life approaches Lydia related bits and pieces of the terrible events she experienced during WWII and of the beautiful life she had before. I am proud to be the person she trusted enough to finally let her story be written.

Lydia is not Jewish. She was a young Catholic teenager from Czechoslovakia, when she was brutally abducted from a private, parochial school for girls in Vienna, raped and forced into slave labor. After escaping her Nazi tormentors, she sought refuge with her aunt in Switzerland. Then not having heard from her family, she decided to make a dangerous journey home to Prague. During her travels she was befriended by a dog, a guardian angel, that helped her make the arduous trip back home, only to lose the dog near the journeys end and find that her family was devastated.

Her family had been very wealthy and influential, friendly with the popular Czech President Mazaryk. Her terrible experiences left her vulnerable to men and she learned of the double standard facing a woman in her society. She was forced to leave Prague when the ruthless Stalinist communist came to liberate Prague (which was in actuality a takeover). Back in Switzerland her aunt tried to secure a future for her and she had a nervous breakdown. Finally, she married an American so she get could start fresh in the amazing land she had traversed in a train as a child.

About the Author

Rebecca Arce (Gray), artist, writer and teacher, born and raised in Los Angeles, California had an unusual childhood. Being of Mexican American heritage gave her a unique perspective. Among her father’s friends were artists and writers, the  “Beatniks” of Topanga Canyon although he was an engineer working in Aerospace. She inherited a love of travel early on after taking many road trips into the interior of Mexico on the (new at that time) Pan American highway.

            After graduating from Long Beach State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, she moved to a rural agricultural community to raise a family. She became a teacher; first teaching college and middle school Art classes, then elementary grades when the middle school art department was eliminated. During a summer long writing project she spent hours writing and sharing her work with teacher/writers. She was the only teacher from a discipline outside of Language Arts, having mainly focused in the Visual and Performing Arts.  She was surprised and pleased that the others enjoyed her writing and encouraged her to continue to write for more than just pleasure.

            Lydia and Rebecca became friends when Rebecca moved to San Diego about six years ago. When Lydia started to tell Rebecca about her amazing life before coming to America. Rebecca persuaded Lydia to put her memoirs in written form. It wasn’t easy for Lydia to do this. Recalling much of the past was very painful for Lydia but working closely together as trusted friends they were able to bring the story to fruition.