Forbidden Love (Courage in the Time of Racial Madness)

This extraordinary story—one of great love, daring escape, and tragic failure—is the story of Heinrich Heinen and Edith Meyer, a “German” and a “Jewess,” who risked—and ultimately lost—their lives for love. Heinrich and Edith met in Cologne in 1938. Their relationship, forbidden by the Nazi racial laws, was under constant threat of discovery and punishment. In December 1941, Edith was deported to the East. Having discovered her whereabouts, in April 1942 Heinrich set out to liberate her from the Riga ghetto. Together they traveled more than 3,000 km, hoping to reach Switzerland, where they could find a safe haven for their love. However, they were arrested in Feldkirch, on the Swiss border. Vividly and grippingly, Alfons Dür recounts the true story of a tragic love during the Nazi era, drawing on original documents and photographs.