The Family History Behind the Best Seller
The author Irene Nemirovsky
In 1942, the celebrated French author Irene Nemirovsky, who was born a Russian Jew, died in a Nazi death camp. She left behind two young daughters and a forgotten manuscript — a suite of novellas describing life during the occupation that would remain undiscovered for half a century. Today, that manuscript has been published as the best-selling book Suite Francaise, a literary sensation that has been translated into nearly a dozen languages.
Irene's cousin, George Ginsberg
But that’s just part of the story of Irene and her courageous family. Her surviving daughters didn’t know it at the time, but they had a cousin across the ocean in America, anxious for news of their fate. George Ginsberg lost his own parents in Russia at a young age, and his uncle — Irene’s father — paid for him to travel to the United States and live with relatives.
George became a photographer, a philanthropist and a beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He never learned what became of his famous cousin or her children, but one day, his own children would reunite with their lost relatives across the ocean, all thanks to a remarkable book.
