My Train to Freedom: A Jewish Boy’s Journey from Nazi Europe to a Life of Activism

RSVP response for this event is high, and we are likely to reach our room’s capacity soon. RSVP is required. If we reach our capacity, you may request on our RSVP form to be added to a waiting list, but this will not guarantee a seat. Seating is general admission. Please arrive early as lines may form. Thank you.

Author, award-winning humanitarian and former Episcopal priest Ivan Backer will recount autobiographical stories and read passages from his book My Train to Freedom: A Jewish Boy’s Journey from Nazi Europe to a Life of Activism. Backer will answer questions from the audience after his presentation and be available to autograph copies of his memoir. Books are available for sale in the Museum Store.

My Train to Freedom is Backer’s breathtaking memoir about “Nicky’s family,” a group of 669 Czechoslovakian children who escaped the Holocaust through Sir Nicholas Winton’s Kindertransport project. In May 1939, the 10-year-old Backer fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia for the United Kingdom aboard one of Winton’s Kindertransport trains. His book covers his dangerous escape, his boyhood in England, his perilous 1944 voyage to America and his subsequent achievements. It also addresses a question that has been present for him ever since 1939: “For what purpose was I spared the Holocaust?”

Free, RSVP required. We anticipate large crowds and recommend RSVPing early.

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Presenting Sponsor: The Thaler Holocaust Memorial Fund.
Contributing sponsors: Victor F. & Janice L. Naxera