Careful Old Letters: A Jewish Family's Story: Lodz-Warsaw-Paris

​Careful Old Letters​​ by Alexandra Weinbaum is a family history based on 169​ ​letters and postcards from Lodz, Warsaw, Grenoble and Paris, before, during and​ ​after World War II. Her parents grew up in Lodz, Poland and studied and lived in​ ​Grenoble and Paris from 1928 to 1938, when they emigrated to the United States.​ ​Following her parents' deaths, her son discovered the letters, written in Polish,​ ​German and French, in a tattered carton box labeled "Careful Old Letters." The prewar​ ​letters provide a vivid picture of life in Paris for Polish migr students. The​ ​wartime letters written in desperate times tell the story of the family's internment​ ​in the Lodz and Warsaw Ghettos and the survival of two family members.​

​"After her parents' deaths, Alexandra Weinbaum found a unique collection of her family's​ ​letters that document the love and anguish of a Jewish family trying to survive the horrors​ ​of the Holocaust in Lodz, Warsaw, and Paris. Careful Old Letters tells their story, providing​ ​useful historical context to situate these powerful letters in the desperate times in which they​ ​were written. It's also the author's own story, chronicling the complicated feelings as she​ ​slowly takes in the hidden story of her family's resilience and despair."​ ​-Lisa Moses Leff, American University, author of ​​The Archive Thief: The Man Who​ Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust​

​ALEXANDRA WEINBAUM grew up Philadelphia, received her B.A. at Smith College, and a Ph.D.​ ​in Russian History from Columbia University. Much of her career has been devoted to improving​ ​educational opportunities for underserved and low-income students in K-12 education. For 20 years​ ​she developed and led educational initiatives at AED, now FHI360. She was the lead author of the​ ​book ​​Teaching as Inquiry​​ from Teachers College Press. In writing ​​Careful Old Letters​​ she has returned​ ​to her love of history through telling her family's story as revealed in the box of letters that was​ ​discovered 20 years ago.​