Author

Sandy Schachter

An educator, counselor, and author passionate about helping others and preserving family history.

What you'll achieve by this book

An Unforgotten Heart

Experience

Through this book, readers will experience a heartfelt journey of resilience, sacrifice, and the enduring bonds of family, brought to life through vivid storytelling and emotional depth.

Motivation

The motivation behind this book is to honor my mother’s courage and sacrifices, preserve her legacy, and share the profound impact of her story with future generations.

Goals

The goal of this book is to connect readers with universal themes of love, identity, and heritage while passing down a cherished family legacy to inspire generations to come.

An Unforgotten Heart

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CHAPTERS PREVIEW

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Chapter 1 The Photograph Vienna 1920

There was no morning sun that day. It was cold for October. The girls were not easy to wake as they all wanted to stay in bed as long as they could because it was Saturday. And since there was no school, they always slept in, but not this Saturday. Mama was not going to let that happen. "Good morning, liebchen. It is a special day for the Swartz family, so we must rise and shine and face the day together." Mama was very chipper that day, which was somewhat unusual. Most days, she was somber and overwhelmed. Papa was a soldier and away from his family for months at a time. It was rare that he came home. And when he did, it was not for long. Yet the girls always knew he loved them. It was in his eyes and the way he smiled at them. When he put his girls to bed, he always told them the story of the magic egg. They didn't know how he knew that story if he read it in a book somewhere or just made it up, but it always made them laugh, and it...

Chapter 2 The View

Life in Vienna after Serule left was somewhat peaceful and productive for all of the Swartz family. Mama's mood lifted. She wasn't sad anymore. Her mood was often playful and adventurous. On sunny days, Mama took the girls for walks around the city. For Elsa's twelfth birthday, she took them to see the Lipizzan horses perform. They were beautiful and grand. Mama knew one of the riders, so they went to see the horses up close after the show. It was magical, and Elsa thought this day was one of the best days she had ever had in her life. There were many other happy days for the girls. Risa and Mama went to concerts on Sunday nights. Risa was mesmerized by the sound of the violins. She asked Mama if she could learn how to play an instrument. Mama replied, "Perhaps one day."...

Chapter 3 The Letter

Saturday was the day for chores, but Sunday was laundry day. With five women in the house, there was always a lot of laundries to collect. The girls stripped the beds and collected the sheets, towels, and dirty clothes for the half-mile walk to the laundry. Each of them had a bag to carry. It was so difficult to carry the load, especially for Blanche. At seven years old, she was somewhat accident-prone. Mama believed she was just clumsy by nature, but it turned out she was suffering slowly with failing eyesight. She was eventually given thick glasses that never really fit her correctly. Risa, age sixteen, was so independent. She and Mama argued about her friendships with other boys. She insisted they were just friends, but Mama worried about her being seduced into relationships that she was not really ready for. What Mama didn't know at the time was that Risa was seriously smitten with Heinrick, the next-door neighbor's son. They were planning on getting married someday, but since he was fifteen and Risa sixteen, they knew it would not be in the near future...

Chapter 4 The Breakfast

It had been five years since the news of Papa's death, and so much has happened. The Swartz family were forced to move out of their house. Without Papa's military wages, there wasn't enough money to pay the monthly bills. Mama had always hoped there would be some sort of pension due to her if something were to happen to Henry, but she found out from Colonel Leipsig that Papa had been taking money out of his pension to send to Maria in order to supplement his meager salary. Mama had always believed that as a ranking officer, he would be making more money than the rest of the unit, but she soon realized that was not the case. The colonel had returned from war with renewed interest in the Swartz family. He offered to give Mama money, but she refused him. She did, however, ask a favor of him. Mama's earnings from making clothes were not enough to either keep the house warm in the winter or feed the girls' growing bodies. Mama continued to take on customers, but the times were tough. Having handmade dresses was becoming a luxury most...

Chapter 5 The Lessons

Mama was uncharacteristically pleased with Elsa working for the Schmidts. Late that evening, as Mama was saying her good nights before bed, she whispered in Elsa's ear, "The best place to hide is in plain sight." She had no idea what Mama meant, but because she gave her permission to continue to work for the Schmidts, she did not think it was her place to ask many questions. Gerda and Margot reminded Elsa of Blanche and Hilda. They got along so well when their parents were around, but when they were alone in the playroom, chaos reigned all the time. They would argue over toys, who got to wear ribbons in her hair, and what to ask their mother for dinner. It was surprising that Eva cooked so many of the evening meals. They were certainly wealthy enough to hire a cook, but Colonel Schmidt refused to have people in the house other than family. As the nanny, Elsa had assumed that she was welcomed as a family member, but just as the girls were different when they were...

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About author

Learn about the book writer

Sandy Schachter

Sandy Schachter is an educator, counselor, and author whose life journey has been shaped by a deep commitment to understanding and helping others. Born in London and raised in the United States, her experiences of migration and cultural transitions inspire her storytelling, particularly her exploration of family history and resilience. With a background in psychology and education, Sandy brings emotional depth and authenticity to her writing, weaving together personal narratives with historical significance. Now retired after a fulfilling career in counseling, Sandy dedicates her time to preserving her family’s legacy through poignant and heartfelt stories that connect generations.

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Best reviews and & feedback by top class company

An Unforgotten Heart

Sharon H

What an emotional and descriptive story about the reality of an unbelievably cruel time in the history of mankind.....The author's passion to tell the story of her family comes across very clearly....It is so well written that the reader can easily see how one family had such a wide reaching effect on not only their own family but members of their community as well as complete strangers. Kudos to Ms. Schachter!

Riveting and Heartbreaking!

MS

I couldn’t stop reading this until I was finished. It’s such an important story to read and understand; it gives you such insight into the individual stories that were part of the Holocaust.

An Unforgettable Family

MichiganTaffy

This novel is based on a true story of four Austrian sisters swallowed up in the Holocaust. The cover's photo is the touch point for a compelling plot; the book is impossible to put down. The author weaves a story of many threads - characters, world events, human frailties - and doesn't drop a one. I'm rating it 5 stars for being a good, good story from a brand new author.

Compelling story

LL

I have read a lot of historical fiction books, and I ended up staying up way too late several nights reading because I could not put this book down. I felt connected to the characters in the book, and whereas the Holocaust can be difficult to read about as it is very upsetting, this book was an intriguing combination of relationships and history that you can't stop reading.