All God's Children (46 page)

“They know you are both safe,” Edvard explained. “They just couldn’t risk saying anything that might…”

“I know,” Beth said as tears streamed down her cheeks. “One day soon,” she promised herself and those around her, “we will speak out loud all the joys and concerns that we have had to bear in silence.”

She felt Josef’s arms wrap around her, and she looked up at him. In his eyes she saw that same passion and fierce intensity that had first drawn her to him. And she knew that whatever the future held, they could ask no greater blessing than that of facing it together.

    AUTHOR’S NOTE    

A
s a history buff I am fascinated by all of the true but little-known stories of people facing incredible adversity with such courage and determination. I became aware of the White Rose when I visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, for the first time—the arrests of Hans and Sophie and Christoph took place on my husband’s birthday; another trial and execution took place on my birthday; and still another on my father’s birthday. Seeing three familiar dates that signaled such happy times in my life, I was of course determined to learn more about these brave young people. Similarly I stumbled quite by accident onto the true story of the escape from Sobibor.

In any story set in the midst of war, there will be characters—like Anja, Franz, Ilse, and Liesl—whose fate remains unresolved. It is not realistic to think that Beth would be able to discover what became of her aunt and uncle and cousin while imprisoned in Sobibor or on the run. That is why
All God’s Children
is the first of three books in the Peacemaker series.

Book 2,
Simple Faith
, tells Anja’s story (and continues the story of Josef and Beth). They will play out their lives in the very real world of what became known as “The Freedom Line”—an incredible underground system where locals helped American, Canadian, and British airmen whose planes had crashed behind enemy lines get back to the safety of England.

And in Book 3,
Safe Haven
, Franz, Ilse, and Liesl will again play key roles. The story moves to America and upstate New York, where a boatload of refugees from Europe—mostly Jews—were allowed to live out the war in relative safety.

I hope you will be inspired to read all three books. In any case, please stop by my website (
www.booksbyanna.com
) to learn more about these actual heroes and events or write to me at P.O. Box 161, Thiensville, WI 53092, and share your thoughts. Until then may you—like Josef and Beth—learn to see the blessings of the difficult times and the wonders of those times when your cup indeed runneth over with joy and the Light!

All best wishes!

Anna

Anna Schmidt is the author of over twenty works of fiction. Among her many honors, Anna is the recipient of
Romantic Times’
Reviewer’s Choice Award and a finalist for the RITA award for romantic fiction. She enjoys gardening and collecting seashells at her winter home in Florida.

Coming soon from

Anna Schmidt

T
HE
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EACEMAKERS
B
OOK
2

Spring 2014

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