Children's Letters to a Holocaust Survivor

In October 1943, Esther Terner and 300 other Jews escaped from Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in eastern Poland. It was the biggest escape of WWII and the subject of Richard Rashke's book, ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR. The book, and movie based on it, brought Esther many invitations to speak in public schools. Her courageous story generated hundreds of letters from children expressing their love, concern and outrage. Those letters became the inspiration for the play DEAR ESTHER. Along with the moving play, Rashke has curated a collection of those heartfelt letters, poems and drawings school children sent Esther. They are powerful testaments to Esther’s strength and the empathy of the children Esther touched.

Richard Rashke is a lecturer and author of non-fiction books including The Whistleblower’s Dilemma: Snowden, Silkwood and Their Quest for the Truth, Escape from Sobibor, The Killing of Karen Silkwood, Useful Enemies: John Demjanjuk and America's Open-Door Policy For Nazi War Criminals. His works have been translated into eleven languages and have been the subject of movies for screen and television. He is also an alto sax player and composer. He lives in Washington, D.C.