Erica Frydenberg was born in the beautiful city of Budapest, just as the Hungarian regime was implementing Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’. Decades later, she went back in or to confront the mass murder and deliberate inhumanity, but also honour the courage of those who resisted – diplomats like Raoul Wallenberg and Carl Lutz, and the many lesser-known individuals who risked everything to save Jewish lives.

For Erica, this history is personal. Her uncle, the enigmatic Nandor Eichel, saved her life before she had even turned one. This “Budapesti Schindler,” protected only by a fragile diplomatic status, moved through the chaos rescuing countless others, whose stories only surface decades later in Sydney, Australia.

Yet Nandor refused to speak of the past. Piecing together his hidden story, Erica uncovers deeper truths about memory: its capacity to wound, to illuminate and to nurture empathy and healing across generations.

The Melbourne Holocaust Museum is proud to partner with Melbourne Jewish Book Week in launching this remarkable book.

Please note this event may be recorded for our institutional archive, and photos may be used for marketing purposes.