In her book, A Miracle at Dachau, Laurin Haupt tells the riveting story of her grandfather (her Opa) and his time in the Dachau prison camp. A French gentile, Simon Johann Haupt lived a happy life in Germany with his wife and daughters, the loves of his life. But in 1933, he and some friends dared to resist the terrorism of the Third Reich destroying the fabric of their peaceful community.

His subsequent arrest and imprisonment in Dachau, and the miracle that saved his life, make this one of the most compelling stories of that awful period in history.

Most of us know about the atrocities by the Nazis against the Jews of Germany. Yet few know how the Third Reich turned against anyone that dared defy them, regardless of religious beliefs. Those who joined Hitler went against friends, neighbors, shopkeepers, even Catholic priests they had known their whole lives. The Nazis imprisoned or killed anyone with the courage to oppose them.

Opa unfolds his story to his beloved granddaughter, Laurin, as they travel by train through Germany years after his time at Dachau. As Laurin imagined the kindly old man would have told the story, if he'd been able to bring himself to remember the horrors. This is a book everyone should read, and Simon's story is a cautionary tale of the dangers in forgetting history.

Laurin Haupt

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