Edith Sekules Knihy

"Edith Sekules was born in 1916, into a family which was part of the then vibrant Jewish community of Vienna. At that time there were almost 200,000 Jews living in that city; today they number only a few thousand." "The flourishing Jewish culture, which expressed itself particularly in the arts and in commerce, was extinguished forever in 1938. Together with her husband, Kurt, and four-month-old daughter, Edith escaped to Estonia, where they landed with no money and no knowledge of the language. Kurt managed to find work and they got by until 1941 saw them interned in Siberia as enemy aliens. Edith describes in vivid detail the vicissitudes of their confinement and how their good health and optimism enabled them to survive. However, being a very independent person, Edith found imprisonment and having no control whatsoever over her day-to-day existence hard to bear." "Living in harsh conditions through scorching summers and arctic winters, they somehow made it though the war, three camps and a gruelling 3,350-mile journey home, having spent seven years in exile." "Relishing her freedom, in 1950 Edith threw herself with characteristic gusto into creating their own knitwear company in Northern Ireland, having accepted an offer of help from an old Viennese friend to start up the business. Despite many ups and downs, the company thrived, and was eventually supplying prestigious stores all over the world."--Jacket