Few diaries can have been written in more extraordinary circumstances than the one which a young Czech actress kept during the last few months of World War II. Not only was she on the run from the Nazis, following her dramatic escape from captivity: she was also searching desperately for her husband, whom she had last seen when they were prisoners together at Auschwitz.

One afternoon we saw a group of male prisoners walking past in the distance – too far away to talk to. They were clutching their grey prison blankets round their bodies, and all we could see of their faces were their huge staring eyes. They moved as slowly as ghosts. Would I recognise my Sasha among them? Would he recognise me? I think about him all the time.
From I Was Writing This Diary For You, Sasha by Hana Pravda

ISBN 0953 2213 2 6/978 0953 2213 2 5; 112 pp, illustrated with contemporary photographs and eighteen specially commissioned drawings by Malcolm Sparkes; £14.00 hardback

Reviews

‘One of the most vivid memoirs of the Holocaust’ – The Times

‘A most poignant tale of love and courage – terrifying, moving, and ultimately life-enhancing – a tale of us all at our best and worst’ – Sir Derek Jacobi

‘Almost unbearably moving’ – Daily Express

‘The countryside is really spring-like, with catkins everywhere. … Every so often we see abandoned trenches and old German helmets. The countryside is full of them.’