Barbara Powers - The Promise: The Moving Story of a Family in the Holocaust

We gratefully recognize the love and encouragement of our families, which continues to sustain us. We wish to acknowledge and thank Helen Levene, our editor, for her genuine caring throughout this project. Her advice and personal consideration during each stage of the writing process served as an inspiration. Most importantly, she helped us in getting to the heart of the story.

Also our deepest thanks to Helens colleagues at Puffin Books for their support and publication of The Promise.

A long-held dream has now come true.

Eva and Barbara

As I look back more than sixty years to the early part of my life, the pictures in my memory are crystal clear. Many reveal happy faces: my family gathered around the supper table; my friends in a game of rounders on a summers afternoon; my father in the mountains; my brother, Heinz, with a paintbrush in his hands; and grandfather at the piano with me on his lap. I can see flowers in our garden, presents on my birthday and new shoes for my growing feet. I hear laughter, wonderful music and my mothers comforting words.

The past also reveals events that are hard to believe, yet all are true. My family lived during the Second World War, caught in the Nazi march across Europe. While I was a young child, I witnessed terrible destruction and cruelty. Unfortunately, millions of other children and families suffered as well. My mother and I were among the few who survived. My father and only brother were not.

This is the story of my family, an account of the events that tore us from our home in Austria and filled the world with terror and suffering. It is also a remembrance of my fathers wisdom and zest for life, my mothers positive outlook in every circumstance and my brothers artistic gifts, evidenced in the paintings and poetry he left behind. They have sustained me through the worst of times, even when we were separated.

I hope through this book you will be moved to share kindness and tolerance with others; appreciate your parents, brothers, sisters and extended family, realizing that your time together is precious; develop your talents to make the world a better place; appreciate the freedom that was won for you through great sacrifice; and value each day.

Our parents always told us that their marriage was made in heaven. Elfriede Markovits, our cheerful and beautiful mother, whom we called Mutti, made a lovely bride in her long, flowing, white gown, her soft, gentle face glowing with happiness. Her groom was Erich Geiringer, a handsome young businessman with deep blue eyes and an inviting smile. He looked quite polished in his smart wedding suit, but everyone easily sensed his warmth and charm.

During their first years together they didnt have a care in the world. Life was exciting and free from worry. They lived in Vienna, Austria, an important and beautiful city on the majestic Danube River, at the foot of the Wiener Wald (the Vienna Woods). Adorned with Renaissance and baroque architecture, imperial palaces with formal gardens, famous art museums, exquisite theatres and opera houses, Vienna provided endless cultural and social events.

Erich and Elfriede, Fritzi for short, and their many friends planned fun outings to the mountains, lakes and the heart of the city. They enjoyed working hard at making a home and building a future. And they dreamed of having children who could share in their happiness.

In 1926 the Geiringers welcomed their first child, Heinz Felix. Mutti and Pappy described him as a sweet and easygoing baby, yet Heinz wore a studious look even at a young age. Pappy said that his piercing eyes often caused them to wonder what he was thinking.

Heinz didnt get upset easily, but at age three he had an experience which clearly had a lasting effect on him. Mutti and Pappy had sent him to stay with our grandparents without any explanation. Although he loved to stay with Grandfather Rudolf and Grandmother Helen, he must have wondered where his Mutti and Pappy had gone. In his absence, on 11 May 1929, I was born. Of course, I had no awareness of Heinzs trauma, but I was told later that it caused him to stutter. This frustrated him greatly, but for me it was a reminder that we were meant to be together.

On my first birthday Pappy gathered us for a photograph. I cuddled in Muttis arms, looking directly at the camera with wide and curious eyes. Heinz stood close by Muttis side with his little hands crossed on her lap, while Mutti radiated a look of contentment and joy. Pappy adjusted Heinzs collar and tie, then stepped back, paused to gaze at his beautiful family with pride and exhilaration and snapped the shutter. A precious moment was captured for posterity.

Like Mutti and Pappy, Heinz and I adored each other. We made a unique pair: Heinz, clever and sensitive, and me, practical and daring. Our interests and ambitions were poles apart, but we had a similar thirst for adventure and found ways to make learning fun. Heinz found excitement in books, while I craved the thrill of new experiences. We challenged our parents in different ways but admired and appreciated them just the same.