Here I am human. Here I can dare to be.
DARING TO BE
Born into privilege as the daughters of internationally acclaimed Berlin ophthalmologist Professor Oscar Fehr, Inge and Kitty’s world was shattered by the Nazi regime.
Defined as Jews under the Nuremberg Laws, their once-bright futures dissolved into fear and desperation. Fleeing Germany with only their wits and courage, they left behind the only life they had ever known.
The Book
‘Here I am human. Here I can dare to be.’
Johann Goethe’s Faust, quoted by Inge to her younger sister Kitty on their arrival in Southampton, August 1939.
Born into privilege as the daughters of internationally acclaimed Berlin ophthalmologist Professor Oscar Fehr, Inge and Kitty’s world was shattered by the Nazi regime. Defined as Jews under the Nuremberg Laws, their once-bright futures dissolved into fear and desperation. Fleeing Germany with only their wits and courage, they left behind the only life they had ever known.
Decades later, after Kitty’s death at 99 years old, her daughter Helen uncovered four hidden diaries, written in the subsequently forbidden Sütterlin script. These pages, painstakingly transcribed, revealed a hauntingly intimate portrait of the sisters’ harrowing escape and the heartbreak of being viewed as outcasts in the very country that saved them.
Daring to Be weaves Kitty’s never-before-seen words and family photographs with Helen’s reflections to create a powerful story of survival, resilience and identity. With emotions etched into every page, this is a gripping testament to the human spirit in the face of unimaginable loss – and a poignant reminder of the scars of exile.
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The Author
Helen John (née Glanville)
Helen is the only daughter of immigrants from Nazi Germany and Austria. Having graduated with a degree in history, she worked as a journalist, producer and TV director for the BBC, where she specialised in investigative programmes.
For the past 20 years Helen has worked as a media and presentation trainer.
She is married to Chris with two grown-up children, Freddie and Clara.
Reviews of Daring To Be
You can’t help but be captivated by this book, from the story of its discovery through the weave of its emotions. I felt as though I had been trusted with a deeply person history.
James Hawes, director ‘One Life’ and ‘The Amateur’
A compelling read told with pace and skill
Author Mark Blackaby, winner Betty Trask prize ‘You’ll Never be Here Again’.
Gripping. A horrifying account of the creeping terror that was the life of every German Jew under Hitler’s evil regime.
Michael Smith, best-selling author of Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews
I highly recommend this small yet immensely rich book. Many readers will have tears in their eyes.
Andreas W. Daum. Professor of History at the State University of New York and editor of The Second Generation: Émigrés from Nazi Germany as Historians.
A richly illustrated narrative that is vivid and deeply moving.
Prof. Dr. Ernst Müller, Humboldt University (Berlin)