As a ten-year-old child, Leon Rubinstein fled Germany with his parents in 1933 to Luxembourg and then Belgium, which they fled again on the morning of the Nazi invasion. They dwelt quietly as refugees in the south of France until the Vichy government began its roundup of foreign Jews for deportation. After his father's arrest, Leon endeavors to save himself and his mother with a daring journey to the border towns of southeastern France. Among their encounters, they hitch a ride with German SS officers, while disguising their identities. Their arduous journey leads them to Switzerland, where the memoir provides a rare look at the lives of Jewish refugees in the Swiss work camps.

Throughout this deeply felt story is Rubinstein's awareness of his transformation from adolescence to young manhood amid the catastrophic losses and dislocations of the war years in Europe. His personal story resonates with anyone who remembers discovering love, as well as the necessity of choices and sacrifices.

Prizes

Winner of Featured in the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

A moving story of defying the nightmare of the Holocaust, escaping to freedom, and retaining the strength to build a purposeful new life. -- George Salton, author of The 23rd Psalm: A Holocaust Memoir
The Species ought to be grateful that Leon Rubinstein's memory is so sharp and his writing so strong. -- Daniel A. Rose, author of Hiding Places
Rubinstein...brings attention to what he calls 'the ultimate obscenity of mankind'...The whole saga of his narrow escape is spellbinding. -- Tom Collins * The Palm Beach Post *
Leon Rubinstein's Escape to Freedom is something above and beyond a conventional Holocaust memoir. ...the story itself would make a great movie. ...He talks frequently to school groups, so that they may understand the events of 60 and 70 years ago directly, in a way that will leave no room for doubt. -- Scott Eyman, Books Editor * The Palm Beach Post *
In a testimony at once incredible and truthful, Leon Rubinstein weaves the facts of history with his own personal history, building a positive vision of tolerance and understanding for future generations. More than a Holocaust memoir, Escape to Freedom is a loving lesson in the moral energy of memory. Rubinstein's compelling story is entirely engaging on every level. -- Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, Rutgers University, Organizer of the conference, Hidden Voices: Childhood, the Family, and Anti-Semitism in Occupation France

Leon Rubinstein earned a teaching degree at the University of Basel. After the war, he immigrated to the United States and had a successful business career with a national company. For the past twenty years, he has written op-ed pieces for Florida newspapers and spoken to students about the Holocaust and his own remarkable story of survival. He and his wife live in Jupiter, Florida.