the INTERVIEW with JDouglas Barker

The Locked Safe with the Nazi Passports: How Safe a Journey?Sifting and sorting all the family memorabilia was difficult, although we tried to share out things relatively equally, in accordance with a pattern established by our parents. One of the key treasures that Anne and I found was a locked safe. Jack, Anne’s husband, had to prise it open. To our immense surprise, not to say shock, it contained five old German passports, four of which bore the Nazi insignia, whereas my father’s passport was issued in 1935, before Nazism had taken full hold. The passports belonged to my father, Curt; his parents, Adolf David and Clementine David (née Rothschild); Bertha David, his paternal grandmother; and Klara (Koch), Curt’s aunt and Adolf ’s younger sister.These five David family passports set us all off on a journey of discovery about who they all were and how they had lived in Germany and escaped to the UK. It was only just before lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020 that we finally discovered some key pieces of the jigsaw about what had happened during the war to these five people, plus my father’s elder brother Ernst. By then I had become obsessed with not only family history but also policies regarding internment, or imprisonment without trial of ‘enemy aliens’. I attended many seminars in the previous five years and developed a lengthy list of reading material. The best place for information was the National Archives (TNA) at Kew, I was told. Indeed, it was. But it was both upsetting and disappointing to find some official materials in the TNA. There were several volumes of crusty old documents with byzantine and incomprehensible filing systems.The six Davids all were in these official records with several Home Office (HO) and police numbers because they had arrived in England in the 1930s. I learnt some details about my father from these records: he was a ‘machine tool designer, employed by Kendall & Gent, Victoria Works (1920) Ltd., Gorton, Manchester’. There was also information about the three men as ‘enemy aliens’ and when they were interned and released, but nothing about where they were interned. The reason given was the government’s ‘circular 21.6.40’. There was also basic information about the three women, who were called ‘internees at liberty’. But how free and safe were they? This information was updated after the war and for several years to about 1950,5Miriam E. Davidincluding when they died. How much nearer to understanding was I with this official information?

The Alliance planets had waged war with the Consortium planets for years. They have finally agreed to a truce. Then a previously unknown planet was discovered and its location and possible strategic advantages caused a new ripple in the pending peace. A terrible solution was suggested: destroy the planet. A joint fleet to accomplish that awful result was on it way to carry out the mission. But residing on the planet, if it could be called a planet, was a mysterious Old Man who had plans of his own. After thwarting every attempt to destroy his planet, he gave everyone on both sides a tremendous lesson in humility and effectively stopped their war.The Old Man then takes the crew of the Star Cruiser Infinity on a new mission that no one could have ever anticipated, a mission to save their universe. Admiral Jenki learns much about his past that had remained hidden within him and Captain Edmonds dramatically reunites with his severely disabled brother. Together they travel to an unknown place to confront a gigantic new threat.Macintosh Steele resides in New Hampshire on a family fruit and vegetable farm where he was raised. He has long been a creator of stories, but this is the first one he has written down. He has had a very diversified career including farming, carpentry, blacksmithing, law and tax preparation, and now writing. He has a Bachelor of Science degree and Law degree from Cornell University. He enjoys a complex story and the challenge in making that story move along to an unexpected ending.

Sport inspires us to surpass our limits, face challenges, and develop emotional acumen that we can deploy in many aspects of life.Sport, a Stage for Life aims not just to inspire you, but to guide you in applying the lessons of sport so that you may evolve in your own journey of self-development and transformation.You will learn how a father and his daughter applied these lessons in building successful corporate careers and enriching their personal lives. Author Cristiana Pinciroli is a former professional water polo player who played in Italy and captained the Brazilian national team for 13 years. She was voted among the best players in the world while also pursuing a successful executive career in the financial industry. Her father Pedro, also a top water polo player, represented Brazil at two Olympics and oversaw one of the largest communication groups in Latin America until his retirement.In addition to their own success stories, Cristiana has gathered contributions and insights from world-renowned athletes and coaches, leading academics, physicians, and psychologists who share stories that inspire and support the scientific evidence about how we can turn human potential into a life of fulfillment and happiness.“A STAGEThis book is replete with advice that can help you and those you care about flourish. It is a blueprint for excellence in sports as well as in every domainof life, personal and professional.—TAL BEN-SHAHAR, PhDThe New York Times Bestselling Author of Happier

Sport inspires us to surpass our limits, face challenges, and develop emotional acumen that we can deploy in many aspects of life.Sport, a Stage for Life aims not just to inspire you, but to guide you in applying the lessons of sport so that you may evolve in your own journey of self-development and transformation.You will learn how a father and his daughter applied these lessons in building successful corporate careers and enriching their personal lives. Author Cristiana Pinciroli is a former professional water polo player who played in Italy and captained the Brazilian national team for 13 years. She was voted among the best players in the world while also pursuing a successful executive career in the financial industry. Her father Pedro, also a top water polo player, represented Brazil at two Olympics and oversaw one of the largest communication groups in Latin America until his retirement.In addition to their own success stories, Cristiana has gathered contributions and insights from world-renowned athletes and coaches, leading academics, physicians, and psychologists who share stories that inspire and support the scientific evidence about how we can turn human potential into a life of fulfillment and happiness.“A STAGEThis book is replete with advice that can help you and those you care about flourish. It is a blueprint for excellence in sports as well as in every domainof life, personal and professional.—TAL BEN-SHAHAR, PhDThe New York Times Bestselling Author of Happier

A story about a young girl of 17, her innocence and her leap into maturity by extremely painful circumstances. You will experience, through the eyes of a young wife and mother, the wonder, beauty and culture of a faraway exotic location. The happiness and wonder she experienced while discovering what she believed to be true love, and all the agony of betrayal by the one person she trusted the most. Redemption comes soon enough.... After having her young son taken away as a toddler, devastating pain brings her to a depression so deep that it takes years to recover. Her strength of will is put through a test when the case crosses over the court systems from two countries: the United States and Greece. During this time, she digs deep for strength she never imagined she had to help her during her struggle to be reunited with him. Twelve and a half grueling years later, she is finally able to hug her son who is no longera little boy but a young man, searching for answers about the mother he was told was dead.

Author Thomas Woodley is donating profits from this book to the IAFF Disaster Relief Fund, which assists firefighters and emergency medical personnel—and their families—who are victims of hurricanes, tornados, floods, forest fires, and other natural disasters, and to the Lowcountry Firefighters Support Team, which provides help and guidance to firefighters who are struggling with the aftereffects of traumatic incidents�