Local Author Tells Family's Story Of Surviving Holocaust

MORRISTOWN, NJ – A local author is telling her family's history and tragedy of the Holocaust after finding a treasure trove of information that led her on a personal journey.

Morristown native Barbara Gilford discovered a stack of 57 letters wrapped in a frayed ribbon and written in German that eventually led her to write "Heart Songs – A Holocaust Memoir," in which she explores the stories of her grandmother, aunt and cousin who died in concentration camps.

The story takes the reader through Czechoslovakia, Italy and England and tells the tale of her family's history as book publishers and experiences at the hands of Nazis. Gilford incorporated excerpts from her grandmother's letters as a way to tell the story.

Gilford is an award-winning journalist and educator who contributed more than 200 articles on dance to the New York Times and held a 25-year clinical practice in psychotherapy.

She uses her professional experience as a psychotherapist to explore the unique legacy of the second generation of Holocaust survivors, who carry an inheritance of their parents' inability to grieve their lost families.