Karolina’s Twins is a work of fiction. The story was inspired by the life of Fay Scharf Waldman, a woman of extraordinary courage, determination, and wisdom. However, Karolina’s Twins is not intended to be a biographical account of Fay’s life. Lena Woodward is a fictional character who experienced many of the travails described to me by Fay but, in the process of creating a work of fiction, some of the episodes, though authentic in their occurrence to others, did not involve Fay. I have endeavored to portray the history of World War II Poland, the town of Chrzanów, the Gross-Rosen subcamps, the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps and postwar Europe as accurately as possible. To that end, I drew upon the accounts of courageous survivors, many of which may be found in memoirs, Yizkor Books, museum archives and in the personal stories conveyed to me over the past few years. Except for the court drama, which is entirely a product of my imagination, I believe the events described in Karolina’s Twins are genuine.
I am eternally grateful to Fay, for sharing her story with me, and to her daughter, Hannah, who kindly gave me an enormous portion of her time to fill in the details. Sincere thanks go out to Fay’s loving son, Fred Waldman—who, I must tell you, bears absolutely no resemblance in any way to my fictional character Arthur Woodward, a person who did not exist in real life. Thanks as well to Barbara Waldman and Carol Chaikin. The memories of the Waldman family and the wealth of materials available to me gives me confidence that the environment in which the characters play their roles is authentic.
I am also grateful to my editor, Jennifer Weis, my tireless agent, Maura Teitelbaum, and the staff at St. Martin’s Press, for their assistance and wise guidance. Thanks to my readers for their suggestions, among them Katie Lang Lawrence, Kathleen Smith, David and Cindy Pogrund and Linda Waldman. And, as always, my deepest gratitude to my wife, Monica, who read the pages as they came off the printer and provided invaluable feedback. Karolina’s Twins would not have been possible without her continuing support, encouragement and wise edits.