{"product_id":"the-freedom-circus-sue-smethurst-9781760890322","title":"The Freedom Circus","description":"\u003cp\u003eA remarkable true story of one family's daring escape from Poland during the Second World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A story of extraordinary bravery, resilience and love that needed to be told.' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWritten by award-winning author and journalist Sue Smethurst, whose husband is Mindla and Michael's grandson, The Freedom Circus is an epic story of courage, hope, humanity, survival and, ultimately, love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Sue Smethurst first sat down with her grandmother-in-law and asked how she survived the Holocaust, she was shooed away. By that time Mindla was in a Melbourne Jewish nursing home with other survivors, her body ageing but mind still razor sharp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Why do you want to know?' she'd ask. 'My story is nothing special.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs death began approaching Sue became a little more pushy. She knew Mindla's life had to be recorded and they were running out of time. Each week she'd bring cake from her favourite shop in St Kilda, a bottle of the brightest nail polish she could find, a handful of old pictures and her tape recorder. They'd chat and paint Mindla's nails, and with each 'chat' her story unfolded. It was beyond anything Sue could have imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe tale of how Mindla and her husband Michael Horowitz, a circus performer for the famous Staniewski Brothers, escaped from Poland with their young son and embarked on a terrifying journey through the USSR and Middle East to Africa and ultimately to safety in Australia, is nothing short of extraordinary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sue Smethurst","offers":[{"title":"Good","offer_id":43176044396787,"sku":"8880002574813","price":11.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/products\/9781760890322.jpg?v=1662081086","url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/products\/the-freedom-circus-sue-smethurst-9781760890322","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}