The Door Closed and Windows Opened: My Journey Fleeing Nazi Germany and Building a New Life in America

Ingrid (Inky) Fuerst Blumenthal, born Inge Lore Fuerst in 1921, had an idyllic childhood in pre-Nazi, pre-Holocaust, Germany. In the city of Baden-Baden, in the Black Forest, every day held its own magic. Then the Nazi regime took hold, and the Jewish Fuerst family had to make a strategically planned and often perilous escape while the Nazis hunted Inky's father, a prominent businessman.

Through the dark of night, frightening border crossings, life in several countries and attendance at ten schools in four years, Inky, now 99, describes in vivid detail the journey that brought her family to New York City, through the eyes of a child and the photographic memory of a nonagenarian. Fear and adventure, success and failure, romance and heartbreak figure in this remarkable 20th and 21st century memoir, along with the story of her husband Max, a Kindertransport "kind," whose Holocaust story was markedly different.

Inky built a family, and while her zest for life and adventure underscored every day, divorce and loss spurred her to prevail. Follow along on this often surprising journey with Inky to a surprise crescendo just before her 99th birthday. Enjoy more photos and updates on Inky's Facebook page, The Door Closed and Windows Opened.