September 1943: Klaus Zwilsky’s parents had to leave their Berlin apartment and move with their son to the Jewish Hospital, where his father managed the pharmacy. This marked the beginning of one of the most extraordinary survival stories of Jews in the “Third Reich,” as the hospital was the only Jewish institution in Nazi Germany that was never closed. Gilad Seliktar has interpreted Klaus Zwilsky’s memories of this time in a masterful graphic novel that powerfully illustrates what survival—and continuing to live—means.

“Do you think they’ve forgotten us?” Every time Gestapo men marched through the Jewish Hospital in Berlin, the children had to hide. But why? Didn’t the Nazis know that Jews still lived there? Why the Nazis didn’t close the hospital like other Jewish institutions and deport all the residents and patients remains unclear to this day. Klaus Zwilsky survived here, imprisoned with his parents, the bombing raids, and the Holocaust. Gilad Seliktar visited him at his home in Palm Springs, California, and recounts his memories of that dark time in a moving graphic novel. His great skill lies in also depicting his encounter with Klaus Zwilsky and allowing us to see back through his eyes. An insightful afterword explains what we know today about the incredible story of the Jewish Hospital during the Third Reich.