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News Editor

Google Books helps reunite wartime survivors after 67 years

Opinion
Sep 22, 20112 mins

Author: 'I received an email that sent shivers up my spine'

It’s a heartwarming story that speaks to the power of the Internet … and the expanding role of Google Books. Author James Keeffe, III, tells it in a guest post on The Official Google Blog:

Last year, my distributor Epicenter Press uploaded my book, Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW, to Google Books. The book is a memoir of the WWII experiences of my father, James H. Keeffe, Jr., as told to me. He was an American B-24 bomber pilot who, on his fourth mission during the war, was shot down over Southern Holland and taken in by the Dutch Underground. He spent the next five months evading capture by staying in several safe houses in Rotterdam. In one of the homes, owned by a Dr. Jappe-Alberts, a Jewish family – father, mother and eight-year-old daughter – hid up in the attic.

About six months ago, I received an email that sent shivers up my spine. It was from the same Jewish family’s daughter, now called Helen Cohen-Berman.

The tale of their reunion, with pictures and video, is well worth a few minutes of your time.

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