The Unforgotten Prayer - A World War II Story
There are few more horrible events in recent history than the Holocaust of World War II. Those events – and their aftermath – are the subject of films and stories every year.
In "The Unforgotten Prayer" novelist Danny Rittman tackles a unique and difficult subject: the relationship between a former Nazi with his Jewish neighbors.
Johann Kraus – as he was known now – had been an SS officer in Nazi Germany. He had overseen the capture and execution of Hitler’s enemies. He escaped Berlin at the end of the war and made a new life – a new face, new home and new name – in America. He was content with his new life, until his newest neighbors turned out to be a Jewish couple that insisted on adopting him into their family.
Johann’s continuing involvement with young Samuel Rosenberg, and his parents Ann and Elliot, forces him to relive many of the traumatic memories of his youth. His quiet escape is threatened. He suffers nightmares and flashbacks as he becomes closer to his Jewish godson.
The Unforgotten Prayer is a poignant exploration of the question of whether or not the love and friendship of a Jewish family help Johann atone for the sins of his youth.
3 Time winner in the LA Book-To-Screen PitchFest.
This is my story - my life from the horrors of war and slaughter to the travails of change and atonement. For much of my life I lived in fear that my past would catch up to me. I hid my beliefs and prejudices and walked among the gentle, unsuspecting people of a small American town. I am, or was, an embodiment of madness, atrocity, cruelty and horror.
I had selling book rights for film to remind myself how to behave, react and interact with those around me. I could not pick my friends, neighbors or the people I would like to associate with. I could not express my desires and thoughts. I could not do what I wanted to do. I was locked inside a mad world without the ability to make any contribution, as I used to do - during the war and before it.
Friends and neighbors? I shunned them. Social groups and religious organizations? I shunned them as well. Often I thought it better to turn myself in or die one way or another - just to get everything over with.
That changed one day - a miraculous day when a young child came into my life and helped me back into life, reappraisal, and a quest for atonement.
That young child was Jewish.
And I am a former SS officer.