Nini Karpel was a Vienna-born Jew and though she was proud of her
heritage, she always considered herself Austrian first, Jewish
second. But when the Nazis invaded Austria, the Karpels quickly
became foreigners in their own homeland. Marginalized and
tormented, Nini realized that their only chance of survival would
be to flee. With her ailing mother and young brother, Nini lead the
family 7,000 miles across the sea to Shanghai. The Jews living in
Shanghai, a city occupied by the Japanese, were relegated to a
ghetto called Hongkew when Japan entered World War II. Facing
poverty, disease, and savagery unlike any that they had ever known,
Nini held the family together against all odds. Ten Green Bottles
is the true story of one family's struggle to overcome
suffering of biblical proportion. This fascinating biography
explores an aspect of the Jewish experience in WWII scarcely ever
discussed.
