Last Jew in Prague

Summary

While struggling to survive a freezing rainy night in the desert, a homeless man recalls what his grandfather struggled to survive many years earlier and how his connection to this upended his own life.

Hermann was the best police detective in Prague's Jewish district of Josefov until the Nazis occupy the city and deport its Jews. He finds himself in Theresienstadt concentration camp waiting his turn to die.

One night he receives a visit from an SS captain named Klaus, who'd been his friend in college before their falling-out over Hermann's future wife Ana. Klaus offers Hermann his freedom if he can discover who murdered three SS officers found near synagogues in Josefov, and he threatens to shoot him if he refuses.

Not believing the offer and reeling from the recent loss of Ana, Hermann only agrees to help because of a promise that he'd made to her. But as he delves into the case, he feels it's leading him somewhere and becomes driven to solve it. The two men, in spite of tensions that are threatening to boil over, uncover the pursuit of a mysterious object hidden beneath the synagogues. Which leads them toward both the killer and Hermann's fate.

A novel that blends historical fiction, mystery, and magic realism, Last Jew in Prague is about lifting yourself up when all you want to do is keep falling. But it's more than a novel.

I was your typical urban professional before struggling with homelessness and depression. This story inspired me forward, and I hope you find it as inspiring.