The grandparents of Nottingham Liberal Synagogue member Angela Strach from Brno, in the Czech Republic, were deported to Theresienstadt in 1942 and tragically murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz in 1944.

Like so many others, their story seemed destined to be lost to history. However, an extraordinary discovery brought a piece of their legacy back to life.

Angela says: “I received an unexpected message from someone working at the Old/New Synagogue in Prague. They had found a prayer book in their archive with an inscription bearing my grandfather’s name. When I travelled to Prague and collected the machzor, I experienced a profound feeling of connection with the grandfather I never knew.

“A group from the Brno Jewish Community heard my story, and with my permission and help, created a play based on this miraculous return. In fact, it inspired an initiative called the Library of Stolen Hopes – aiming to return thousands of such books inscribed with the names of their owners.”

The prayer book is but one fragment of a collection of 12,000 liturgical volumes confiscated from Jews in concentration camps located in present-day Czech Republic. As part of the Library of Stolen Hopes project, the Brno Jewish Community is currently in the process of archiving the long-lost books in order to try and return them to the descendants of the rightful owners.

The play, A Story of a Book, will be performed on Thursday 6 February at Westminster Synagogue. The evening will include a Q&A with Angela and a talk from the Chief Rabbi of Brno, Rabbi Stepan Menashe Kliment, on the Library of Stolen Hopes.

Find out more and book tickets here.