For Maria

Thousands of Jewish “hidden” children disappeared into the vortex of a horrific war. And Madeline, a freelance journalist, is driven to find two of them…her long-lost aunts.

December, 1939.
When the Gestapo haul Izaak and Maria Szpilmann away to Ravensbrück, their twin infants are left behind to die. Instead, neighbors Gustaw and Ròsa Dudek rescue the babies and flee occupied Poland. They are never heard from again.

Today.
Maria Szpilmann has survived Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen. Now she is grandmother to Madeline Sommers, a young journalist who, despite the odds, passionately clings to the belief that the lost twins are still alive. Her single-minded mission is to find them—and reunite them with her failing grandmother—before it’s too late.

“Tough topic handled with accuracy, overflowing in compassion, and spiced with joys of life despite appalling circumstances, For Maria is an absorbing novel.”
—Tessa Stockton, Descendant of a hidden child and author of The Unforgivable

The stunning sequel to the beloved Katia


“Bruce Judisch’s explorations of history are reminiscent of the best of Bodie Thoene or Tricia Goyer. You won’t regret taking this journey.”
—Eric Wilson, NY Times bestselling author of Fireproof and Two Seconds Late