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Our story begins in Brooklyn, New York. There, we meet Grandma Sarah, a Holocaust survivor, and her daughter Hannah, who, born in wartime Warsaw but raised in the USA, feels nothing but resentment for Poland. Joined by Hannah’s son Abey, they become engaged in a heated argument over Sarah receiving a letter from Warsaw advising her that she has inherited a tenement building in the city where she was born. Sarah, confronted with this unexpected event, is thrust into memories of the war while at the same time remembering her beautiful pre-war Poland. She entrusts her grandson to go to Warsaw with the intent of a quick sale of the building.

 

There, Abey meets Alice, the daughter of the director of a theatre housed in the building, who takes him on a tour of Warsaw, followed by dinner with her father. In a surprise turn of events, the two men get into a heated argument over the “Jewish Question” and the “Polish Answer”, thus leaving Abey exasperated and angry. Retiring to his guest room in the building after the unfortunate dinner, Abey meets the ghost of the former owner of the building - Moishe, who takes him on a dream-like journey, tells him of the 1000-year co-existence of the Jewish and Polish communities and takes him to Ghetto 1942. There, Abey watches the story unfolding of how his grandmother, at 17, met the man she would fall in love with, by whom he would father a child, and because of whom he would escape and survive. Throughout the vision, Abey learns of secrets kept and truths unearthed that to this day of which had never been spoken.

 

Morning brings the surprise arrival of his mother and grandmother to Warsaw. The elderly lady leads her family to the basement of the building, where she finds the hidden diary she left behind after her escape. Many years later, she decides that time and events have presented the opportunity to reveal truths she has kept secret for 70 years to protect her family's name and the legend of the true origin of Abey’s grandfather, the man who perished by saving the lives of others.

 

In the end, all doubts are dispelled while hope and cooperation prevail in the hands of Abey and Alice, the new generation symbolizing a clearer path toward truth and understanding.

LETTER FROM WARSAW  - LIBRETTO
 

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