The Beginning Henri Daniel (Hans) Wallig was born to a famous Jewish musician, Henri Hartog Wallig, and his narcissistic wife, Aleida. Energetic, often mischievous, and sometimes reckless, he had a difficult childhood. Hope Hans was a talented actor, writer, entrepreneur, and salesman, but stickability was a challenge. He met and married the beautiful, kind-hearted Esther Mok in 1933, and they had two beautiful daughters and an adorable son. Life should have been wonderful–except. War World War II began, and the Netherlands was occupied. Hans and Esther were forced to leave their beloved Meriam, Edith, and Hansje in a children’s home and go into hiding themselves. It was to no avail. Like 60,000 other Dutch Jews, almost the entire family ended up in Auschwitz (Hansje died before arrival). How was it that Hans ended up as one of the mere 1,150 who survived? How did he recover? More to the point, did he? Wait for it! In a book that will hopefully be published in 2028, you’ll hear Hans’s story as if from his own lips. The true story of an Auschwitz survivor.