A Place to Hide

By Ronald Balson

From the winner of the National Jewish Book Award.

A Place To Hide – Theodore “Teddy” Hartigan is the scion of a wealthy Washington DC family who place him into a comfortable job at the State Department and a placid diplomat’s career.

Making a difference under perilous circumstances

In 1938, Hitler’s inexorable rise continues. Teddy is re-assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Amsterdam to replace fleeing staff.

There, Teddy’s main responsibility is to process visa applications. By 1939, refugees from Nazi-occupied Poland, Austria and other countries are desperate for safe passage to America.

As Hitler advances through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Holland, restrictions grow harsher. One oppressive law after another threatens the lives, even the existence, of the Jewish people.

Later, Teddy and his girlfriend, Sara, meet an orphaned young girl named Katy. She has been abandoned at a nursery school. Without hesitation, they agree to adopt her.

Eventually, Teddy realises he holds the key to saving lives. He faces a choice: to save five, fifty, or even five hundred people.

Bravely, he decides to join underground groups. Using his position at the Consulate, he helps those with no other means of escape.

In this powerful and dramatic novel, National Jewish Book Award winner Ronald H. Balson’s A Place to Hide explores the courage of an ordinary man. Under dangerous conditions, Teddy resolves to make a profound difference.

About the author

Ronald Balson is an attorney, professor and writer. His novel The Girl From Berlin won the National Jewish Book Award and was the Illinois Reading Council’s adult fiction selection for their Illinois Reads program.

He is also the author of The Righteous, An Affair of Spies, Defending Britta Stein, Eli’s Promise, Karolina’s Twins,The Trust, Saving Sophie, and the international bestseller Once We Were Brothers. He has appeared on many television and radio programs and has lectured nationally and internationally on his writing.