In the summer of 2019, Karen traveled to Brno and Prague, CZ, and to Cornwall, England to research her mother’s past.  She spent 3 months working in archives, meeting with experts from the Jewish Museum of Prague and traveling to Terezin and Boskovice, Alexovice and other towns, to trace her mother’s 1939 journey from her Brno to England.

When Karen returned in the Fall of 2019, she knew that she needed to work full-time on the project.  She decided to retire from her school administrator’s position and dedicate her time, effort and finances to researching the family history.  

Jeffery Gary, a documentary filmmaker, learned of Karen’s project and offered to interview/film her to record her recent research trip “while it was still fresh in her mind.”  During the first 2 sessions of filming, Jeffery realized that the story of Karen’s mother’s family had all the components of a documentary film and he suggested that she consider telling the story on film first instead of writing a book — which she had originally planned to do.