In the northern Slovenian city of Murska Sobota stands the renowned
Hotel Dobray, once the gathering place of townspeople of all
nationalities and social strata who lived in this typical Pannonian
panorama on the fringe of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Due to its
historical and geographical particularities, the town had always been
home to numerous ethnically and culturally mixed communities that gave
it the charm and melos of Central-European identity. But now, in the
thick of World War II, the town is occupied by the Hungarian army.
Franz Schwartz's wife, Ellsie has for the past month been preparing
their son Isaac, a gifted violinist, for his first solo concert, which
is to take place at Hotel Dobray. Isaac is to perform on his bar mitzvah
and his 13th birthday on April 26, 1944. When the German army marches
into town and forces all Jews to display yellow stars on their clothes,
Ellsie advises her husband that the family should flee the town and
escape to Switzerland. Schwartz promises her he will obtain forged
documents, but not before Isaac performs his concert at the hotel.
A year later, in March 1945, Schwartz returns, on foot, from the
concentration camp as one of the few survivors.
