Book Talk: The Unspeakable by Nicola Hanefeld

Join us for a book talk with Nicola Hanefield and Julia Waring as they discuss a new work exploring Holocaust family history research, In collaboration with the

Researching one’s family history means venturing into the unknown. Nicola Hanefeld discovered that when an old passport (issued in 1935) unexpectedly fell into her life in 2004. The owner of the passport was her grandfather’s older sister—but why had Nicola never heard of this great-aunt while growing up in England?

The truth about unmentioned relatives who were German-speaking Czech Jews murdered by the Nazis slowly came to light. Through Nicola’s research, lost family members regained their identity.

Stirring unpublished writings by relatives who had survived World War II surfaced, revealing the quiet side of the Holocaust: expropriation, involuntary emigration, identity issues, and suicide. Nicola Hanefeld and Julia Waring (Nicola’s cousin) will recount their moving and thought-provoking journeys as they broke their family’s long silence about the past.

Nicola Hanefeld was born in 1958 in London and grew up in England, unaware of her Jewish heritage. She has lived in Freiburg in south-west Germany since 1981. Shortly before her father died, he shared never previously mentioned facts about his family. Her father’s revelations sent Nicola on a heart-breaking journey to discover the Holocaust trauma silently embedded in her family. As she is fluent in German, she could understand the historical documents in German which surprisingly came to light during her research.

Nicola has a combined BSc (Hons) in Botany and Zoology, a PhD in maternal health and is a freelance Alexander Technique coach. Her book The Unspeakable. Breaking my Family’s Silence Surrounding the Holocaust was published by Lisebeth Heenk, Amsterdam Pubishers in 2025. Nicola has three grown-up children and three grandchildren.

Julia Waring has had a successful career in the television industry, becoming a series producer before weighing up the work/life balance of programme making. Thereafter, with the help of her boss, she moved to a staff job as Head of Talent at a major independent production company. For the last 20 years of her television career, Julia recruited production staff on commission and ran an internship program which introduced new entrants into the industry. This internship program has been a privilege and delight as Julia has watched their achievements over the years.

Julia left tv in 2021. Knowing it would be wise to have an exit plan, in 2017 she trained to be a Family Mediator. Julia gained experience in that field alongside her tv job, and she now has a practice with three other mediators which helps divorcing or separating couples to make decisions about arrangements for children and their finances, rather than a court doing so on their behalf.

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