Jewish Family Saga

"Jews drink the blood of Christian babies. They use it for their rituals. They are evil and they consort with the devil." The belief is called the Blood Libel. In a small town in upstate New York in 1928, four-year-old Evelyn Wilson goes missing. Instantly, old prejudices claw to the surface. As a frenzy of panic and bloodlust overwhelms all reason, the community turns on the Schatzman family. A terrible witch hunt follows. The Schatzmans' young son is accused of horrifying crimes. As their life in America falls apart, leaving nothing but anguish and devastation, some of the Schatzmans decide to return home to Berlin. But Germany in the 1930s is no safe harbor. Based on actual events, Not in America explores hidden hatreds, simmering resentments, and the short path separating civilization from horrific violence.

Since her return home to Berlin, Goldie Schatzman has reconnected with her childhood friend, Leni, a free spirit who has swept Goldie into the Weimar lifestyle that is overflowing with artists and writers, but also with debauchery. Goldie had spent the last nineteen years living a dull life with a spiritless husband. And now she has been set free. As Goldie's daughter, Alma, is coming of marriageable age, her grandparents are determined to find her a suitable match. Will Goldie's life of depravity hurt Alma's chances to find a Jewish husband? All the while the SA, a preclude to the Nazi SS, is gaining strength. Leaving a nightclub one night, Goldie finds herself caught in the middle of a demonstration that has turned violent. She is rescued by Felix, a member of the SA, who is immediately charmed by her blonde hair and Aryan appearance. Goldie is living a lie, and her secrets are bound to catch up with her. A girl, who she'd scorned in the past, is now a proud member of the Nazi Party and still carries a deep-seated vendetta against Goldie. When Goldie's son, Sam, receives word that something has happened in Germany, he must accompany his father on a journey across the ocean.

In New York, prohibition has ended, and Sam's world is turned upside down. The mob boss realizes he must expand his illegal interests if he is going to continue to live his lavish lifestyle. Some of the jobs Sam is offered go against his moral character. Transporting alcohol was one thing, but threatening lives is another. For the first time since that horrible incident in Medina, Alma is finally happy and has fallen in love with a kind and generous Italian doctor who already has a job awaiting him in Rome; however, he is not Jewish. In Berlin, the Nazis are rising to power. Adolf Hitler disposed of his enemies, and the SA has been replaced by the even more terrifying SS. After the horrors they witnessed during Kristallnacht, Goldie's mother is ready to abandon all she knows to escape the country. She begs her husband to leave Germany. But he refuses to leave everything that he spent his entire life working for. The Nazis have taken the country by the throat. The period of artistic tolerance and debauchery has been replaced by a strict and cruel regime that seeks to destroy all who do not fit its ideal. Goldie's path of depravity is catching up with her, and her secrets are threatened.

When an old enemy from the KKK, who had once tormented Sam Schatzman, appears back in his life, will he rise above his hatred, or will he allow it to consume him? In Berlin, Esther and Ted Birnbaum are faced with leaving everything and everyone they love behind in an effort to survive Hitler's vicious attack on the Jews of Germany. They have no one to turn to for help except their oldest employee, Hans Hubermann. But Hans's son, Erwin, is showing great promise in the Hitler Youth, and Luisa, a longtime enemy of the Birnbaums', has taken notice of Erwin's advancements in the organization. Does she realize Erwin is Hans's son, and that Hans is connected to the Birnbaums? And if she does, what will the ramifications of this be? In Rome, the Nazis are rounding up all the Jewish people in the ghetto. When Lory hears this, he becomes desperate. His wife, Alma, is Jewish, and he must find a way to save her. When three doctors at a Roman Catholic hospital approach him with a brilliant but dangerous plan, Lory and Alma must decide whether they are willing to take the risk of joining these three antifascists or try to escape from Italy on their own.