Tova Friedman was born in 1938, just one year before the outbreak of the Second World War. She was one of thousands of Jewish children living in the Polish town of Tomaszów Mazowiecki at the time. By the war's end, only five children from Tomaszów were still alive. Tova is one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz and a campaigner against anti- Semitism. She was the director of a non-profit social service agency for twenty-five years. She is a therapist, and lives in Highland Park in New Jersey, US.

Malcolm Brabant is an award-winning British former BBC war correspondent, who witnessed genocide in Bosnia. He is now a Foreign Correspondent for America's PBS Newshour, with several accolades to his name. He met Tova at the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Birkenau, and they became firm friends. He lives in Brighton.