Eric Lucas's The Sovereigns is the tale of a close-knit family of German Jews during the Nazi era, when hatred and anti-Semitism destroyed an entire generation of families and the traditions they had created.

The family's story unfolds through the eyes of the author, who tells of his grandfather, a butcher in the small German village of Warden. A man of great learning and greater faith, he made certain that each day after work his nine children -- sons and daughters -- gathered around the table to study the Bible and prayer book in Hebrew. As the family grew, so did its prosperity and power, and the sons, daughters, and relatives became known as "the Sovereigns".

The rise of Nazism, however, challenged their strength and pride. Under the protection of the Nazi regime, anti-Semites settled old scores, and in Aachen they often targeted the more economically successful Viehjuden (Cattle Jews). New laws soon stripped Jewish meat dealers of their rights, and Aryan competitors eagerly forced them aside. But of course that was only the beginning. Lucas's memoir, written in the aftermath of the war, is a moving testament to the power of family.

ERIC LUCAS (1915-1996) Eric Lucas was born in Aachen, Germany, in 1915. Immediately after Kristallnacht he left Germany and eventually settled in Palestine, where he worked on a kibbutz and was active in the Zionist movement. The Sovereigns was written in Palestine immediately after World War II. Lucas died in Israel in 1996.