Author’s work reunites former POW with Holocaust survivor
August 24, 2011
By Staff
Thanks to the curiosity and perseverance of a former North Bend resident, a World War II veteran will be reunited with a woman he met 67 years ago in Holland while hiding from German security forces.
The reunion is the result of a self-published book written by James Keefe III about the experiences of his father, Jim Keefe Jr., during the war. The elder Keefe served as a bomber pilot until he was shot down over Holland. He evaded capture for several months with the help of the Dutch resistance.
Jim Keefe Jr., sits in the cockpit of his B-24 Liberator during World War II.
But his attempts to reach England and rejoin his unit, the 389th Bombardment Group, ended in his arrest after a double agent told German forces about his whereabouts. He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war.
James Keefe III lives in Fall City and formerly lived in North Bend. He published the book, “Two Gold Coins and a Prayer,” in 2010. His father lives in Bellevue.
The book won the 2011 Next Generation INDIE Book Award for Historical/Legacy/Career Memoir and the 2011 Independent Book Publishers Benjamin Franklin Award for Autobiography/Memoir.
While in hiding, Jim Keefe Jr., met Helen Berman-Cohen, who was 8 years old at the time. A dentist and his wife in Rotterdam hid Keefe, Berman-Cohen and five others.
Keefe knew that she had survived the war, but didn’t know anything more. His son’s book helped reunite the two former fugitives.
Berman-Cohen now lives in Israel and will travel next month to Bellevue to visit with Keefe and his family.
James Keefe III will discuss his book, his father’s experience and the reunion at 2 p.m. Aug. 27, at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
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