but by the mid1920s, sussman and lev emerged as one of the outside standing jewish dell ka testens in east baltimore. who knows what jacob sussman's fate would have been on the eastern front during world war i or during the bolshevik revolution or the russian civil war, let alone under communism and naziism in east europe. instead, he ended up living a solidly middle class american life, and was the father of sons who won combat medals for bravery during world war ii in korea. his mother's story is more harrowing. she came to america alone, at the age of 13, in september 1938, from nazi germany. after crystal night her parents and little brother eventually joined her, they were obviously the lucky ones. they had american relatives who signed papers for them, high level political connections, sufficient funds, and a transatlantic network to get them into this country. but the story which really shapes me is a very different one. after arriving safely in america in 1939, my maternal grandfather max psaki worked tirelessly to bring others out of nazi germany. he even returned to germany