How do you go on living after treachery has destroyed your world? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, some answers -- from a child of Holocaust survivors, a defendeer of Hmong refugees, and an Englishman who read his East German police file -- all three hundred pages of it. Also, finding comfort in the Blues.

Jane Hamilton-Merritt tells Jim Fleming about the Hmong people, their defeat by the Communists, and forcible repatriation (to almost certain death) in Laos; and assesses the prospects for the Hmong in America. Her book is "Tragic Mountains: the Hmong, the Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942 - 1992." Also, Julie Salamon tells Steve Paulson about her trip back to Eastern Europe with her Holocaust survivor mother, and how hard her parents worked to give their children an idyllic American childhood. Salamon's book is "The Net of Dreams: A Family's Search for a Rightful Place."

Historian and journalist Timothy Garton Ash talks with Judith Strasser about his STASI (East German Secret Police) file; and the issues of betrayal and survival faced by all East Germans prior to German unification. His book is "The File: A Personal History."

Novelist Robert Hellenga sets his latest book "The Fall of a Sparrow" in the emotional aftermath of a family's loss of their daughter in a terrorist bombing. Hellenga tells Jim Fleming how his protagonist puts his life back together, in part by finding solace in playing Blues guitar. We also hear Hellenga discuss and perform part of "Jelly Roll Baker."

Distribution dates:

• week of 08/30/98 - hour 1
• week of 08/08/99 - hour 1