Dan Sonnenschein knew Vrba mainly via his mother, Bronia Sonnenschein, an author and a remarkable Holocaust educator.

Sonnenschein attended Vrba’s Kristallnacht Commemoration speech in which Vrba discussed the theft and robbery of the Jewish people. He mentions the book, Pack of Thieves, by Richard Chesnoff, that was first printed in 1999–more than 50 years after Rudolf Vrba had come to the same conclusions.

Dan Sonnenschein learned about his mother’s sufferings in The Lodz Ghetto and subsequent events. His mother and aunt were recorded talking about their experiences in 1978.

Sonnenschein recounts a story he heard about when two students went to ask Vrba some questions after he had given a talk. Apparently he was dismissive and brusque with them, for which he was admonished by his wife, Robin. Unless you were his friend, Vrba was capable of being intimidating to others.