AuthorHouse Hollywood Treatment Date 3/9/12
The Grayling by Cheryl Freier
Screenplay treatment by Sean M. Dunne
Mission Statement:
The Grayling is the heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to survive in the Czechoslovakian wilderness while being sought out for extermination by the Nazis during World War Two. The easily identifiable characters and the dangers they face while fighting to survive make this a film that audiences of all ages and backgrounds will be drawn to. The story seamlessly blends romance and humor with fast-paced action and tense thrill sequences to bring the viewer a glimpse of what it must have been like during one o the darkest times in human history.
The small cast and intimate settings are what set this World War Two tale apart from so many others. Instead of offering the viewer a large sweeping view of the conflict, The Grayling gives the reader a more poignant look at what it was like for the individual, rather than the masses, to face the horrors of the relentless Nazi war machine.
The film story blends Cheryl Freier’s narrative with the mood of Martin Freier’s poetry to bring a unique perspective to a widely explored and heavily produced subject matter.
Logline:
A Jewish family struggles to survive in the forests outside of their Czechoslovakian village after escaping the clutches of the Nazi war machine. Their determination, resourcefulness and love for each other are all they have to defend against the threats of both man and nature as they ride out the horror that was the Second World War.

TITLE INFORMATION
THE GRAYLING
Hidden Truths: Poems By Martin Freier
Freier, Cheryl
AuthorHouse (156 pp.)
$23.99 hardcover, $14.95 paperback, $3.99 e-book
ISBN: 978-1468524062; January 9, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
In a novel about faith and fortitude, a Jewish family escapes to the woods and struggles to survive there after Nazis
invade their Czechoslovakian town.
In the 1940s, war seems far away to the Freiers. Joseph, the patriarch, provides for his middle-class family—his wife,
three sons and a daughter—by running the lumberyard in their Czechoslovakian town. Then the Nazis begin purging the
area of Jews. The Freiers manage to escape each time the Germans round them up. The first time, they return home after
trying to buy passage to Switzerland. The next time, they slip away in the chaos before the Nazis can herd them onto the
concentration camp–bound trains. After that, Joseph’s foreman gets them special dispensation to stay in town. They also
buy forged papers and live as Christians until, at last, they escape into the woods. On their own, they struggle to survive,
with help from Joseph’s talent with a hammer, their knowledge of wildlife, and their commitment to faith and one
another. Their lives constantly at risk, the family’s saga might have made for a powerful, uplifting tale if the book had
developed the characters better. As it is, the Freiers lack individuality. Except for Sam, the eldest son, and Martin, the
narrator, the characters don’t acquire distinctive personalities. They speak in platitudes and have implausible
conversations. Their story moves about in a haphazard way as it jumps for no apparent reason from Martin’s first-person
perspective to a third-person point of view. The book also unnecessarily repeats paragraphs, which adds to the confusion,
as do what appear to be significant skips in time. However, the novel has undeniable charm that derives in part from the
strong family bond it describes. The story offers a unique glimpse of life in a Jewish ghetto and what happens, physically
and emotionally, when the persecuted must literally run for their lives.
Harrowing in its realism yet not fully developed.
Kirkus Indie, Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson Rd., Austin, TX 78744
indie@kirkusreviews.com
I am sending this message all across America:
I am the wife of a survivor of the Holocaust. My husband’s name was Martin Freier. He was a survivor from Micholovce, Slovakia. For the Passover holidays, you must listen to him singing most of the well-known Passover songs. Anyone can hear his singing on the website: www.thegraylinghiddentruthpoems.com. Martin was a Cantor with a voice that resonated with every note and with a voice with a special ring that was incomparable. Treat yourself to Martin’s singing as you eat the macaroon, and pieces of cake, and drink the Passover wine. Play his songs for the seder. Sing along with his melodious rendition of each song. Martin was liberated on Passover. Celebrate his liberation in spirit with love. Think that his liberation was your liberation. I am the wife of a survivor of the Holocaust. If you wish to read poems that he wrote, you may do so by reading the book: The Day of the Hidden Truth Poems. Thanks
Cheryl Freier

I am sending this message all across America:
I am the wife of a survivor of the Holocaust. My husband’s name was Martin Freier. He was a survivor from Micholovce, Slovakia. For the Passover holidays, you must listen to him singing most of the well-known Passover songs. Anyone can hear his singing on the website: www.thegraylinghiddentruthpoems.com. Martin was a Cantor with a voice that resonated with every note and with a voice with a special ring that was incomparable. Treat yourself to Martin’s singing as you eat the macaroon, and pieces of cake, and drink the Passover wine. Play his songs for the seder. Sing along with his melodious rendition of each song. Martin was liberated on Passover. Celebrate his liberation in spirit with love. Think that his liberation was your liberation. I am the wife of a survivor of the Holocaust. If you wish to read poems that he wrote, you may do so by reading the book: The Day of the Hidden Truth Poems. Thanks
Cheryl Freier

I am the wife of a survivor of the Holocaust. My husband’s name was Martin Freier. He was a survivor from Micholovce, Slovakia. For the Passover holidays, you must listen to him singing most of the well-known Passover songs. Anyone can hear his singing on the website: www.thegraylinghiddentruthpoems.com. Martin was a Cantor with a voice that resonated with every note and with a voice with a special ring that was incomparable. Treat yourself to Martin’s singing as you eat the macaroon, and pieces of cake, and drink the Passover wine. Play his songs for the seder. Sing along with his melodious rendition of each song. Martin was liberated on Passover. Celebrate his liberation in spirit with love. Think that his liberation was your liberation. I am the wife of a survivor of the Holocaust. Cheryl Freier

The Passover holiday is coming soon! Listen to Cantor Martin Freier singing all of the Passover songs on the website: www.thegraylinghiddentruthpoems.com. Passover was such a special holiday for Martin. He and his family were liberated from the Nazis in Slovakia on Passover. Read about all of his experiences as a young boy in Nazi Slovakia. There are six novels written about his experiences. Read the novel The Grayling Hidden Truth Poems and revisit the enchanted small cabin that the family found when they celebrated their first Passover after the war finally ended. Cheryl Freier

Excerpts from the presentation: “The Holocaust will remain forever an indelible blotch of cruelty in history, one that unfortunately cannot be erased or corrected. It can only be told about and it must be talked about for it then becomes a deterrent for it happening again. Stories of struggles must be told from generation from generation. Stories of survival must be told over and over again so that the Holocaust never happens again.

In remembrance of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, read Cheryl Freier’s books on the fine-tuned website: www.thegraylinghiddentruthpoems.com. The novels are written to commemorate all the innocent, good people who perished during the Holocaust. There are six novels and an additional one is being completed. Read them all to get a clear picture of the history at that time, which was only 70 years ago. We have a lot to be grateful for. Thanks. Cheryl Freier

“WONDERING
Written by Martin Freier
Wondering why
The sun in the sky
Makes each day
A new day.
Why do the moon and stars
Light up the sky at night?
Wondering why
In all this beauty
And plenty
There’s still no Justice or
Liberty.
Why is there so much
Inhumanity?
Why are so many
Of our brethren ill fed,
Just left in the gutter
Lying dead?
Is there a need
To question
Your neighbor’s creed,
While the innocent bleed?
Amid this God’s creation of
Wonder,
Why do we allow
Wars and plunder
And missiles that kill
With their thunder.
I keep wondering
Whether mankind will ever
Unite
In a common cause that is
Right,
So that children can sleep at
Night.
Will there ever be an end to
Strife
And the taking of innocent life?”

“WONDERING
Written by Martin Freier
Wondering why
The sun in the sky
Makes each day
A new day.
Why do the moon and stars
Light up the sky at night?
Wondering why
In all this beauty
And plenty
There’s still no Justice or
Liberty.
Why is there so much
Inhumanity?
Why are so many
Of our brethren ill fed,
Just left in the gutter
Lying dead?
Is there a need
To question
Your neighbor’s creed,
While the innocent bleed?
Amid this God’s creation of
Wonder,
Why do we allow
Wars and plunder
And missiles that kill
With their thunder.
I keep wondering
Whether mankind will ever
Unite
In a common cause that is
Right,
So that children can sleep at
Night.
Will there ever be an end to
Strife
And the taking of innocent life?”

Anna’s Christmas Hidden Truth Poems is a story about a woman who is hiding in the woods of Slovakia with her family in the oppressive time of the Nazis in December of 1944. She and her family find salvation, and sanctity, and survive on food that local people bring to her from a nearby town. Written from a true story that took place in Slovakia in World War II, it is one of the most powerful stories that I have ever heard and written about. Cheryl Freier

Anna’s Christmas Hidden Truth Poems Is A Must Read
Anna’s Christmas Hidden Truth Poems tells the story about following personal convictions and doing the right thing even in face of reprisal by the Nazis. People near the town of Micholovce, Slovakia followed their hearts and brought food to the poor, and the starving, and the dying who were hiding from the Nazis in the woods. A must read.