Else Blumenstein had little time if she wanted to stay alive. Her husband, Franz, was one of the 3000 Jews the Nazis beat and humiliated during the famous "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom in Vienna. Without hesitation, she sold everything she owned gave it up to free her beloved from the Dachau concentration camp and embark with her son Heinz, just three years old, in the apparent security provided by the St Louis luxury cruise bound for the port of Havana. In May 1939, the San Luis, with 936 Jewish refugees on board, sailed from Hamburg in search of the Promised Land. At the stern, Heinz, clinging to the arms of Else said goodbye to his father, who could not board. However, Franz Blumenstein got a plane ticket to Venezuela and from there he would manage to reach the Cuban capital. The departure of the transatlantic had extensive coverage of the German Ministry of Propaganda. Adolf Hitler intended to show the world that his Reich was willing to allow free movement of the Jews if they so wished. Unfortunately for the Jews, "the salvation of the San Luis" was a detailed plan orchestrated by the Gestapo (secret police of Nazi...

The smell of death was all over Eugenio Casimiro Rodríguez Carta. His lofty figure portrayed a weird desire to kill someone. In public he was always quiet, nicely dressed, but everyone knew he was a born thug, one that would draw his gun and shoot anyone just because he felt like doing it. Since young death chose him, took him in and offered him a job that most of the times involved a shot in the head. Perfectly aware of the fact that he had been born to die, this handsome man from San Jose de las Lajas, lived the future next few hours would bring. However, his agitated existence as hired assassin took an unexpected turn by changing a certain death per a fortuitous love that would save him from that misfortune and would grant him a seat in the Conservative Party for three terms in a row. He was certainly lucky. Though it may seem strange, the story of Eugenio Casimiro Rodríguez Carta, who called himself “the toughest man among Cubans”, started as a law enforcement official in his hometown and, with a wonderful résumé, was transferred to Cienfuegos where he became the chief of police. It is...