Ruth's daughter, Renée Tyack, has written a book about the family's fortunes, entitled They Called Her Cassandra.

Author Renée said: "My mother's family fought for the Kaiser during the First World War and my father's family owned a department store in Leipzig - both families were highly assimilated into German society.

"However, my mother's predictions came true, so we called her Cassandra."

Born Renée Bergmann in Leipzig in 1934, her earliest memories are of being questioned by the Gestapo at the age of four.

She recalled: "My father, Fred, was a surgeon, but his treatment was unusual because, even though he was under house arrest, he was able to continue with his work.

"Most other Jewish doctors had been banned from practising.

"My father hid other Jews, but I was told not to say anything when the Gestapo spoke to me. There was a fearful atmosphere and I remember the jackboots on the table."

But the net tightened on the family and with the help of British Quakers, the Bergmanns - who changed their name to Brent on arrival in Britain - moved to Marple, near Stockport.

Her mother started to make notes of what had happened in Germany and she kept them in a box under her bed.

However, they were thrown away accidentally by a house help and she did not want to write it all again.

The foreword to the book is by Oscar-winning Jewish playwright Ronald Harwood, who Renée met when she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after the family had moved to Wanstead, east London.

Renée said: "My mother actually wanted to be an actress, but at the time, her father thought that akin to working the streets.

"I met Ronald at RADA and sent him the manuscript for the book and he wrote back, saying he did remember me."

Renée, who now lives in south Ealing, went on to work in theatre and television, appearing in programmes such as Dixon of Dock Green and Emergency Ward 10.

She also spent time at the Colchester and Nottingham Repertory companies and preferred theatre because "you're so much more in touch with your audience".

But she only got into writing when she retired at 67, enrolling on a night course.

Renée recalled: "Originally we were in a big group, but the facilitator there moved to the South Bank and three of us moved with him.

"It was intense, but creative as well. I wrote the book for my five children and six grandchildren."

She has been married twice. Her first husband was award-winning Polish production designer and director Voytek Roman.

She said: "He was a member of the Polish underground during the Second World War and looked Jewish. We are still in touch."

She then married Cornishman Christopher 'Tim' Tyack, but they are divorced, too.

"I am still looking for a nice, Jewish man," Renée laughed.

She went back to her hometown for the first time two years ago, accompanied by her brother Tommy.

Renée said: "It was an emotional rollercoaster. My mum, who died in 1993, never wanted me to go back to Germany.

"She was still angry about everything, she hated Germans. I was dreading it, but the people there were so nice.

"The schoolchildren of Leipzig are being taught what happened and there is a museum there which tells the story.

"We also went back to our old house, which still looked the same."

After her mother died, she started research on the book and used to have lunch with her father, who was now in his 80s, taking a tape recorder to record his memories of Germany.

Renée explained: "He was very good with knowing the dates of particular occasions. He remembered with such clarity, but there was a lot of emotion there, too."

Her father, who died in 2000, and mother handed Renée and her brother over to a non-Jewish couple on arrival in Marple.

Renée said: "At that time, in 1940, it looked like the Nazis would invade Britain, which would have meant big trouble.

"We were baptised and had to hide the fact we were Jewish for a long time and it is something I regret.

"But I am an atheist and I envy people who have faith."

They Called Her Cassandra is published by Book Guild Publishing, priced £16.99