Agnes Joan Negra holding a copy of the book her son, Ronald, wrote about her experiences during World War II.

Agnes Joan Negra tried to do her part during World War II.

She was a young bride in Nutley while her husband was in Europe fighting and at one point was missing in action during the Battle of the Bulge.

Radio Berlin would broadcast the names of soldiers who had been captured, which Agnes could hear because she owned a short wave radio. While she listened for her husband’s name, she also wrote down the names of the other soldiers and then wrote to their families to let them know what she had heard.

The story of what she did was written down by her son Ronald E. Negra, who was born in Nutley and lived there until he went away to college. The resulting book, titled “Waves of Hope,” was published in 2020.

Agnes never told anyone in the family about what she did—except for her husband.

When she was approaching her 100th birthday, Ron began cleaning out her closets when he came across some old boxes.

“She wasn’t a hoarder, she was a collector,” he said. “Very organized.”

“I open it up and take a look,” said Ron. “There were over 200 letters and postcards. That’s how they communicated during the war. They were from the POW families. Parents, mothers, wives, families had no knowledge whether their loved ones were alive. They were in prison camps. For the most part many families knew nothing.”

On Radio Berlin, which was accessible only via short wave radio, they would give the name and the town of prisoners of war. Agnes would listen every night at 6 p.m. when they would announce five names. Then Agnes would write to their families.