 Brothers to the Death reveals that Jimmy's father, James, was a Holocaust survivor who was rescued by Kurda Smahlt from Nazi death camps.Jimmy appears himself later in the novel, where he is with Gavner Purl to attend a performance of the Cirque's in 1960s New York City.It is revealed James' family worked as morticians before the Second World War, although it is commented that Jimmy is staying in a similar field of work to that of his family.