Book Description
With the raw emotion of The Diary of Anne Frank, Mona Golabek's powerful memoir is a poignant story of tragedy and triumph in a time of war. Famed concert pianist Mona Golabek shares the inspirational true story of her mother's escape from pre-World War II Vienna to an orphanage in London-243 Willesden Lane. 'The music will give you strength....it will be your best friend in life.' With these words-the last she would ever hear from her mother-ringing in her ears, young piano prodigy Lisa Jura boarded the Kindertransport and headed for safety. Amidst the dozens of Jewish refugees trying to make their way in war-torn London, Lisa forms indelible friendships, finds romance, and, against all odds, wins a scholarship to study piano at the Royal Academy of London. This is a stunning testament to the power of music to lift the human spirit and to grant the soul endurance, patience, and peace.
Customer Reviews:
The Power of Music .......2007-09-01
author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family
from the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
August 30, 2002
Vienna, 1938. In the city of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Strauss, 14-year-old musical prodigy Lisa Jura looks forward to a promising career as a concert pianist. Hitler has other plans. With the breaking of glass on Kristallnacht, Jura's dreams are shattered.
Internationally celebrated concert pianist Mona Golabek, with journalist and poet Lee Cohen, has crafted a loving, lyrical tribute to her mother, Lisa Jura, in "The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival."
Jura was one of 10,000 Jewish children saved from the Nazis by the British and sent on the Kindertransport to safety from Eastern Europe. Already being compared to "The Diary of Anne Frank," this simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting tale weaves together the stories that Golabek's mother told her about prewar Austria; the gut-wrenching separation from her family; life at the orphanage on Willesden Lane; and the power of music to help her survive.
As Jura's mother, Malka, puts her on the train, she says the prophetic words that will sustain and inspire her daughter and future generations: "Hold on to your music. Let it be your best friend."
In a world turned ugly, the beauty of music becomes Jura's strength, and, against tremendous odds, with the help and encouragement of the 30 other displaced children at the orphanage, she wins a scholarship to London's Royal Academy.
"Each kid saw something in my mother's music that reminded them of what they had left behind in Czechoslovakia, in Austria, in Germany," says Golabek, a Grammy-nominated artist, "and that's what I tried to do in the story, not only to pay homage to my mother, but to all these kids and to their bravery."
The book opens with Jura's tantalizing daydream of performing in a great concert hall and closes with the fulfillment of that dream, as she makes her debut before an exhilarated crowd. And in between, the pages burst with melody: Jura pounding the cadenza of the Grieg "Piano Concerto" to drown out the sounds of bombs during London's blitz, Jura visualizing Chopin fleeing a flaming Warsaw as she struggles with the somber coda of the "Ballade," Jura remembering her mother's Sabbath candles as she plays the solemn opening of Beethoven's "Pathetique."
"My mom and her mother never cared if a piece is in C major. What really counts is the passion behind it, the image. If it's `Clair de Lune,' imagine the moon over a desert island. That imagination allowed her to survive the horrors of what she experienced, because a C-major chord will not inspire you through the horrors. It's the moonlight, the idea that maybe the composer wrote it for someone he loved. These things inflamed her imagination, and that's how she inflamed mine."
And now Golabek's book will inflame the imagination of a whole new generation. The Milken Family Foundation, together with Facing History and Ourselves, an educational organization that teaches tolerance to 1 million students annually, are working with Golabek to bring the story to schools across the country by developing a companion curriculum guide.
Plans are under way to launch the book in Austria, and make it available to teachers as part of the now mandatory four-year Holocaust education program for students.
The saga of Golabek's 18-year struggle to get the story published is almost as harrowing as her mother's story itself. "It went through many, many writings; many, many ups and downs, starts and disappointments," Golabek says.
Now the accolades and offers are pouring in. On Sept. 24, she will be an honored guest speaker at the California Governor's Conference for Women at the Long Beach Convention Center and will appear at Beth Am on Nov. 17 with her sister, pianist Renee Golabek-Kaye, and Jura's four grandchildren, all musicians: Michele, 16; Sarah, 14; Jonathan, 8; and Rachel, 7. Brandeis University will honor her at the Skirball Cultural Center next March 31.
Last week Golabek was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition and was the subject of a feature story by Andy Meisler of the New York Times. In the planning stages is a concert next year co-sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Austrian government. And, of course, Golabek is considering movie offers.
On her syndicated radio show, "The Romantic Hours," which highlights stirring writings against a musical backdrop (Saturdays at 10 p.m., 105.1 FM), Golabek often quotes the poet Jean Paul Richter: "Life fades and withers behind us, but of our immortal and sacred soul all that remains is music."
"That was a quote my mother taught me, and the whole reason why I wrote this book and why I created `The Romantic Hours' was that my mother felt through words and through music our souls would be immortalized."
Excellent read.......2007-08-15
This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you are a musician, you will fall in love with it. The story is inspiring and moving and will make you appreciate music to the greatest extent possible.
Fantastic!.......2007-07-29
Full of history. Easy to follow. Great read for young and old alike.
A Must Read for Parents and their children........2007-02-05
This is a story which every parent should read to their children. Talk about the history of WW2 and discuss the extremes of humanity. A book which once read you will never forget.
An Emotional Journey.......2005-07-18
What can I add that hasn't already been said on this page? Except that I hope you will read this book if you haven't already and that you will share it with any young people you know. Mona Golabek has written a sincere, heartfelt memoir of her mother during World War II, enriched by both musical and family values. Ms. Golabek's memoir clearly shows how great music has the ability to sustain and nourish the soul in desperate circumstances. The spirit of Willesden Lane, of the young people who survived the war, and of their parents who sacrificed all, live on in this poignant, beautifully told story.
Customer Reviews:
Testimonies from the Kindertransport.......2006-05-18
The testimonies written by the Jewish children of the Kindertransport are very scary - scary because the fear that Hitler systematically used on the German people that began as the erosion of their civil liberties and culminated in Jewish Germans and German Jehovah's Witnesses perishing in concentration camps is the same fear that U.S. president Bush is constantly pushing: "Give me full power to do whatever preemptive act is necessary to keep you safe from whatever I determine is a threat to you".
The testimonies in this collection are very upsetting - a dark sense of dread and the need to not just cry but to bawl one's heart into exhaustion haunt them. Anne Fox and Eva Abraham-Podietz have collected unique stories written by fellow escapees on the Kindertansport to Britain from Hitler's Nazi Germany. The stories are arranged under seven chapter headings: 1) Life Under Hitler, 2) Kristallnacht (Crystal Night), 3)Preparing to Leave, 4) The Journey, 5) Life in England, 6) The War Years, 7) After the War. The seven chapters are preceded by a section subtitled "To the Reader" and followed by an Epilogue. The stories are each followed by an update written by Fox and Abraham-Podietz informing the reader how each child fared in adulthood. Both authors were not yet teenagers when they joined 10,000 other children who escaped to Britain without their parents to end up living with foster parents.
In the foreward, we learn that the British are generally a cold people and not very charitable between themselves compared to other societies (I can testify to that), and many children (they call themselves "the kinder") felt unwanted in their new homes. Some were made to work as servants. When World War II was over, most of the children had no choice but to stay on in Britain because Hitler had wiped out millions of their parents in his concentration camps.
Under Chapter 1) Life under Hitler, Sylvia is the first of the "kinder" to share her account, which is mostly about the "Heil Hitler" salute that everyone did out of fear of being punished otherwise. " 'Mother would not have given the Hitler salute', I confided to Ruth"(p16), wrote Sylvia. In the update, we learn that her parents died in Hitler's concentration camps and her aunt in New York brought her to America where she became a secretary, got married, and became a mother.
Other stories include entries by Ruth, Dorit, Karla, Susie, Vera, Eva, Marta, Kurt, Peter, Marion, Ben & Stefan, Sara, Ernie, Ilse, Trudy, Ina, Klara, Anne, Celia, and Lilly. Their stories are profoundly touching in an unanticipated way - and that is a gross understatement. The photos of the children carrying their belongings such as an occasional violin and waving farewell to their parents - who we know did not survive is just too painful to contemplate. It hurts as much as watching those kids being bombed by Bush at the Baghdad wedding party in "Fahrenheit 9/11" by Michael Moore.
The chapter arrangement of the above stories serves to illustrate the gradual progression of Germany's slide down Hitler's slippery slope to a Nazi nightmare. When the first measure were taken against civil liberties in Germany, they seemed minor and perhaps even reasonable if you bought into the fear-mongering by Hitler. People's rights were taken little by little. Kosher slaughtering of meat was outlawed as were all publications of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. Eventually, people were incarcerated without charges just as Bush does today in the USA. Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David and Jehovoh's Witnesses wore Purple Triangles. Christians and Jews were Hitler's targets, Muslims are the targets of today's Bushies and neocons.
In the Epilogue we learn of the Kindertransport reunion in 1989 in London, England. Britain is a difficult place for a British Jew or Jewess to grow up - imagine how much more difficult it was for Jewish children who were also GERMAN! But despite the cold British weather and its effects on British behaviour, the British did rescue these children from a despotic madman whose evil is beyond imagination - when you think you know how bad Hitler was, you have reached an awareness equal to one one-thousandth of a percent of his evil. We can never know or understand that amount of evil.
Thomas Paine wrote "War is the gambling table of governments, citizens the dupes of the game". Just as the Civil War was not started by elites for anything but money, yet it was won by the common man fighting against slavery - so was the Second World War started over money but was won by the common man stopping Hitler. On behalf of my Step-Grandfather Hugh "Skeets" Beatty (RIP), may the Almighty forgive his shortcomings and reward his effort at Normandy, amen. [...]
FASCINATING HISTORY.......2003-04-23
This was an illuminating and evocative book. Anyone interested in this topic should also read "Escape Via Siberia" and "The Uprooted" by Dorit Whiteman. Whiteman's books -- which expertly weave gripping personal accounts with historical context -- explore how survivors of the kindertransport and other Holocaust horrors coped with the legacy of their harrowing ordeals as adults. Whiteman is an expert in the field and some of her material was used in the movie, "Into the Arms of Strangers."
War through a child's eyes.......2000-11-25
As the generation of World War II survivors is all-too quickly disappearing, today's children are running out of opportunities to connect with those who survived the war. Ten Thousand Children is a series of true anecdotes told by the children who escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport. The stories of the evacuated children come to life with emotion and clarity. Readers will be amazed at the courage of the children involved and the hardships they faced as they were separated from their families and sent to live in a foreign land. Each child tells his or her story in first person narrative, then the story is followed by an update which tells about the child's life after the war. Captioned photographs illustrate every story. The book is divided into seven chapters, each beginning with a news-like article giving background information to support the stories included in the chapter. The stories and articles are short enough to be read easily by children, and relevant vocabulary words are defined in reader-friendly terms in the margins. This book will help children understand the lessons which must not be forgotten from World War II. The cruel realities of war and intolerance leap from the pages of each story. Readers will be touched by those children from long ago. All those who read this book will walk away with a deeper understanding of the Kindertransport children and an appreciation for the freedoms we must cherish today.
Book Description
Mama and I climbed aboard. I waved to Papa until he was only a tiny speck in the distance. The train turned the curve, and he was gone.The powerful autobiographical account of a young girls' struggle as a Jewish refugee in England from 1939-1945.
Customer Reviews:
GOOD READING BOOK.......2005-09-11
IT IS A GOOD READING BOOK WHICH ALSO HELPS OUR KIDS TO REFLECT ON THE SACRIFICES MADE BY SO MANY PEOPLE DURING WAR WORLD II,IT IS A VERY TOUCHING STORY ON HOW PARENTS PUT AWAY THEM SELVES FOR THE BEST FOR THEIR KIDS.
Kindertransport.......2005-07-27
I recently took an intensive class about teaching the Holocaust and ordered this book for both research purposes and to use in my classroom. Drucker's story of being separated from her parents and sent to a country where she didn't know the language or customs is powerful. Drucker was one of the "lucky" ones. Not only did she survive the the horrific consequences of the Holocaust, but her parents also got out alive. I recommend this book for middle school students and even 4th and 5th graders.
Kindertransport.......2004-06-11
"Why is there a tree on top of the House?" asked Olga in the winter of 1932. Kindertransport is an autobiography about a girl named Olga. Olga has a mother, a father, and a brother. Olga is the youngest in her family. This book is about Olga and her family going through tough times. During this book Olga's family gets separated, Olga moves from family to family, and many more horrible things happen to her. Olga and her brother get sent away to England because it is too dangerous to stay in Germany when Hitler is becoming Chancellor. This book takes place in Germany, during World War II.
In Kindertransport the chapters move quickly from one to another; sometimes you have to go back through the chapter to catch up on what you were reading the day before. Some advice that I would give to someone that wants to read this book is to be prepared for anything. There are so many different moods in this book that you will end up crying, laughing, feeling sad, and feeling like you would have wanted to be back in the time of Hitler, so you could have tried to stop him.
I think the most important theme for Kindertransport is that, no matter what happens to you or your family, you can always get through the tough times without them. I think that is the theme because Olga went through hard times and didn't have her parents there to support her when she really needed it. Olga survived without her parents for so long, is because she had a lot of faith, and, new that she would see her parents again some day.
I would recommend this book to people that like to learn about history and to people that don't know very much about Hitler and World War II. Also this book gives you another look at World War II because you get to know what happens to the children, not what happens in Germany, or what happens in the concentration camps.
I would give this book about 4 stars because this book is amazing, exciting, and very funny. But the bad thing about the book is that it goes way too fast from one chapter to another. I would have given this book 5 stars if the book went slower through the chapters, and maybe had a little more detail in some chapters that a lot happened in them.
one of the best book of the decade!.......2002-08-19
I had read a large variety of books,and i find this autobiography great,and in a way,it moved me. It's difficult to believed a girl of 10 or 11 years old to enter a new country on her own,especially when she hardly knew anyone from the country(other than her brother,Hans).I would say,this book is great, after Anne Frank's and several other biographies/autobiographies...
If you read the book with great thoughts,you can feel the hatred and pain, of how young and old Jews were treated.It's a sad thing to know 15 million soldiers lost their lives on battlefields,and 32 millions ordinary folks lost their life...
More than 50 years have passed...and the then little Olga's life have long changed...It's really almost impossible to believe the Olga today and the Olga years back...She had not only retrieved confidence,knowledge, but also witnessed one of the world's darkest storm...
I love Kindertransport.......2002-02-23
Kindertransport is a fun book to read if you like a holocaust book. If you don't mind death camps then you will like to read this book. It give you info on the holocaust, and how they were treated. It is a wonderful book.
Book Description
In 1939, on the eve of Hitler's invasion of Poland, seven-year-old Edith Milton (then Edith Cohn) and her sister Ruth left Germany by way of the Kindertransport, the program which gave some 10,000 Jewish children refuge in England. The two were given shelter by a jovial, upper-class British foster family with whom they lived for the next seven years. Edith chronicles these transformative experiences of exile and good fortune in The Tiger in the Attic, a touching memoir of growing up as an outsider in a strange land.
In this illuminating chronicle, Edith describes how she struggled to fit in and to conquer self-doubts about her German identity. Her realistic portrayal of the seemingly mundane yet historically momentous details of daily life during World War II slowly reveals istelf as a hopeful story about the kindness and generosity of strangers. She paints an account rich with colorful characters and intense relationships, uncanny close calls and unnerving bouts of luck that led to survival. Edith's journey between cultures continues with her final passage to America—yet another chapter in her life that required adjustment to a new world—allowing her, as she narrates it here, to visit her past as an exile all over again.
The Tiger in the Attic is a literary gem from a skilled fiction writer, the story of a thoughtful and observant child growing up against the backdrop of the most dangerous and decisive moment in modern European history. Offering a unique perspective on Holocaust studies, this book is both an exceptional and universal story of a young German-Jewish girl caught between worlds.
“Adjectives like ‘audacious’ and ‘eloquent,’ ‘enchanting’ and ‘exceptional’ require rationing. . . . But what if the book demands these terms and more? Such is the case with The Tiger in the Attic, Edith Milton’s marvelous memoir of her childhood.”—Kerry Fried, Newsday
“Milton is brilliant at the small stroke . . . as well as broader ones.”—Alana Newhouse, New York Times Book Review
Customer Reviews:
Compelling History.......2007-10-01
The Tiger in the Attic: Memories of the Kindertransport and Growing Up English by Edith Milton
The Kindertransport allowed 10,000 Jewish children to escape the holocaust by leaving Germany for England at the dawn of WW2. These children were uprooted from a country where life had already been frighteningly altered, to be transported to a foreign land on the brink of war. Yet Edith Milton's well written, engaging and often humorous memoir illuminates the surprising generosity and love she and her sister encountered in her new English home with "Uncle Bourke" and "Aunt Helen" and their family.
Readers are struck by the sometimes desperate need of the pre-adolescent Edith to "blend in," especially her efforts to absorb the staid English personae of her adopted family. Milton's memoir includes her post war journey to America and reunion with her brilliant, complicated mother, whose career as a doctor was not only terminated by anti-semitism in Germany, but cut off for years by the American medical establishment's paranoid prejudice against trained Europeans.
Throughout, the author's words draw a rich picture of the life she remembers living, and its fascinating contrast to her adult understanding of what was actually happening. Ultimately this is a story of a young person's realization of her true self.
Edith Milton has an extraordinary ability to write with clarity about things she admits may be conjured by occasionally faulty memory. The fact that this is a personal account of recent history, makes this book something essential to read. The excellent writing makes it a treat.
Wonderful Memoir.......2007-01-22
I read a little of this and a little of that..usually avoiding the current best sellers..So, when I read a review of this book, I put it on my Amazon Wish List.A kind person bought it for me as a holiday gift.It was not at all what I expected.This is an absolutely beautiful, touching story not only of the author but of two magnificent,caring people who opened their home and hearts to save 2 children from horror.There is a special place in the hereafter for the Aunt Helen's and Uncle Bourke's..This is an exceptionally well written tribute to two special people.
The Tiger in the Attic.......2006-03-18
This book was exceedingly well written. It gave one an insight into how the Jewish children fared that were sent to England to escape the Nazi Holocaust. Some were fortunate that their parents also escaped. This childs Mother was able to get to the United States and was reunited with her children. I enjoyed the book very much. Ruth Mirsky
Humane, humorous and lovely.......2005-10-25
Occasionally a bit coy in style, Milton's book is a lovely, poetic, thoughtful account of the author's seven years in England as a Kindertransport refugee. Her Anglophilia is tempered with gentle criticism of Britain's imperial past and the British tendency to suppress emotion, but this is ultimately an appreciation of British society and of the family who took in Edith and her older sister Ruth and saved them from the Nazis. _The Tiger in the Attic_ makes a fine companion volume to Lore Segal's wonderful novel _Other People's Houses_ and should be compelling to anyone interested in the dissection of English manners and mores. I hope Milton, who is in her seventies, will write a second book in which she tells the reader of her further relationship to Uncle Bourke and Aunt Helen; we are left wondering when and whether she ever saw them again, curious to hear more about their lives, and eager to lap up more of Milton's prose.
Living beautifully in dangerous times.......2005-10-16
There are many books about the kindertransport, but this one stands out above the others for the great literary value of the writing and the original insights of a truly wise child--the author Edith Milton as a young girl. This is, in fact, not exactly a book about the kindertransport, though it is the Nazi tyranny and a few feverish months leading up to the outbreak of war, when several thousand Jewish children were allowed to leave Germany on the kindertransport that prompts the story. For readers who savor the perfect detail, original characterizations, and clear, elegant language given in pursuit of story, this book about how an ad hoc family lived and even prospered during one of the most dangerous moments in English history will be deeply satisfying. Highest recommendations, too, for yournger readers as a coming of age story. There is nothing here, for all the danger implicit in Edith's young life, for parents to fear.
Amazon.com
Between December 1938 and the outbreak of war in August 1939, some 10,000 children, the vast majority of them Jews, from Germany, Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia were evacuated to Great Britain. The stories of 18 witnesses to this Kindertransport--children, parents, and rescuers--are recounted in Into the Arms of Strangers.
These first-person accounts are woven into a loose narrative of life before the Nazi era, the transport, and life in their new homes. The editors wisely remain in the background, allowing the survivor testimony to shine through. Their experiences were diverse: some stayed behind, such as Norbert Wollheim, a Kindertransport organizer who refused a number of chances to escape from Germany, knowing that if he did, the transports would be stopped. Lory Cahn was actually on a train when her father pulled her off; he was unable to let her go. Those who made it to England found challenges of their own: some remained in hostels for the remainder of the war; some were taken in by families to work as cheap servant labor; still others were taken in by loving families, but then had to deal with "survivor's guilt."
Years after the war, Vera Gissing asked her foster father why he and his family had taken her in. He answered, "I knew I could not save the world. I knew I could not stop the war from starting. But I knew I could save one human life." Into the Arms of Strangers is a moving tribute to this remarkable event. --Sunny Delaney
Book Description
The companion to the Academy Award(r) winning feature documentary from Warner Bros.
For nine months before the outbreak of World War II, Britain conducted an extraordinary rescue mission. It opened its doors to over 10,000 endangered children-90 per cent of them Jewish-from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. These children were taken into foster homes and hostels in Britain, expecting eventually to be reunited with their parents. Most of the children never saw their families again.
Into the Arms of Strangers recounts the remarkable story of this rescue operation, known as the Kindertransport. It contains stories in their own words from the child survivors, rescuers, parents, and foster parents. The stories are heartbreaking, but they are also inspiring. These are the stories of those who survived with the help of others; they are stories about the strength and resolve of children; and most astonishing, these are stories not yet heard about the Holocaust.
Customer Reviews:
The sad memories!.......2006-10-28
From the ashes of the WW2 emerged this poignant account around a set of children by then, who tell us their little anecdotes related with the desolation and abandon of their parents since the arrival of Hitler in 1933.
Each one of these little livings has its own specific weight, that allows us to know many unsaid aspects of this unforgettable and horrid episode about the progroms of the Jews.
Totally recommended.
A painful and inspiring chapter of human history.......2005-08-30
The story of the rescue of thousands of Jewish children is told here in good part by eighteen individuals involved in the Kindertransport. The stories are often heartbreaking as most of the children left behind parents and family they were never to see again.
Most of these people do manage to make new lives for themselves in England. But the legacy of seperation and suffering does not end with them alone but continues even into the next generation. There are stories here of decency and kindness of non- Jews to the Jewish youngsters, but also stories of obtuseness. Behind it all is of course the ' crime of the century' the Nazi cruelty which took millions of innocent lives.
This book is a valuable work of testimony but of course tells only a small part of the story of the thousands of children who were saved by the 'Kindertransport'.
A lesson for all of us.......2005-07-27
Imagine being 10 years old and having your parents put you on a train to a foreign country! The stories told in Into the Arms of Strangers are heartbreaking AND inspiring. 9 out of 10 of the 10,000 children who were part of the Kindertransport never saw their parents again, but they survived WWII because hundreds of British opened their arms and hearts to them when they arrived as refugees. The experiences of the Kinder are an important lessons for the world, especially in light of recent human rights violations in places like Yugoslavia, Chechnya, and Africa. We should look toward the unselfish example set by the British people as a model of compassion and action during a time of need.
Although it is sometimes difficult to keep track of the individual stories which are told in a timeline fashion, the short summaries at the end of the book help you go back and tie up loose ends.
It is amazing that the Kindertransport stories did not come to public attention until just a few years ago. They are an important part of the whole Holocaust story. The companion DVD is a great teaching tool for middle and high school.
Interesting read.......2004-11-01
This book is based on the memories of several people who were involved in the Kindertransport -- children, organizers, and foster parents. It well-written and easy to read. Also, should one desire, one can follow one individual all the way through the process or read all the accounts based on time.
Unbelievable.......2004-04-27
I can't get this book out of my head. It has managed to invade my thoughts on a daily basis and show up in my dreams at night. It is shocking and appalling that such an event could occur - parents having to say goodbye to their little children. I have children of my own, and reading this book made me almost ill with sadness and horror. The heartache and misery endured by the Jewish people is beyond comprehension - it utterly boggles the mind.
First-person narrative history is perhaps the most interesting history to read; the individual accounts are so emotional that you want to reach into the page and lend comfort. This is an excellent book that deserves a special place in the holocaust library. It should also be read in schools.
Average customer rating:
- Fleeing the Nazis
- The personal and eye-opening story of a young man and his broken family's escape to the refuge of America
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Nightmare's Fairy Tale: A Young Refugee's Home Fronts, 1938-1948 (Shoah Studies)
Gerd Korman
Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0299210804 |
Book Description
Fleeing the Nazis in the months before World War II, the Korman family scattered from a Polish refugee camp with the hope of reuniting in America. The father sailed to Cuba on the ill-fated St. Louis; the mother left for the United States after sending her two sons on a Kindertransport. One of the sons was Gerd Korman, whose memoir follows his own path—from the family’s deportation from Hamburg, through his time with an Anglican family in rural England, to the family’s reunited life in New York City. His memoir plumbs the depths of twentieth-century history to rescue the remarkable life story of one of its survivors.
Customer Reviews:
Fleeing the Nazis.......2007-08-12
Korman, Gerd. "Nightmare's Fairy Tale: A Young Refugee's Home Fronts", University of Wisconsin Press, 2007.
Fleeing the Nazis
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
University of Wisconsin Press has been dong some exciting publishing in the field of Holocaust Studies and now we are going to have the exhibit from the national Holocaust Museum here in Little Rock, its important to make ourselves familiar with some of the literature. "Nightmare's Fairy Tale" is the story of the Korman family who had been scattered from a Polish refugee camp but had hopes of reuniting in America. Unfortunately that did not happen. Father Korman fled to Cubs aboard the ill-fated St. Louis. Mother Korman left for the United States after sending her two sons, one of whom is the author, Gerd, to a Kindertransport.
In his book, Korman tells us of his childhood years as a refugee in Europe after the war and then as an immigrant to America. Analyzing history, he uses his own personal experience to look at the American-Jewish immigrant community and how growing up in several countries influenced both him and others. Eventually reunited with his parents, his story is one of success while others were not so lucky. His teenage years as a wanderer were the trauma that shaped his identity. Here in America, he became an American Jew anxious to embrace his new home but his accent often betrayed him. Yet he is eager to tell the story of how he was defined by history.
The book is extremely moving and the trial of a family as seen through the eyes of a twelve year old boy is heartbreaking. But he also sees the historical importance of the Holocaust and acknowledges the connections he has made by attempting to understand it.
This is not just a memoir but a story that compels you to keep reading as Korman gives his observations on memory and identity. As a personal narrative it is an important contribution to the field of Holocaust studies which is narrowing as the survivors are beginning to die off. It is not easy to read books like this as it jars us to a state of reality about man's inhumanity to man. We MUST read these books so as to never forget the darkest period in the history of the world as painful as reading this is there is a reward in knowing that we are alive and determined not to let something like this happen again.
The personal and eye-opening story of a young man and his broken family's escape to the refuge of America .......2006-08-05
Nightmare's Fairy Tale: A Young Refugee's Home Fronts by Gerd Korman (Professor Emeritus of American History at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations) is the personal and eye-opening story of a young man and his broken family's escape to the refuge of America only months before the beginning of the second world war. As a detailed auto-biographical account of Korman's childhood through a Kindertransport near Warsaw, deportation from Hamburg, a temporary stay with an Anglican family and the reunification of his family and Jewish homage in New York. Very highly recommended for its vivid depiction of unseen historical afflictions, Nightmare's Fairy Tale is an ideal addition for the reading lists of non-specialist general reading fans with an intrigue for historical, Judaic, and World War II memoirs.
Customer Reviews:
Moving... Please read this play........2002-03-27
This is one of those things I had to read for a class (British Literature) and wound up on my favorites list. Diane Samuels has created a moving, dramatic, creative play made out of history.
Set in England, with a mostly female cast of characters, we see the relationships between mothers and daughters, the truth and the past. Evelyn's daughter, Faith, has decided to move out, and as they pack up things she will need at her own place, we start to learn (through simultaneous staging--we are in pre-WWII Germany with Evelyn as a girl and her mother Helga) that Evelyn has not informed Faith that she was part of the Kindertransport of Jewish children. Sent away from her parents to be kept safe in England during WWII, Evelyn (formerly Eva) has formed a new identity and kept her past a secret... any more, and I'd be giving away the entire play.
At first, the simultaneous staging can be daunting, but if you can imagine the play being acted on your mind's stage, you will be transfixed. I read this in one sitting, which is rare for a procrastinating-prone college student with a short attention span. The emotion, the fear, the tension between characters--all of these make this a superb piece of work.
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A Transported Life: Memories of Kindertransport
Thea Eden
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Kindertransport
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Ten Thousand Children: True Stories Told by Children Who Escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport
ASIN: 0939821079 |
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Against all odds
Eva Hamlet
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ASIN: B0006RQRJA |
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Der judische Kindertransport von Deutschland nach England 1938/39: Geschichte und Erinnerung
Rebekka Gopfert
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