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KRAUS FAMILY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR AT THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS WINNER OF THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE ‘Beautifully told' – John le Carré ‘More than just history’ – Michael Palin In this remarkably moving memoir, Ariana Neumann dives into the secrets of her father’s past: years spent hiding in plain sight in wartorn Berlin, the annihilation of dozens of family members in the Holocaust, and the courageous choice to build anew. When her father dies and leaves her a box of clues, Ariana Neumann uncovers a heritage she knew nothing about. Exploring the joys and sorrows of the Neumann family, she learns through her tireless investigations why her father, a successful entrepreneur in Venezuela, never spoke about his past. How as a young man from Prague he boldly deceived the Gestapo by doing the unimaginable. Spanning nearly ninety years, this is an unforgettable memoir about resilience, hope and love in the midst of tragedy. A tribute to the lost, and a celebration of all that connects us, and of the courage it takes to keep going. Because the darkest shadow always lies beneath the candle.
The Nazis Knew My Name is one woman’s story about the bravery and kindness shown by her mother in the Holocaust concentration camps. In the camps during the Second World War, prisoner Magda Hellinger Blau was selected by the SS as a Jewish prison leader and she eventually rises to the senior position of Lagerälteste (Camp Elder). Madga used her proximity to her fellow prisoners and the SS to engage in numerous acts of kindness, bravery and compassion to keep the prisoners alive in frightening and uncertain circumstances. Now, her daughter Maya Lee tells the definitive story of her mother, a woman who showed great bravery and compassion when stuck between worlds of authority and imprisonment. Using her mother’s short memoir as a starting point, this book is Maya Lee’s deep-dive into her mother’s life and the power of kindness in the face of adversity, as she connects with fellow Auschwitz survivors and forms new friendships throughout her journey. The Nazis Knew My Name is a poignant and personal exploration of the prisoners in the Holocaust camps and the need to still tell these stories almost 70 years on.
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The connection between my grandfather and the watch was intriguing me as a child. I never felt that I had any grandparents on my father’s side, and questions on the topic were answered curtly with only the most basic of details. #2 I had to solve the mystery of what had happened if I was ever going to understand my father. My inquiries led me to other boxes, from different sources, and they all held clues but also prompted more questions. #3 I have spent years researching my father’s life before he arrived in Venezuela. When I started inquiring, locating people, and assembling a family tree, another box that Věra had kept untouched in Switzerland emerged. #4 I was interested in the family letters because I wanted to understand my father better. I was afraid to read them, but my aunt, who had known my father in Venezuela, helped me decipher them.
A Daily Telegraph History Book of the Year 'An astonishing story... brilliantly told' Antony Beevor 'Gripping... Will appeal to anyone who relishes Ben Macintyre's tales of wartime espionage and cryptic codes.' Sunday Telegraph 'A detailed and meticulously researched tale about a pair of young German resisters that reads like a thriller. ' New York Times 'Deeply engaging, enticingly written and extremely affecting.' Philippe Sands, Spectator Summertime, 1935. On a lake near Berlin, a young man is out sailing when he glimpses a woman reclining in the prow of a passing boat. Their eyes meet - and one of history's greatest conspiracies is born. Harro Schulze-Boysen had already shed blood in the...
Translation originally published: London: Bantam Press, 2020.
Examines the science and history of the battle between people and noise, investigates how increasing noise levels relate to human progress, and shows how it can be used positively.
To Julie Metz, her mother, Eve, was the quintessential New Yorker. It was difficult to imagine her living anywhere else except the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In truth, Eve had endured a harrowing childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna, though she rarely spoke about it. Yet after her passing, Julie discovered a keepsake box filled with farewell notes from friends and relatives addressed to a ten-year-old girl named Eva, her mother. This was the first clue to the secret pain that Julie's mother had carried as an immigrant, and it shed light on a family that had to rely on its own perseverance to escape the xenophobia that threatened their survival. A beautiful blend of personal memoir and family history, Metz shows how one woman's search for her mother's lost childhood offers valuable lessons about the sacrifices people make to save their families during some of the darkest times in history.
A haunting personal story of Berlin at the end of the Third Reich—and an unflinching investigation into a family’s Nazi past When Gabrielle Robinson found her grandfather’s Berlin diaries, hidden behind books in her mother’s Vienna apartment, she made a shocking discovery—her beloved Api had been a Nazi. The entries record his daily struggle to survive in a Berlin that was 90% destroyed. Near collapse himself Api, a doctor, tried to help the wounded and dying in nightmarish medical cellars without cots, water or light. The dead were stacked in the rubble outside. Searching to understand why her grandfather had joined the Nazi party, Robinson retraces his steps in the Berlin of the 21st century. She reflects on German guilt, political responsibility, and facing the past. But she also remembers Api, who had given her a loving home in those cold and hungry post-war years. “This a must read for anyone interested in the German experience during WWII” —Ariana Neumann, author of When Time Stopped Scroll up and click “buy now” to read Api’s Berlin Diaries today
A wonderfully original book about contemporary Russia as seen on journeys in search of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Lermontov, Chekhov, Gogol and Turgenev. SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANDFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARD 2020 With the writers of the Golden Age as her guides – Pushkin, Tolstoy, Gogol and Turgenev, among others – Wheeler travels the length and breadth of Russia to make connections between then and now. On the Trans-Siberian railway, at sail on the Black Sea, or while watching television with her hosts in Soviet apartment blocks, Wheeler searches for a Russia not in the news – a Russia of humanity and daily struggles. At a time of deteriorating relations between Russia and the West, Wheeler gives a voice to the 'ordinary' people of Russia and discovers how the writers of the past continue to represent their country today.
The story of filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's life and work, including his significant impact on Japan and the world A thirtieth-century toxic jungle, a bathhouse for tired gods, a red-haired fish girl, and a furry woodland spirit—what do these have in common? They all spring from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest living animators, known worldwide for films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises. Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre. Napier insightfully illuminates the multiple themes crisscrossing his work, from empowered women to environmental nightmares to utopian dreams, creating an unforgettable portrait of a man whose art challenged Hollywood dominance and ushered in a new chapter of global popular culture.