I seek a kind person : my father, seven children, and the adverts that helped them escape the Holocaust / Julian Borger.
This memoir explores the experiences of children who escaped the Holocaust through advertisements placed in the *Manchester Guardian* by Jewish families in Vienna in 1938. The book follows journalist Julian Borger as he investigates the story of his father, Robert, who was one of the children saved by such an ad. Decades later, Borger uncovers the hidden histories of his father and other children who were displaced during World War II. Drawing on historical records and personal accounts, the narrative spans various locations, including Vienna, Shanghai, Britain, Nazi Germany, Holland, France, and New York, highlighting the children's journeys, the impact of war, and the individuals who helped them survive.
"This...family memoir of grief, courage, and hope tells the hidden stories of children who escaped the Holocaust, building connections across generations and continents. In 1938, Jewish families are scrambling to flee Vienna. Desperate, they take out advertisements offering their children into the safe keeping of readers of a British newspaper, the Manchester Guardian. The right words in the right order could mean the difference between life and death. 83 years later, Guardian journalist Julian Borger comes across the ad that saved his father, Robert, from the Nazis. Robert had kept this a secret, like almost everything else about his traumatic Viennese childhood, until he took his own life. Drawn to the shadows of his family's past and starting with nothing but a page of newspaper ads, Borger traces the remarkable stories of his father, the other advertised children, and their families, each thrown into the maelstrom of a world at war. From a Viennese radio shop to the Shanghai ghetto, internment camps and family homes across Britain, the deep forests and concentration camps of Nazi Germany, smugglers saving Jewish lives in Holland, an improbable French Resistance cell, and a redemptive story of survival in New York, Borger unearths the astonishing journeys of the children at the hands of fate, their stories of trauma and the kindness of strangers"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781635424287
- ISBN: 1635424283
- Physical Description: 285 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
- Publisher: New York : Other Press, [2024]
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
Formatted Contents Note: | The Untold Stories of Leo, Erna and Bobby Borger -- George and the Unbearable Longing for Vienna -- Gertrude and Eichmann's Pianos -- Means of Escape: Alice and the Westbahnhof -- Bobby and George in Exile -- Siegfried, Paula and Coming to Britain -- Salvation and Captivity: Internment in Britain -- Shanghai -- Fred and the Trail to Auschwitz -- Defiance and Aunt Malci -- George and the Return to Vienna -- Lisbeth and the Will to Live. |
Search for related items by subject
Genre: | Personal narratives. Biographies. |
Available copies
- 0 of 2 copies available at Lehigh Valley Library System.
Holds
- 6 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allentown Public Library | 940.5318092 (Text) | aplacq13033643 | New Adult Nonfiction | On Order | - |
Bethlehem Main Library | 940.531 (Text) | 33062010007194 | New Adult Nonfiction | Checked Out | 06/02/2025 |