When Time Stopped
A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains
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4.8 • 12 Ratings
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Neumann, a former foreign correspondent for Venezuela's Daily Journal, debuts with a deeply moving account of her father's life during the Holocaust. Growing up as a girl of privilege in Caracas, Venezuela, Neumann formed a Nancy Drew type sleuthing club with friends. By accident, she came across a box containing papers and other documents for a man named Jan Sebesta, but with a photo of her father, Hans. Soon, though, the box disappeared. It would be decades before Neumann rediscovered the photo, and it proved to be the springboard for a spy-worthy story of her now-deceased father surviving the Holocaust by living in plain sight in Berlin under an assumed identity. By poring over letters sent to her father from Terezin, a Nazi concentration camp near Prague, Neumann learns that of 34 members of the Neumann family living in Czechoslovakia during WWII, 25 were killed by the Nazis. Using the letters as well as those written by her father she searches for and meets cousins she didn't know existed, who help fill in details, such as that her "father was a valued member of the fire brigade" in 1944. This gripping, expertly researched narrative will inspire those looking to uncover their own family histories. Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated the author's mother hid the box containing documents the author found as a child.
