The Berlin Shadow

Living with the Ghosts of the Kindertransport

De: Jonathan Lichtenstein

Narrado por: Jonathan Lichtenstein

A deeply moving memoir that confronts the defining trauma of the twentieth century, and its effects on a father and son.

In 1939, Jonathan Lichtenstein's father Hans escaped Nazi-occupied Berlin as a child refugee on the Kindertransport. Almost every member of his family died after Kristallnacht, and, upon arriving in England to make his way in the world alone, Hans turned his back on his German Jewish culture.

Growing up in post-war rural Wales where the conflict was never spoken of, Jonathan and his siblings were at a loss to understand their father's relentless drive and sometimes eccentric behavior. As Hans enters old age, he and Jonathan set out to retrace his journey back to Berlin.

Written with tenderness and grace, The Berlin Shadow is a highly compelling story about time, trauma, family, and a father and son's attempt to emerge from the shadows of history.

NOT what it looks like

This is a very bizarre book and very hard to follow. From the picture the reader thinks it’s a linear story. It’s really fragmented stories flashing back in time to the present submitted as acts. It’s supposed to be about the author’s father in the Kindertransport and it is…I guess. If the reader can figure out where.

Really it’s about the authors miserable father, who we know has experienced untold abuse, abusing those around him. He’s truly an impossible person and very brutal. One pities the author while trying to understand where this is all leading. Maybe it’s better in book form.

Not what I was expecting

So, first of all, this author and narrator has a definite gift of expression. He tells you in great detail how the flower looked, smelled, and how it presented in its surroundings. His writing is vivid and profound. With that said, the story was a bit melancholy. It was not as much about the Kindertransport and more about a father and son's life and dysfunctional relationship. It was a bit of a struggle for me to continue to listen to this audiobook. I think that if the author had not been such a vivid writer I would have given up. If you are looking for a historical book on or about the Kindertransport, I frankly would look somewhere else. If you are looking for an emotionally charged book with bits and pieces of Germany, World War 2, and children escaping through the Kindertransport then you might this book.