Leon Berger

Well-written and lovingly told story of Charlotte Urban (née Lisolette Goldberger), whose courageous story of survival is pieced together by the author from what she told him during their weekly lunches over the last 25 years of her life. She faced tremendous physical and emotional trauma with bravery and dignity - and found the strength in her later years to relive it all so that her story and experiences would live on after she was gone. I am grateful to the author for allowing us, as show more readers, to get to know Charlotte and be inspired by her strength and courage. I received this as an e-book from Grey Gecko Press through LibraryThing Giveaways. show less

A loving remembrance of the life of Charlotte Urban née Goldberger, from her childhood in 1930's Vienna, survival with her mother of the terrifying Kristallnacht, salvation through the Kindertransport to rejoin her father and eventual immigration to Montreal. Leon Berger became her eventual confidente and surrogate son, piecing together her history through her stories over countless luncheons. We should all be so lucky to have such a gentle and caring biographer. The writing is forthright show more and the author does an good job of weaving in the larger global history in ways informative and unobtrusive. Stories such as Charlotte's are interesting in their own right, but critically important in putting a personal face on the horrors of war and the Holocaust. show less

Leon Berger wrote this novel based on a long friendship and many conversations with the protagonist, Charlotte Urban. Like Charlotte, I was born in Vienna, although some years after her. We lived in the same neighborhood, had our lives changed by the Nazi annexation of Austria. We barely managed to escape from war-time Vienna in the fall of 1941, and Berger's vivid descriptions brought it all back: the sounds, the sights and the fears; the bullying; the hated red white and black flags, the show more hated and feared brownshirts; the curfews and the limitations and the random arrests of friends and relatives. Charlotte herself comes to life in Berger's writing as a strong, brave and charming woman, and her early days in the U.S. (where we finally arrived in 1943) brought back more memories. This is the story of an interesting person, but also a reminder of the Nazi crimes in Europe. A valuable as well as a riveting narrative. show less

I'm deeply moved and with a great thankfulness that I could read this wonderful book which I would call a Heritage of Mankind. This book is telling the story of a strong lady who had to experience the most dreadful time in the first half of the 20th century and only later was able to receive security even though for a short time. It isn't a story of the well-known events of WWII. The story is telling the most private feelings, failures and faith within a family which was trying to be honest show more to each other and on the other hand was protecting each other from the true feelings. I've a great respect for Charlotte that she could entrust her life story to Leon Berger and equally that he could write it down not only with an absolutely correctness but also with a deep love. show less