The School that Escaped the Nazis: The True Story of the Schoolteacher Who Defied Hitler

I listened to this book after downloading it from audiobooksync. Often, I find non-fiction less well-written than fiction novels. Occasionally, I will be mesmerized by a narrative non-fiction, but I usually find them hard to concentrate on and keep the people straight. I read non-fiction better than listen to it. I was mesmerized by this book and have recommended it to many friends.

Anna Essinger believed she knew how to educate and help children, opening a school in Germany. After reading Mein Kampf, Ms. Essinger could see the dangers the ideology proposed where freedom of thought and expression would be stifled. She watched Germany slowly come under the leadership of Hitler, becoming angry when ordered to fly the Nazi flag. She show more arranged a field trip for her mostly Jewish pupils so that the flag flew over a mostly empty school. How do you move an entire school out of Germany? In 1938, after informing parents of her plans, she formed three groups of teachers who picked up students throughout Germany and then took three different routes out of Germany, taking Jewish children from a country and continent about to decimate the Jewish population. Shortly thereafter, Kindertransport brought Jewish children from Germany to England where Tante Anna accepted as many as she could. She also worked to move her Jewish family out of Germany before Hitler could lock the country down, as she suspected he would.

Life in Kent, England presented freedoms to the children. They repaired, built, and created a home at Bunce Court. Tante Anna believed children should not be oppressed, so they could study as they chose. She did expect students to be kind to one another. While establishing a new home, the children received letters from family members in Germany, not quite realizing what atrocities were truly going on. When the war began, the school's location near the coast meant that the government would requisition their buildings and gardens. Having only a few days, Tante Anna found a new location. Once again, the students and teachers would have to repair, rebuild, and create a home. The story oscillates between children in the school and children in Germany or Poland who were caught up in the war. Their survival stories show resilience, luck, and horror. The stories of what happened to their families and themselves brought tears to my eyes.

After WWII, some surviving children came to England and joined Anna's school. They had received no education in years and did not speak English. Here the children could heal. At the end of the book, you learn about the childrens' lives after Tante Anna closes the school. I am truly only giving a very broad overview of this nonfiction book. Tears flooded my eyes as I learned about the children when they became adults. Children always returned to Bunce Court, seeing it as a home. They visited Tante Anna after she retired, taking care of her. The bond they formed was unlike most school friends, as they lived together during a very difficult time in history. They helped heal the Jewish surviving children after the war and watched out for Tante Anna. Many were quite successful despite their schooling being delayed many years. I absolutely loved this story. We always hear about the brave men who fought in the war, but here is a story of a strong woman who saw what others didn't and took chances to save her pupils and her own family. Her courage, organizational skills, and outstanding leadership should be remembered and celebrated. Everyone should read this book--to remember and to remind us the importance of education and freedom of thought. show less

Deborah Cadbury's "The School that Escaped the Nazis" has two parallel story lines. One is an account of the heroic actions of Anna Essinger, a pioneering educator and visionary who founded a unique school in England, Bunce Court, where she and other like-minded individuals nourished, instructed, and healed refugee children in the years leading up to and during the Second World War. Cadbury frequently leaves Anna to focus on the horrors that specific boys or girls in European countries witnessed during the thirties and forties.

Although this work of non-fiction is well-researched, heartrending, poignant, and inspiring, Cadbury's decision to move back and forth between the two timelines is puzzling. We get caught up in Anna's struggles show more only to be whisked away to Poland, Germany, Russia, and other locales where we observe youngsters trying to cope with traumatic experiences. Despite Cadbury's sometimes confusing presentation of her material, "The School that Escaped the Nazis" is worth your time, since it contains passages of immense power. The author quotes former pupils who provide wrenching accounts of their encounters with villainous predators as well as their happy recollections of being taught by the nurturing teachers in Anna's school.

Tanta Anne, as Essinger was nicknamed by her students, was extraordinarily insightful, dedicated, and tenacious in her drive to establish a progressive educational institution in England to care for European children fleeing the Nazis. Not only did Anna effectively appeal to philanthropists to fund her endeavors, but she also encouraged the children to pitch in, not only with routine chores, but also with gardening, construction, and other tasks normally left to adults. Bunce Court was filled with warmth, myriad engaging activities, laughter and music, and Anna lived long enough to know that, for the most part, she succeeded brilliantly. Essinger, along with her devoted staff, helped grieving children regain their self-esteem, acquire knowledge, practice social skills, and plan for a brighter future. "The School that Escaped the Nazis" reinforces the idea that, even in times of unspeakable tragedy, people of good will can make a positive difference in the lives of the most vulnerable among us.

Warning: This book is not for the faint-of-heart. It has disturbing scenes of graphic violence and appalling cruelty. show less

Cadbury's The School that Escaped the Nazis delivers a great deal more than its title suggests. Other histories of the rise of Nazism in Germany from the 1930s through the Nazi surrender in 1945 seem to focus on the "final solution” of the Holocaust. Cadbury, however, tells us something of the Kindertransporte, the shipments of Jewish children to England before that country declared war on Germany, a period when the Nazis were willing to allow Jewish emigration (to be later replaced by imprisonment in ghettos and then by extermination). Focusing on several individuals, the author also vividly shows her readers the horrors constantly threatening the few youths who manage to survive in a country bent on their destruction.

The reader also show more learns that the trials of Anna Essinger do not end when she leaves Landschulheim Herrlingen, of which she was headmistress, to establish a new school at Bunce Court in England. Beyond the obvious challenges of securing a physical campus with practically no funding, she faced an intransigent education bureaucracy that long refused to recognize her nontraditional school, hostility from an English population that seemed incapable of distinguishing orphaned evacuees from the government from which they were escaping, and the internment of both staff and older students by the English government itself that considered them to be “enemy aliens” (just as a paranoid U.S. government would soon imprison its citizens of Japanese extraction).

The content of this book is both eminently readable and highly instructive. It leaves the reader with deep admiration for a remarkable woman who not only succored traumatized youth fleeing almost certain death in their homeland but who also provided them with an educational foundation leading to professional careers in their later lives. Furthermore, the book gives us an unalloyed look at the horror, dread, and despair of Jewish children trapped in their own country by a murderous regime.

Very few books, of course, can be declared to be exemplary examples of the writer's art, and there are usually at least a few nits to be picked. Although this book is generally well written, the vocabulary is that of a reporter, not an accomplished author. Grammar, syntax and terminology are, with very few exceptions, quite correct but lack the verbal inspiration of a Nabokov, a Melville, or a Bradbury. Still, this could be considered a strong point of the book because it makes it accessible to a younger audience whose lexicon is not yet particularly extensive. While this is certainty an “adult” book, I'd have no reluctance in recommending it to teenage readers. Be aware that some errors do exist that should have been caught and corrected before publication, for example:

“Germans troops poured into the city” (page 97)
“Bergas, who [should be “whom”] he had already met” (page 149)
“Meyer, who [should be “whom”] he found to be … a caring housefather” (page 168)
“As a child, it was hard to understand” [I doubt that “it” was ever a child] (page 188)
“She was nearly twenty years older than him” [should be “he”] (page 198)
“Quite how she had this power Anna John could not quite discern [repeated word] (page 274)
“'Their wailing and lamentations chilled me to the bone,' recalled one witness to when the elderly residents had been deported” [should be “witness to the deportation of”] (page 331)
“[He] led us in the evenings to views the stars” (page 356)

Failure of the author and proofreader to correct errors such as these deprive the book of a five-star rating. Nonetheless, the knowledge that one can gain from the subject matter content and the vivid portrayal of the terror and trauma afflicting the Jewish populations especially of Poland and Austria really do make this book a valuable and perchance even necessary addition to every literate person's reading list. show less

This was a very difficult but an important book to listen to. The story is about a German woman who snuck her entire school out of Germany in 1933, when the Nazis were coming into power. With her indomitable will and her determination she started a school out of ruins and a prayer in Kent, England. This biography illustrates the determination and zeal of Anna Esinger who founded a school that became a haven and refuge for hundreds of Jewish refugee children. The backdrop to Anna’s story illustrates the atrocities and unimaginable horrors of Jewish children who lost their families during the Nazi “Final Solution” which was to entirely liquidate the entire Jewish race. It was difficult to listen to this story, but it was totally show more compelling. The research and detail was astounding. For those who want to know the entire story of the Nazis and the Holocaust, this is the book for you. Based on research and interviews with students and survivors, the unvarnished truth comes out. Highly recommend. show less

As Hitler rose to power, Anna Essinger made arrangements to smuggle her school from Germany to England. After convincing parents to send her children abroad, Anna established a school with little funding and resources. Determined to create a loving environment, the school avoided discipline and encouraged self determination. Interwoven is the story of the children who found a home and family at the school.

This was a well written and engaging book. It was a nice blend of historical facts and storytelling. I enjoyed the stories of the children, it really made the school come alive. Overall, well worth picking up.

didn't know about this school or woman at all. what she did is quite impressive. my timing in reading it, not so much. however the comparisons are impossible to miss between the nazi regime and the things trump has done and is saying.

"Shortly after the announcement of the Nuremberg Laws his son, Hermann, was diagnosed with diphtheria. Hermann was not permitted entry into the local hospital so Wilhelm and Henny nursed him at home. Hermann was seriously ill when they were contacted by a research group at Heidelberg University. The scientists were experimenting with new diphtheria antitoxins that had not yet been tested on humans. The authorities were prepared to permit Hermann to be used as a guinea pig for the new antitoxins since the show more scientists reasoned that, as a Jew, he 'was a convenient intermediate step between an animal and a human being.'" -- scientists said this!

"[They] could see that the failure of other countries to respond to the Jewish refugee emergency was almost like a vindication for Hitler. Triumphant headlines in the Nazi Party newspaper...summed up the gloating perspective of the Nazi leadership: The Jewish problem was not Germany's fault - nobody wants them." show less

in 1933, as Hitler came to power, schoolteacher Anna Essinger hatched a daring plan ; to smuggle her entire school out of Nazi Germany to England. The book is a dramatic human tale that offers a unique child's-eye perspective on Nazi persecution and the Holocaust. One woman's story of hope and her refusal to allow her beliefs to be overtaken by the evil that surrounded her.