Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival

Description

'Epic, moving and important' Robert Harris From longstanding political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein, a powerful memoir exploring both his mother and his father's devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War. Daniel's mother Mirjam Wiener was the youngest of three daughters born in Germany to Alfred and Margarete Wiener. Alfred, a decorated hero from the Great War, is now widely acknowledged to have been the first person to recognise the existential danger Hitler posed to the Jews and began, in 1933, to catalogue in detail Nazi crimes. After moving his family to Amsterdam, he relocated his library to London and was preparing to bring over his wife and children when Germany invaded Holland. Before long, the family was rounded up, robbed, humiliated, and sent to Bergen-Belsen. Daniel's father Ludwik was born in Lwow, the only child of a prosperous Jewish family. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family was rounded up by the communists and sent to do hard labour in a Siberian gulag. Working as slave labourers on a collective farm, his father survived the freezing winters in a tiny house they built from cow dung. Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad is a deeply moving, personal and at times horrifying memoir about his parents' experiences at the hands of the two genocidal dictators of the 20th century. It is a story of persecution and survival; and the consequences of totalitarianism told with the almost unimaginable bravery of two ordinary families shining through.

Daniel Finkelstein is a British journalist and opinion writer who brings to that role long experience in politics. A former executive editor of The Times, he continues to write for the paper. He has been political columnist of the year four times. Before joining The Times in 2001 he was adviser to prime minister John Major and Conservative leader William Hague. He was appointed to the House of Lords in 2013 and is a father of three.

Early Praise for Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad 'A terrific piece of work, epic, moving and important, the grim history of 20th century Europe encapsulated in one extraordinary, ordinary family' Robert Harris Praise for Everything in Moderation 'Elucidating, wise and intensely curious - always searching to explain the political from the places few other writers dare to go - be it a Finnish ringroad or a Coca-Cola focus group ... It is his deep understanding of human nature that makes this book funny, warm and percipient. A joy' Emily Maitlis 'Through the clarity of his words and the depth of his insight, Daniel Finkelstein has been a voice of moderation and reason amidst the anger and uncertainty in British public life' Jonathan Sacks 'I've never met Danny Finkelstein but I think I'm in love with him. His book is such good company - sane, intelligent and witty. He deals with serious subjects in an immensely readable way ... If I'm asked to nominate my book of the year, this will be it' Wendy Cope 'Danny's columns are a must read for anyone wanting to understand what's really happening in British politics' Rishi Sunak