Escaping Hitler: A Jewish Boy's Quest for Freedom and His Future
Phyllida Scrivens
(Author)
Description
The story of a young boy who escaped Hitler and the Holocaust--and lived happily ever after. Escaping Hitler is the true story, covering ninety years, of Günter Stern who, at fourteen, when Adolf Hitler threatened his family, education, and future, resolved to escape from his rural village of Nickenich in the German Rhineland. In July 1939, Günter boarded a bus to the border of Luxembourg, illegally crossed the river, and walked alone for seven days through Belgium and into Holland. He was intent on catching a ferry to England and freedom, but the outcome of his journey was not exactly as he had planned. Scrivens gathered her information through interviews with Günter, now known as Joe Stirling, and with those closest to him. During an emotional 'foot-stepping' journey in September 2013, Scrivens also visited Günter's birthplace, met with a school friend, discovered the apartment in Koblenz where he fled following Kristallnacht in 1938, drove the route of Günter's walk through Europe, and retraced the final steps of his parents prior to their deportation to a Nazi death camp in Poland during 1942. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Product Details
Price
$24.99
$23.24
Publisher
Skyhorse Publishing
Publish Date
January 10, 2017
Pages
260
Dimensions
6.4 X 9.3 X 1.1 inches | 1.1 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781510708655
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliateAbout the Author
Phyllida Scrivens lives with her husband, Victor, on the River Yare in Norwich, England, with swans, geese, and ducks for neighbors. Since ten years old she has loved to write. Her successes include articles for magazines, short stories, monologues and one-act plays. At the age of sixty she fulfilled a long-term ambition when awarded a masters in biography and creative nonfiction from the University of East Anglia. But it was a weekly biographical interview feature, Meeting People, published during the nineties that unwittingly prepared her for this debut full-length biography.
Reviews
"A remarkable story." --Norfolk magazine "This wonderfully researched book, including a 'footstepping' trip to Germany, succeeds in doing justice to a long and hugely eventful life." --Lion magazine "The brave plight of a young German Jewish refugee . . . . Stirling's story is an inspiring example of a valiant professional life fashioned out of loss and tragedy." --Kirkus Reviews "Deep research and deft storytelling recount the flight of a Jewish teenager from Nazi Germany, orphaned by the murder of his parents in the Sobibor death camp, and capped by his grit and meritorious rise to the top of British civic life and the Lions Club. A role model for generations to come." --Anthony S. Pitch, author of Our Crime Was Being Jewish "Survivors' stories generally have three chapters, before, during and after. And this work is no exception. Yet it is unique because of how far Gunter Stern/Joe Stirling has traveled, how much he has achieved. In a detailed and compelling book the readers comes to appreciate his boldness and his instinct for survival, for leadership and creativity. Born the child of Jews in Germany, he understood that the only way to survive was to escape and he made his way to England where he went from foreigner and refugee to political leader and businessman, all the while conducting himself with honesty and integrity. He truly escaped Hitler and Britain was the beneficiary of this very special journey. In offering him refuge, it was repaid many times over." --Michael Berenbaum, author of The World Must Know