Description:
Berlin 1941. Eleven-year-old Wolf escapes Nazi Germany, attempts to build an American identity, and finally returns to Germany as an American intelligence officer during the height of the Cold War.
Brief description: Growing up in New York in the late 1960s, Audrey Birnbaum assumed that watching Holocaust documentaries was a perfectly normal family activity. On her first day of elementary school, Audrey sat in the cafeteria, unwrapped her liverwurst sandwich, and excitedly told her new classmates about her public television proclivities. Her Brady Bunch-watching peers had never heard of PBS, but they had heard of PB&J (and they weren't too keen on liverwurst either). They made it abundantly clear: Audrey's childhood was, in fact, not normal at all.We will never know whether it was schoolyard bullying or watching tragic Shoah documentaries that was responsible for Audrey's acute sensitivity to others; but that empathy may have helped pave the way for her choice of medicine as a career. Audrey chose to specialize in Pediatric Gastroenterology - for who needed more help than children; and where could anyone feel more suffering than in one's gut? Day after day, she watched intricate family dynamics play out in the context of fragile health. Audrey listened to each patient's story until she could retell it with clarity and give it meaning. Through witnessing and recording these tender dramas, the seeds of writing had been planted.Those seeds took root when, shortly after her father's death in 2018, Audrey stumbled upon his extensive notes detailing his childhood escape from Nazi Germany. Audrey felt compelled to start writing his riveting story - a story addressing themes that are pressingly relevant today. American Wolf deals with tragedy and loss, while punctuating the triumph of the human spirit. It is a memoir of Holocaust survival, a family drama, an immigration tale, and an often funny coming-of-age story that is sure to have an impact on anyone who has experienced prejudice, displacement, or questions about their identity. With her cherished medical career in the rear-view mirror, Audrey now enjoys singing, writing, reading, and being with friends who also had quirky childhoods. She lives with her husband in Westchester County, New York, and has three marvelous grown children. Audrey is currently working on her second book.
Review Quotes:
Part Holocaust survival story, part coming-of-age story and intimate family portrait, American Wolf is a true and unforgettable account of war, escape, and immigration, told with ultimate grace and in vivid detail. The spirit and emotional force of Wolf Schwersenz's story, beginning with his boyhood during Hitler's chilling ascent, will stay with you long after you finish turning pages. A must read! - Katie Sise, nationally bestselling author of We Were Mothers, Open House, and The Break
An absorbing account of the Holocaust told through the eyes of a young boy. By narrating this true story in the first person, Audrey Birnbaum deftly transports the reader to 1930s Berlin and we are at once immersed in a family drama during the rise of Hitler. American Wolf is a captivating Holocaust escape story that goes past the genre to tell a moving immigration narrative. This is a story of determination, survival and resistance that is as relevant today as at any time in the last three generations. - Steve Hunegs, Executive Director Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas
An intimate personal account, an important contribution to the body of work reminding us that while the Holocaust altered the course of history, it is best understood for the ways it affected the lives of individuals and families. - Diana Shaw Clark, Former Member United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council
Who will be left to tell the riveting and profound life stories of those who had a front row seat to the ravaging experiences of the Holocaust? We will! Through the shared specific details and intrigue gifted to us by Audrey Birnbaum, we witness the arc of an artful narrative where the truths of perseverance, tenacity and challenge unfold before us to reveal how one man's journey of survival impacts us all. - Rabbi Elaine Zecher, Senior Rabbi, Temple Israel of Boston