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Audrey Birnbaum

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American Wolf: From Nazi refugee to American Spy. A true story (Holocaust Survivor True Stories) Kindle Edition

by Audrey Birnbaum (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.7 139 ratings

Part of: Holocaust Survivor True Stories (36 books)

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In the summer of 1941, 11-year-old Wolf is growing up amidst the rubble and antisemitism of war-torn Nazi Berlin. Destitute and facing deportation, he must leave behind his sister and travel with his family across a continent entrenched in war. With nothing in hand but expired visas to the US, Wolf and his family must figure out how to sneak aboard the Spanish freighter the Navemar, a ship that would gain its reputation as the “Hell Ship of Death.” But this is only the beginning of Wolf’s saga.

Award-winning American Wolf is a heart-stopping true story full of last-minute rescues, near-death encounters, and survival against untold odds. It is also a story about coming of age, family dysfunction and national identity, and is a resounding testament to the triumph of the human spirit.

Using the notes compiled by her father, Audrey Birnbaum vividly retells a poignant account of Wolf’s childhood in Berlin, his riveting escape from Nazi Germany, and the continued challenges he faced even as he reached freedom.

73rd National Jewish Book Awards Finalist in the category of Holocaust Memoir

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

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 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

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CHXXC9J8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amsterdam Publishers (October 23, 2023)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 23, 2023
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 14445 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 426 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #75,165 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #16 in Holocaust Biographies
- #16 in Historical German Biographies
- #29 in Survival Biographies & Memoirs

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4.7 139 ratings

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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 rearview 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.

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knitter320

Enjoyable timely read

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2023

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Dr. Birnbaum has written a beautiful coming of age story based on notes left by her father. We are treated to an insider view of young Wolf as he grows up in Germany during World War 2 and then moves to the United States. Who could imagine laughing whilst reading a holocaust novel? The author's style is engaging, amusing and witty. As I read I was are pulled into the story line and found the book difficult to put down. The author was kind enough to include many photos and I found it enjoyable to be able to put a face to the name of the cast of characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading. I found this book to be very timely in light of world current events. Partially written from the perspective of a child it was interesting to see how a child experienced and processed anti-Semitism.
I am looking forward to any other books that this author writes!

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Anne Lindstrom

Loved it. A great read - a must read!

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2023

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American Wolfe draws you in straight away. These kinds of stories need to be told and we must keep reading them. It is written with deep respect, sensitivity and humor. Brilliantly, through a child’s view, you are invited into the lives and homes of its characters in a way that is real and authentic. You see them in their flat in Berlin, hear the creak of the floorboards and the ominous sounds around them. You can’t help but grow fond of the family and care about what happens to their lives. It is heartbreaking, moving and funny. Yes, you laugh and you cry. Your breath is taken away as you go through the journey with Wolfe from childhood in Berlin to adulthood in New York. You feel for him every step of the way and admire his spirit, his energy and his love of life. This is a story that stays with you and reminds you of the strength of the human spirit. It also reminds you that life as it is can change completely and the rights you have come to expect can just evaporate right in front of your eyes.

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Irene Krysminski

An Inspirational Story of Escape and Perseverance

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2023

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of this compelling memoir, which the author developed from her father's journals over the years. The book covers Wolf’s extraordinary journey--from his family's harrowing escape from Nazi Germany in 1941, and their arrival and difficult assimilation into New York society, to his eventual return to Germany as an American intelligence officer during the Cold War.

Birnbaum does an outstanding job of placing the reader alongside Wolf as the tension ratchets up all around him, and I especially appreciated her inclusion of the small details that illuminate their daily lives and how much they lost. The later sections covering his coming of age and early adulthood are also excellent.

This book is part of Amsterdam Publishers' "Holocaust Survivor True Stories" series, which specializes in memoirs written by Holocaust survivors and their children. Their work is more important than ever, given the recent rise of fascist elements in the U.S. and elsewhere. Never again.

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Mueller

Riveting Story of Survival Against the Odds

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2023

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Birnbaum's "American Wolf" is an important addition to the history of the Holocaust, and adds texture to the cultural mosaic the US has become. It is my favorite kind of memoir- the subject is not a celebrity or important personage, but an ordinary young boy with a typical family caught up in a tumultuous period of history. Wolf's family is easy to relate to - suffering from similar dysfunctions, anxieties and longings that characterized 'normal' family life in the post-WWI era. Wolf's mother Grete demonstrates a spine of steel, doggedly persisting (despite exasperating obstacles thrown in her way) to insure her family's safety. His sister Anita makes terrific sacrifices to the same end. Hooray for female heroes! This book is a page-turner - the characters are so compelling that I raced to the end, hoping the best for all of them. Read it!

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Elsie

An Unforgettable Journey

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2023

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I loved every minute of this true story, including Wolf’s tales about his childhood friends in Berlin, his family’s dysfunctional dynamics, and the growing tension, changing loyalties, and increasing danger in his diverse neighborhood. The vivid accounts of the family’s terrifying, prolonged, and ultimately inhumane escape from the Nazis, and their challenges in assimilating and thriving in the US were thrilling as I read them, but very unsettling as similar atrocities are occurring in parts of the world today.

I was impressed to learn that the author reconstructed her father’s story from his notebooks, which she found after his passing. The narrative unfolds first in Wolf's voice, as a boy in Germany, and then shifts to Jack's perspective as he endeavors to assimilate as a young man in New York. The story is gripping, frightening, and eerily relevant in today’s unstable world. Yet, it is beautifully written, rich in emotional detail, and at many points, it's charming, funny, and poignant. American Wolf is one of the best books I've read in a long time.

One person found this helpful

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LindaLouise6517

Wonderfully Written

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024

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This is yet another insightful, sometimes sad and beautifully written book from Amsterdam Publishers. I loved the “voice” of this book, especially the honesty of all the struggles this family endured. Thank you Dr. Birnbaum for sharing your father’s story.

2 people found this helpful

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Hollie

Had a hard time putting this book down!

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024

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The author's writing style, the pictures included, the story itself, all had me devouring this book, the afterwards, the acknowledgements, and the notes. I rarely read past the ending of the story, but the snippets of information and the desire for the book to not be finished spurred me to read everything, and I was not disappointed. I'm not one to consume media about war and the Holocaust breaks my heart, so I generally avoid them, and memoirs are usually bland and unappealing to me; however, I found myself fully engaged with the story. Hopefully, if you're reading this and feel the same, you'll give this novel a try. I highly recommend it! Just make sure you don't have anything pressing to be done until you're finished.

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anthony bernard

A Faulous Read

Reviewed in Australia on April 25, 2024

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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this real life story of Wolf or Jack, a young German Jewish boy who grows up in 1930s Nazi Berlin. The book follows the extremely tenuous process for his family in immigrating to the US during wartime yet somehow they manage it in mid 1941. What I found particularly interesting is the description of the increasing repression imposed on the Jewish community during the Nazi era and how people tried to manage their lives. After becoming established in the US Jack ends up in US Army military intelligence, spying on the Russians in Cold War East Germany. Highly recommended.

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American Wolf: From Nazi refugee to American Spy. A true story (Holocaust Survivor True Stories) Kindle Edition

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Audrey Birnbaum

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