Synopsis
Out of Vienna is about twenty eight members of the author's family from Vienna and Prague, who were persecuted by the Nazis beginning in 1938 following the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria to Germany. Ten did not survive the Holocaust. Nine were murdered by Nazis. One committed suicide.
A nonfiction story, Out of Vienna follows the Weiss family's long flight through thirteen European countries to escape the Nazis' iron fist and cruelty. Engrossing from beginning to end, its dialogue and vivid physical descriptions of places and events are based on personal interviews, research and the author's own recollections. A certified page-turner, this is a story meant to be shared with others. Follow this family's remarkable journey and discover how their resourcefulness allowed them to survive. Though they experienced many difficulties, they never lost hope for a better future and at the end of eight long years - their dream finally came true.
Weiss is the son of a Dachau Concentration Camp survivor, yet he never asked about his father's time in Dachau. Perhaps Weiss wanted to forget the years spent fleeing the Nazis. It was only after his mother's death that he determined to find out more about his father's incarceration, and their eight years of hectic flight.. Thus began a quest to discover other relative's whereabouts and fate.
About the Author
Ernie Weiss was born in Vienna, Austria in 1931. He is a Jew. Following the annexation of Austria to Germany, he and his brother and parents began their journey to the United States. Mr. Weiss traveled through Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Cuba before arriving in the United States in 1946. The family settled in New York City for one year, and then moved to Brookline, Massachusetts where his father received employment. Ernie attended Brookline High School's class of '49, as a junior and senior; became a Boston University graduate in 1953 with a B. S. in Public Relations; and served in the U. S. Army from 1953 until 1955. He then married and had two children.
Ernie entered the footwear industry, following his father's vocation, as a supplier of materials to shoe manufacturers. He was president of the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore (MA) among other volunteer positions and retired in 2004. He now lives in Cumberland Foreside, Maine.
After his mother's death in 1990 he took four large boxes of photographs taken by his father, an enthusiastic photographer. It took several years to organize the photos. Ernie then became interested in his father's incarceration in the Dachau concentration camp and the eight years of hectic flight out of Vienna. He thus began his research and discovered how other family members escaped from Vienna. This was the beginning of Out of Vienna. This is his first book.
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