In Search of My Father
Encyclopedia
In Search of My Father: The Journey of a Child Holocaust Survivor is a 2010 book by a Holocaust survivor Paul Drexler. The book chronicles the author's research about his father's death during a British bombardment days before German capitulation.
to a labor camp in Sereď
. The family was separated a few months later when Drexler and his mother were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp
. Drexler never saw his father, Eugen again. The family had evidence that Eugen died on May 3, 1945 in a death certificate, but knew no details. They soon immigrated to Australia.
In the mid 1990s, Drexler was presenting his story to Steven Spielberg
's Shoah Foundation
. It was during this recounting of events that Drexler realized he wanted to research and discover what happened to his father. His research took him throughout Europe, where he discovered that Eugen was killed in the Bay of Lübeck
only a couple days before Germany surrendered.
illustrates the book's "painful reminder that when nations go to war, it is invariably the innocent who suffer most".
Summary
In 1944, Drexler and his family were taken by The GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
to a labor camp in Sereď
Sered
Sereď is a town in southern Slovak Republic near Trnava, on the right bank of the Váh River on the Danubian Lowland. It has аpproximately 17,000 inhabitants.It has a hotel, cinema, culture house, many restaurants and confectioner's shops.-Geography:...
. The family was separated a few months later when Drexler and his mother were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
. Drexler never saw his father, Eugen again. The family had evidence that Eugen died on May 3, 1945 in a death certificate, but knew no details. They soon immigrated to Australia.
In the mid 1990s, Drexler was presenting his story to Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's Shoah Foundation
Shoah Foundation
Shoah foundations are organizations that are formed to further the remembrance of the Holocaust of World War II. There are currently two major foundations that are internationally active.-Major Shoah Foundations:...
. It was during this recounting of events that Drexler realized he wanted to research and discover what happened to his father. His research took him throughout Europe, where he discovered that Eugen was killed in the Bay of Lübeck
Bay of Lübeck
The Bay of Lübeck is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of German lands of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. It forms the southwestern part of the Bay of Mecklenburg....
only a couple days before Germany surrendered.
Reception
The Sydney Morning Herald praised In Search of My Father as "full of powerful moments, told simply, with disturbing openness". A review in the The AustralianThe Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
illustrates the book's "painful reminder that when nations go to war, it is invariably the innocent who suffer most".