Twists of Fate: A Hamburg Family 1904-1941

Paul Salomon was a successful Hamburg bank manager—until 1933. He had become prosperous within a few years, bought a handsome house in Harvestehude, and was able to afford his children a carefree youth—almost. With this book, his son Ernest H. Sanders, who immigrated to New York in 1938, gives an account of the rise and fall of his family in Germany. The stealthy transformation from a “normal civil life to—at first unacknowledged—persecution, which resulted in the suicide of both parents on September 21, 1941, is recounted in a subtle and therefore moving way. In spite of these painful experiences, Sanders retained a close connection to his native city, which enabled him to take his final school examination in spite of contrary orders, thereby laying the foundation for his future in the United States.