This is one of those podcasts from BBC Radio 4 that I dipped into but kept missing the follow up episodes, so having tuned into episode 7 today*, I am now going back to listen to all 9.
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| The Pitter Hotel, Saltzburg, undated |
"Drawn to a family legend about his German-Jewish family’s dramatic escape from Nazi Germany in 1936, the writer Joe Dunthorne accidentally discovers a far more unsettling history".
There is the story of how this great-grandfather worked on a chemical weapons factory for the Nazis, and the inspirational account of the 17 year old sister of his great-grandfather who set up a Jewish kindagarten for children she encountered on the streets of Munich.
From ssmall beginnings it grew into a "full Jewishsocial care organization".
"Episode 7. The City Forgets
In Munich, Joe traces a very different side to his family history, events that were left out of his great-grandfather’s memoir.
Written and presented by Joe Dunthorne, Produced by Eleanor McDowall, Music by Jeremy Warmsley, Mixing engineer, Mike Woolley, Story consultant, Sarah Geis, Executive producer, Alan Hall, A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.*
And is avaialble from Penguin Books.**
Picture; picture post cards of the Pitter Hotel, Saltzburg, from the collection of the Simpson family
*7. The City Forgets, The History PodcastHalf-Life Episode 7 of 9, Half Life The History Podcast BBC Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002cfqb
**Children of Radium, A Buried Inheritance, Joe Dunthorne
