Alexander Bruner & Christine Kuehn
view optionsAlexander Bruner (Author Jozsef Debreczeni, Z”L), Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz
Chrisine Kuehn, Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
ALEXANDER BRUNER (Author Jozsef Debreczeni, Z”L), Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz
National Jewish Book Award finalist and one of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2024
"A treasure...Debreczeni’s memoir is a crucial contribution to Holocaust literature, a book that enlarges our understanding of 'life' in Auschwitz." ―Wall Street Journal
József Debreczeni, a prolific Hungarian-language journalist and poet, arrived in Auschwitz in 1944; had he been selected to go left, his life expectancy would have been approximately forty-five minutes. One of the “lucky” ones, he was sent to the right, which led to twelve horrifying months of incarceration and slave labor in a series of camps, ending in the “Cold Crematorium”―the so-called hospital of the forced labor camp Dörnhau, where prisoners too weak to work awaited execution. But as Soviet and Allied troops closed in on the camps, local Nazi commanders―anxious about the possible consequences of outright murder―decided to leave the remaining prisoners to die in droves rather than sending them directly to the gas chambers.
Debreczeni recorded his experiences in Cold Crematorium, one of the harshest, most merciless indictments of Nazism ever written. This haunting memoir, rendered in the precise and unsentimental style of an accomplished journalist, is an eyewitness account of incomparable literary quality. The subject matter is intrinsically tragic, yet the author’s evocative prose, sometimes using irony, sarcasm, and even acerbic humor, compels the reader to imagine human beings in circumstances impossible to comprehend intellectually.
First published in Hungarian in 1950, it was never translated into a world language due to McCarthyism, Cold War hostilities and antisemitism. More than 70 years later, this masterpiece that was nearly lost to time will be available in 15 languages, finally taking its rightful place among the greatest works of Holocaust literature.
Discussing Mr. Debreczeni’s memoir will be his nephew, Alexander Bruner.
Christine Kuehn, Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
It began with a letter from a screenwriter, asking about a story. Your family. World War II. Nazi spies. Christine Kuehn was shocked and confused. When she asked her seventy-year-old father, Eberhard, what this could possibly be about, he stalled, deflected, demurred, and then wept. He knew this day would come.
The Kuehns, a prominent Berlin family, saw the rise of the Nazis as a way out of the hard times that had befallen them. When the daughter of the family, Eberhard’s sister, Ruth, met Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels at a party, the two hit it off, and they had an affair. But Ruth had a secret―she was half Jewish―and Goebbels found out. Rather than having Ruth killed, Goebbels instead sent the entire Kuehn family to Hawaii, to work as spies half a world away. There, Ruth and her parents established an intricate spy operation from their home, just a few miles down the road from Pearl Harbor, shielding Eberhard from the truth. They passed secrets to the Japanese, leading to the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. After Eberhard’s father was arrested and tried for his involvement in planning the assault, Eberhard learned the harsh truth about his family and faced a decision that would change the path of the Kuehn family forever.
Jumping back and forth between Christine discovering her family’s secret and the untold past of the spies in Germany, Japan, and Hawaii, Family of Spies is fast-paced history at its finest and will rewrite the narrative of December 7, 1941.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine Kuehn was cocooned in the sanctity of a quiet suburban life when a mysterious letter in 1994 pierced that bubble, sending her on a thirty-year quest to discover the truth behind a horrendous family secret kept hidden for half a century. Following a career in journalism, public relations, and nonprofits, Christine now lives in Maryland with her husband, close to their three grown children.
Books will be available for purchase on the day of the event from our partner bookseller, A Cappella Books!
All sales are final. Tickets and books are non-refundable.
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date
Alexander Bruner & Christine Kuehn
Sunday, 11.02.2025 - 11.02.2025 (1 session)
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time
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm |
location MJCCA Zaban Park | fee Member: $15, Community: $20 | age 18 - 110 Years | code #58863 | Buy Tickets |
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