“Survival is sweet revenge”– A displaced child’s search for identity and belonging
Anna Rabkin was born in Krakow, Poland. World War II forced her family to flee the invading German army. Her family was hunted by Communists and persecuted by the Nazis, only Anna and her brother survived.
Berlin and I Have Changed
"I spent my 50th birthday in Berlin because I wanted to be in a city that had changed as much as I had."
Jude's passion for Berlin spans four decades: her first visit to the divided city was during a Fulbright-sponsored study at the Universität Hamburg in the 70s. Solo visits to East Berlin through the infamous Tränenpalast ("Palace of Tears") at Friedrichstrasse Station followed. She visited Berlin yearly, staying in a pension in the home of an older survivor of the WWII bombing of Berlin, and was in East Berlin just days before the fall of the Wall. She spends her visits wandering the chaotic reunited city, exploring mysteriously abandoned locales, and making numerous visits to the luminous new capital of Germany.
A Love Affair with Ukraine
For over 25 years, German-born Brigitte Schulze worked in Ukraine as a journalist and foreign correspondent reporting for numerous German media, as well as a consultant for media policy. She served several years as an advisor for cultural promotion, earning her the title of Ambassador for Ukrainian Tourism from the Council for Tourism and Health Resorts in Kiev.
Finding My Place in the World
Inge Schaefer Horton was born in Hannover, Germany, and grew up in Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia during, and after, World War II.
After graduation, Inge studied architecture at the Technical Universities of Hannover and Berlin, where approximately 10% of students were women. After graduating as a Diplom Ingenieur in 1965, Inge worked at the TU Berlin as a Research Associate and wrote her first book, Early Modern Architecture in Berlin.
A Kindertransport Rescue: My Journey from Berlin to England to the USA
Photo courtesy of Ilse EdenIlse remembers “Kristallnacht.” After that, England agreed to admit 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children, and Ilse was chosen as one of a group of 12 sponsored by a Jewish pediatrician in London. She emigrated on March 15, 1939, and lived with these children until the outbreak of war, when all children were evacuated from London. She graduated from a boarding school in Cornwall at the end of the war, in 1945.
Living for Peace
Inge Schaefer Horton was born in Hannover, Germany, and grew up in Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia during, and after, World War II.
After graduation, Inge studied architecture at the Technical Universities of Hannover and Berlin, where approximately 10% of students were women. After graduating as a Diplom Ingenieur in 1965, Inge worked at the TU Berlin as a Research Associate and wrote her first book, Early Modern Architecture in Berlin.
Journeys with Rilke
Author and Rilke scholar Daniel Joseph Polikoff has published six books of poetry, translation, criticism, and creative non-fiction. Daniel earned his PhD in Comparative Literature from Cornell University and his Diploma in Waldorf Education from Steiner College; he has taught literature in both Waldorf high schools and Bay area graduate programs. He has shared his passion for Rilke in a wide variety of venues in the United States and abroad. A native of Chicago, he has lived with his German wife Monika and family in the San Francisco Bay area since 1999.
Religion and Identity: An exploration of what makes us who we are –and what makes someone else ‘the other’
“We are all shaped by the predominant culture of the places we come from. …Whether you consider yourself religious or not, you are invited to ponder for yourself: how does my upbringing shape my expectations–and fears?”
And Saw The Heaven Open (Und sah die Himmel offen)
Spirituality here and beyond religion. Narratives, voices, contemplations
Wie ich zur deutschen Sprache gekommen bin | How I came to the German Language
Born in Berkeley, CA, in 1940, Travis studied French and German at Berkeley High School and later added Italian at UC Berkeley. He spent his Junior year at the interpreters' school with these trilingual studies in Geneva, where his Swiss roommate taught him some Swiss German. Travis married Phyllis in 1962 in Berkeley and graduated one year later. He joined the Army to avoid being drafted for Viet Nam, and went to “Intelligence School.” In 1964, he was transferred to Munich where he and Phyllis spent 22 months, living in an apartment and wearing civilian clothes to his office, becoming immersed in the German language and culture.