Elsa’s World. In My Grandmother’s Footsteps – A Family History from Lodz

Kossert recounts his family’s history, from the colonists’ departure in the 18th century, through the city’s rapid rise to become a textile hub, to Elsa’s daily life under German occupation during the Second World War, in the suffocating proximity of terror and annihilation. After the war ended, she endured expulsion, internment in a camp and, ultimately, the loss of her homeland.

Using his grandmother as his subject, he paints an intimate family portrait, and almost incidentally, a vast panorama of Central European history unfolds before our eyes, told with great power and sensitivity. Elsa’s life, caught between hope and loss beyond national binaries, epitomises the great European drama of nationalism and war – and could therefore hardly be more relevant today.

“A unique insight into the 20th century – and into a strong woman. ‘Elsa’s World’ is wonderfully vividly written, full of empathy and subtlety. A book grounded in profound knowledge, yet one that moves us deeply.” Christopher Clark

“Andreas Kossert traces his grandmother’s footsteps with the meticulousness of a historian and the empathy of a grandson. ‘Elsa’s World’ is a plea for a life in between: between countries, languages and cultures. History, as taught to our children, should consist of such stories.” Karolina Kuszyk

PROGRAMME

Welcome

Dr Roland Borchers, Director, Documentation Centre for Flight, Expulsion and Reconciliation

Jens Dehning, Editor at Large, Siedler Verlag

Reading and discussion

Dr Andreas Kossert, historian and author

Moderator: Shelly Kupferberg, journalist and author

The author will be available for a book-signing after the reading.

You are invited to a small reception afterwards.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Bookstall

Doors open: 7.00 pm

Language: German

FREE ENTRY

REGISTRATION REQUIRED

• The event will be recorded and published on the ‘Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung’ YouTube channel.

• Organised by: Documentation Centre for Flight, Expulsion and Reconciliation · Siedler Verlag