With Just One Suitcase
This is a true story about two boys, Istvan and Frici, who live two kilometres but worlds apart in Romania. One is Catholic, one is Jewish; one grows up on a farm, the other in the affluent part of town. Life is routine and secure, the future seems predictable and each boy knows his place.
Yet when the Second World War breaks out, the familiar world with its clear divisions disintegrates. Families are torn apart as men are forcibly recruited to fight in the war. As the country comes under Nazi, then later communist control, people are held hostage to an ever-changing political landscape, punctuated by military interventions and fluctuating allegiances. As the chance of a peaceful future becomes more remote, with a totalitarian regime in control, Frici and his brother, already facing persecution as Jews, escape across the border with the help of people smugglers, the authorities in pursuit.
Istvan, just 16 years old, is transported to work in a Russian gulag before his chance at freedom comes, too. In their parallel journeys, both young men leave their families and beloved homeland to an uncertain future for a shot at freedom in Australia, sacrificing all that is familiar. Facing the challenge of building a new life, they even change their names in an effort to belong.
This epic book, spanning two continents, recounts the story of three generations of two families whose lives unexpectedly intersect in their adopted country. Beautifully capturing the loss faced when war dislocates families, it also tells of the struggles and challenges of starting anew and adapting to a different way of life. With Just One Suitcase serves as a tribute to the courage and resilience of two men who bear the scars of war, and face adversity without surrendering their optimism for the future.
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2017 | 9780987178589 | 312 pages | Paperback | 210 x 135 mm | Memoir
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memoir, migrant stories, WWII, Romania, Catholic, Jewish, Nazi rule, communist control, politics, military, persecution, Russia, gulag, family stories, epic book, two continents, three generations, two families
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Praise for With Just One Suitcase
‘Cheryl Koenig's embrace of life shines through in earlier books, such as Paper Cranes. With Just One Suitcase is the backstory to her achievements. Where do those with great courage and wherewithal get it from? From those who raised them, loved them, willed them to open their hearts to life. This story of the struggle of grandparents and parents in war-torn Europe leads us movingly to trials of a different sort in Australia. Cheryl Koenig's message is that we are always more than one person. We are ourselves, and also the dreams and hopes of those who have loved us.’
— Robert Hillman, award-winning biographer and fiction writer
‘An excellent story splendidly told.’
— Annabel Lawson, Books Editor, Country Style
‘Cheryl Koenig is to be congratulated. She has written a masterpiece. With great skill Cheryl has written an immensely readable, gripping biography documenting daily life in a crazed world. The story begins with a thumbnail sketch of life in semi- rural Romania at the outbreak of the second world war and moves on to relate the experiences, in that country, of her then youthful father and father-in-law. Many years later, in Sydney, they chance to be reunited when Cheryl nervously introduces her father to the father of her future husband. The writing is powerful, in the first person, giving the reader a fly-on-the-wall feeling of being there. Having thoroughly researched the period Cheryl is able to construe the hitherto unknown Romanian perspective with great credibility, and, as if they hadn’t already suffered enough, she goes on to relate how these amazing young men had the courage and strength to take flight and start a new life in this far flung land. That they survived at all is a miracle.’
— Sylvia Levi, GoodReads reviewer
This epic book, spanning two continents, recounts the story of three generations of two families whose lives unexpectedly intersect in their adopted country. Beautifully capturing the loss faced when war dislocates families, it also tells of the struggles and challenges of starting anew and adapting to a different way of life.
“Like many adult children of first generation Australians, I have grown to appreciate more deeply the momentous decision made by my parents in leaving their homes, their families and everything familiar to come to a new land. I believe Australia has benefited in so many ways from the trust and optimism of those who migrated to our shores. Our richness as a migrant nation endures through the stories of our forebears, told and retold to new generations. This is one such story among many that make us who we are today.”
Cheryl Koenig OAM is a Sydney-based writer and motivational speaker. With Just One Suitcase is her fourth book – the family’s memoir – and is Cheryl’s homage to her father, Frici, and her father-in-law, Istvan; and her belief in the importance of history in understanding ourselves. Read more.