— Anthony Grenville, AJR Journal
— John Green, Morning Star
— Gail Simon, Context magazine
“A work of tremendous force and emotion, beautifully written, an important and original contribution to our understanding of the impact of malevolence on a family and its home. A book for our times, sadly.”
— Philippe Sands, QC, Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London
About the Book
Jews were only given full citizenship rights in Germany once it was unified in 1871. Until then, they faced persecution, discrimination and exclusion from many professions. In many areas, Jews were only able to work as moneylenders or tax collectors, work that others did not want to do. For many, life was a huge struggle, both financially and to becoming accepted in society.
My father, Wolf Nelki, stirred by his escape from the Holocaust, uncovered what had happened to his family in the war and also traced his family tree. He found that a part of the family who in 1893 in Germany had built a villa with a magnificent stained glass window and started a cheese factory, had tried, as so many Jews did, to settle and belong, They could not and were shattered and scattered as a result as were other members of the family. The villa, in contrast, did withstand the historical and political turmoil of Nazism and communism it witnessed through the 20th century.
The story of former East Germany that is usually told in the West is only one perspective on historical truth. I was brought up with another perspective; a more variegated, layered and complex one that became submerged under the generally accepted view that communism was evil, that there was no freedom in East Germany and that everyone hated living there.
Ernestine’s engagement ring
The journey I have travelled in writing this book has brought the other story back into focus for me and enabled me to reflect on both in juxtaposition as well as connect me with both my Jewish and German roots. It also connected me with my grandmother whom I never knew - Ernestine Russo.
My story is one of hope and disillusionment, not only for the Jews who thought they belonged and found they did not, but also for those who believed in communism and thought they could make it work and they could not.
Although this is a story of one family, one stained glass window, one house and one town, it also illustrates wider events and their impact on individuals.
The survivors in our family became refugees. They laid down new roots and made a new country their home though always with the possibility that it might not last.
The decision of a young, compassionate musical family to buy the villa was done out of love and a desire to support children and music for the future while, at the same time, honouring the past. They had hope and faith that it could be done and so far it is working. See the Villa Russo website for more information.
This centre, overlooked by the stained glass window that has witnessed so much, is now a place where artistic ideas can come together and flourish. It arose out of chaos; a fitting ending to the strange and diverse history of the Villa Russo, which had begun as part of a cheese factory but also had been the place of many musical events organised by my family. It has become a symbol of reconciliation and hope for the future.
Image credit: Barbara Toppel at Villa Russo www.villa-russo.com/geschichte/
At the Villa Russo, a charity was founded in 1997 by committed citizens of Wernigerode, and with the help of the descendants of Clara and Benno Russo, to counter “social exclusion of all kinds”. In 2019, the charitable association was re-established as an “international meeting place against forgetting”.
Its main aims are to promote the music educational work of the current owner and to organise cultural events that foster international understanding of the National Socialist acts of violence and ensure that the victims are not forgotten. This involves the cultural, social and political education of children, adolescents and adults, to strengthen democratic attitudes.
Location
of Villa Russo, Wernigerode
Map showing the location of Villa Russo, Wernigerode, in relation to the former East/West German boundary, depicted by the European Green Belt.
Google Maps (interactive)