A Place They Called Home

Dena, eine Renterin aus New Hampshire fühlt sich in Deutschland zuhause, sobald sie die Hänge der Weingärten am Rhein sieht. Maya, eine Journalistin bei der Deutsche Welle, hat die Staatsbürgerschaft beantragt, weil es für ihre Karriere in Berlin gut war. Und Yermi, ein Schriftsteller aus Israel, hat eine Anwort für Leute, die sich wundern, warum er in dem Land lebt, das seine Familie umgebracht hat. 'In Berlin gehöre ich dazu - zur Kultur und den Werten.' Sie alle holen sich zurück, was ihren Familien genommen wurde. Dena, a New Hampshire retiree, feels at home in Germany the moment the vineyards across the Rhine come into her view. Maya, a journalist for Deutsche Welle, pursued German citizenship to boost her career in Berlin. And Yermi, an Israeli writer, has a response for people who question his decision to live in the country that murdered his relatives. In Berlin I feel a sense of belonging - to the culture, the values - and I feel welcomed here." A Place They Called Home is the first book to give a voice to the descendants of Jewish Holocaust survivors who have chosen to restore their German citizenship. They each have different reasons for doing so, but they all reclaimed something that was taken from their families.

Donna Swarthout was born in New Jersey to German Jewish parents from Frankfurt and Hamburg. She holds a Master's degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and has twenty years of experience teaching at universities in the U.S. and Germany. In 2010 she moved to Berlin from Bozeman, Montana with her husband and three children. She is the author of numerous publications and the blog "Full Circle" about her return to Germany.