Reunion in Vienna By Edith Foster, Afterword by Heinrich von Weizsacker

Young Edith feels close to the Social-Democratic Youth movement in Vienna but latent anti-Semitism poisons the school atmosphere and makes her more aware of her Jewish background. To escape the Nazis she flees to Sweden, and via Mexico and Australia, to the United States. With mixed feelings she accepts an invitation to a class reunion in 1983. She experiences happy and problematic encounters, is confronted with evidence of political integrity, human weakness, opportunism, and hypocrisy. Foster takes this opportunity to survey her life from then to now, reviewing political and psychological situations. This approach gives the book a feeling of immediacy and produces a sensitive account full of deep human sentiment.