The Last Train: A Family History of the Final Solution

by Peter Bradley

Overview

The profoundly moving and deeply intimate story of one Jewish family’s fate in the Holocaust, following the thread from Germany to Latvia and to Britain.

In November 1941, Peter Bradley's grandparents, Sally and Bertha Brandes, were deported from their home in Bamberg to their deaths in Latvia.

The Last Train is a profound and moving homage to Peter’s lost family and to his father who rarely spoke of the traumas through which he lived.

It is also his attempt to understand, through the prism of his family’s story, how the Nazis came to conceive and implement the Final Solution.

Why did Sally and Bertha’s fellow citizens put them on the train that carried them to the killing fields?

Why did the democracies which so loudly condemned Hitler’s persecution of the Jews deny them sanctuary?

And why, when Peter's father finally reached Britain after five terrible months in a Nazi concentration camp, was he arrested as an 'enemy alien'?

The quest for answers led Peter to explore the origins and evolution of an ancient hatred and the struggles against it of each generation of his family, from the Reformation, through the Enlightenment and the Age of Reform, to the catastrophe of the Holocaust.

This is the powerful, poignant story of Peter’s journey through family papers and archives, through works of scholarship and the testimony of survivors, and from Bavaria and Buchenwald to the mass graves of the Baltic.

And, reflecting on what he learned, he asks: in the events of our own times, we are all perpetrators or bystanders or resisters; which of those roles do we choose for ourselves?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780008474980
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/12/2022
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	869,765
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Peter Bradley was the Labour MP for The Wrekin between 1997 and 2005. More recently, he co-founded and directed Speakers’ Corner Trust, a charity which promotes freedom of expression, open debate and active citizenship in the UK and developing democracies. He has written, usually on politics, for a wide range of publications, including The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The New Statesman and The New European.

Peter Bradley was the Labour MP for The Wrekin between 1997 and 2005. More recently, he co-founded and directed Speakers’ Corner Trust, a charity which promotes freedom of expression, open debate and active citizenship in the UK and developing democracies. He has written, usually on politics, for a wide range of publications, including The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The New Statesman and The New European.

Table of Contents

A Note to Readers xi

Prologue 1

Introduction 5

Part 1 Origins

1 Finding My Father 13

2 The Architecture of Anti-Semitism 19

3 Articles of Faith 25

4 A Small City in Germany 36

Part 2 The Family as History

5 Lives on Licence 45

6 The Age of Reason and Unreason 59

Part 3 The Last Generation

7 Four Families 81

8 The End of the Beginning 93

9 The Beginning of the End 118

Part 4 Resettlement in the West

10 The Emigration Trap 139

11 Welcome to Great Britain 148

Part 5 Resettlement in the East

12 The Turning of the Screw 167

13 The Road to Riga 178

14 The Cleansing of Latvia 193

15 The End Game 217

16 Now We Are Free 234

17 Searching for Sally 239

18 Rays of Light 271

Afterwords

I The Shameful Secret 283

II Choices 299

III The Last Word 315

In Memoriam 323

Illustrations 335

Notes 337

Sources 375

Index 383

Acknowledgements 399

Editorial Reviews

‘Wonderful. Beautifully written.’ Alan Johnson, author of This Boy

‘I was gripped from the beginning. Peter Bradley has a powerful story to tell.’ Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

‘Evocative and unsettling, this is a gently haunting book whose characters – and lessons – will linger.’ Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian

‘Outstanding. The lessons Bradley draws from the catastrophe have powerful resonance in our own times.’ Oliver Kamm, The Times

‘Extraordinary …. a harrowing work of creative history.’ The Mirror

‘Far more than simply a historical explanation.’ The Jewish Chronicle

‘A beautifully written, moving account.’ Rebecca Clifford, author of Survivors

'A moving tale of a family, a small German town and Nazi horrors. Brings into sharp focus the enduring scourge of anti-Semitism.’ John Kampfner, author of Why The Germans Do It Better

‘Utterly gripping. I could not put it down.’ Rabbi The Baroness Neuberger DBE

‘Moving. An impressive journey to the roots of antisemitism.’ Géraldine Schwarz, author of Those Who Forget

‘A thought-provoking insight, through the prism of Peter’s family, into the real impact of this pernicious hatred.’ Ruth Smeeth, CEO of Index on Censorship

‘Important … Should be read by all who want to comprehend the enormity of the Holocaust and reflect on its significance for today.’ Dame Louise Ellman, Order! Order!

From the Publisher