From Holocaust to Harvard: A Story of Escape, Forgiveness, and Freedom

Description

A statesman's "deeply personal account of his journey from Nazi-occupied Austria to the heights of the American intellectual establishment . . . Heart wrenching" (Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state). When John Stoessinger was ten years old, Adolf Hitler annexed Austria, ripping the boy from his homeland and his friends in Vienna. His mother and stepfather escaped with him, trekking across the country and around the globe, finally settling in Shanghai. Yet there was never a single moment when Stoessinger was not afraid. He lived in constant fear that he and his family would be found and killed. Eventually untangling himself from the chaos and devastating memories of his past, Stoessinger relocated to America, earned a graduate degree from Harvard, and later became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. But one ill-advised decision would bring everything crashing down and land him in prison, until a presidential pardon freed him once more. In From Holocaust to Harvard, Stoessinger recalls heartbreaking moments from his childhood and tells what it's like to live a life of secrets. He also expresses his gratitude to those who helped him—through both his greatest achievements and his public scandals—and put him on a path that led him to an Ivy League education, a successful career, and finally, inner peace.