Two Roads Home by Daniel Finkelstein

An epic and beautifully written World War II family history that spans Europe, telling of two happy families uprooted by war, their incredible suffering in Hitler’s and Stalin’s camps, and the near-miraculous survival, rescue and meeting of the author’s parents.

Daniel Finkelstein’s grandfather Alfred Wiener was a German Jewish intellectual leader who tolled an early warning of the impending Holocaust and became an archivist of Nazi crimes. He relocated his family to safety in Amsterdam, where they became close with Anne Frank’s family. But they were eventually separated, and Daniel’s mother Mirjam was sent to Bergen-Belsen with her mother and sisters while Alfred worked feverishly to free them. Finkelstein’s father, Ludwik, grew up in a prosperous Jewish family in Poland where his father was a patriotic hero of the Great War. But when Stalin took control, Finkelstein’s grandfather was deported to Siberia, while Ludwik and his mother were sent to face freezing winters and harrowing forced labourm conditions in Kazahkstan. Two Roads Home is a page-turning account of ingenuity, bravery and the incredible coincidences that brought Daniel’s parents together as refugees in Britain. The story features secret archives, forgery and theft, and sweeps across Europe to show the expanse of the war. Moving, engrossing and inspiring, Two Roads Home will profoundly touch all who read.

DANIEL FINKELSTEIN is an award-winning writer and journalist. He is associate editor of The Times of London and a weekly political columnist. He has written some of The Times’ best-loved columns, ranging across politics, social affairs, history and popular culture. Since 2013, he has sat in the House of Lords as Baron Finkelstein of Pinner. He is grandson of Dr. Alfred Wiener, Holocaust survivor and founder of the Wiener Library. In December 2018, he was honoured by the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.

Author Residence: London, UK

Author Hometown: London, UK