When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains

By Ariana Neumann

KRAUS FAMILY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR AT THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS
WINNER OF THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE

‘Beautifully told' – John le Carré
‘More than just history’ – Michael Palin

In this remarkably moving memoir, Ariana Neumann dives into the secrets of her father’s past: years spent hiding in plain sight in wartorn Berlin, the annihilation of dozens of family members in the Holocaust, and the courageous choice to build anew.

When her father dies and leaves her a box of clues, Ariana Neumann uncovers a heritage she knew nothing about. Exploring the joys and sorrows of the Neumann family, she learns through her tireless investigations why her father, a successful entrepreneur in Venezuela, never spoke about his past. How as a young man from Prague he boldly deceived the Gestapo by doing the unimaginable.

Spanning nearly ninety years, this is an unforgettable memoir about resilience, hope and love in the midst of tragedy. A tribute to the lost, and a celebration of all that connects us, and of the courage it takes to keep going. Because the darkest shadow always lies beneath the candle.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Feb 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781471179426

Ariana Neumann

Ariana Neumann grew up in Venezuela. She graduated from Tufts University with a degree in History and received her master's in Spanish and Latin American Literature from New York University, where she taught for a year before moving to the UK and obtained a postgraduate degree from the University of London. She previously worked as a foreign correspondent for Venezuela's The Daily Journal and her writing has also appeared in The European. Ariana lives in London with her family. When Time Stopped is her first book.

Reviews for When Time Stopped

[ana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best book written about Holocaust. Ariana brought to life her family killed in Concentration Camps, from love to pranks, from history investigation to a powerful message. I am thankful for her curiosity and determination that culminated in this amazing book. A book to be read by everyone!

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Time Stopped, Ariana Neumann, author, Rebecca Lowman, narratorAriana Neumann did an amazing amount of research over decades, in order to discover her father’s true past and name, and in so doing, her own heritage. Brought up without much religious foundation, she had no idea of her Jewish background until she discovered a box with her father’s documents, documents he had carefully kept secret from his family until his death. Neumann did not discover most of the information until more than a decade after his death when a box she had seen as a child, reappeared in her life. With this box, began a research project which exposed relatives with whom she never had contact and a religion which she never knew she had a connection.Through careful investigation, she discovered unknown relatives who had documents and letters that enabled her to retrace her father’s history in Europe. Neumann had been raised in Venezuela and never knew her father had been born in Czechoslovakia, nor that he lived through the German occupation as a Jew on the run with another identity. Although his family once numbered more than 30, she discovered that most of them were murdered.Because of the documents and letters, some new information was provided which I believe was very enlightening. The book will inform the reader of the plan Nazi Germany masterminded that enabled the murder of so many innocents, of the steps some took to protect those innocents and of the lucky intervention that often made the difference between life and death.

[mumoftheanimals · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent account of a family’s attempt to survive during the Holocaust.

[suesbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was well written to teach me both about the communities' responses to the Nazi regime, and also about the responses and activities of many individuals. I learned about so many underground activities and individual dares that actually worked. This book was extremely sad and also very educational for me.

[judiex · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Like all Holocaust stories, WHEN TIME STOPPED is unique. The author, Ariana Neuman grew up in Venezuela in the 1970s. Her father, a wealthy industrialist, didn’t talk of his past. One of his main hobbies involved his large watch collection. She didn’t even know he was Jewish though she felt she was different from the other Catholic children she knew from school and church.After his death, he left her a box in which she found clues to his history including an ID card bearing someone else’s name. That freed her to search for his story.She learned that the first member of the thirty-four member Neumann family, then living in Czechoslovakia, was sent to Auschwitz in 1941 for swimming in restricted part of a river. He died soon afterwards. By the end of the war, only nine survived. Her father, Hans, was one of them. Despite all the restrictions, he managed to survive by hiding in plain sight in Berlin, of all places. Her search took her to many locations and enabled her to meet relatives she didn’t know she had. WHE:N TIME STOPPED has two compelling stories, that of her father’s life and her search for family members. It includes a map, family trees, and many photos of her family and some amazing watches.

[ellenh_28 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a well written family story and world history in one. Ariana Neuman takes her Father's mysterious life on as a mystery like she'd been looking for as a child interested in being a sleuth. Growing up in Argentina with her Father, she'd known that something in his past caused him great pain, but other than to see a few glimpses of his pain, her Father would never discuss what it was to cause the nightmares and silence of his story. When he died he left a box of carefully organised documents, letters, and pictures for her to finally look into his secrets. As she researches, she not only comes upon his life in Czechoslovakia as a Jew during the Nazi Regime, but his whole network of family and friends, many who did not survive. The journey she was on wasn't fast, as she had a life of raising children and the stories she found were not easy ones to know.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A daughter's engaging look at her search for the unspoken past of her father, a Czech holocaust survivor.