Legacy (Paperback)

The first English translation by one of Hungary's greatest modern writers is a powerful and haunting novel set in the modern day and during the Holocaust

 

An elderly Jewish man strolls along the Danube Promenade in 2002. When a cyclist almost knocks him down he is transported back to a similar incident, when the cyclists were the armband-wearing Arrow-Cross-men, or Hungarian Nazis—all as he is just about to participate in an event to mark the memory of a man who fought them. We now enter the story of this man as a 14-year-old with his young friend Vera, two of thousands of Jews who owe their lives to the legendary Carl Lutz, Budapest's Swiss Vice-Consul, an enigmatic hero in the Schindler mold. This unforgettable story, based on true events, takes place on three levels and in two eras: telling the thrilling story of the two youngsters' evasion of the Nazis and the heroism of Carl Lutz in wartime and, in the 21st century, the narrator's bittersweet experience of how the past is repackaged as a product. Including a tender love story, endless tales of daring, and even a chilling encounter between Lutz and Adolf Eichmann, this is a Holocaust story like no other, richly praised all over Europe.