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Dear Mutzi: A story of love, escape and finding the forgotten
Harry Peters — formerly Hermann Ludwig Pollnow, known to his family as Mutzi — was born in Berlin in 1920. As a teenager, he fled Nazi Germany and landed in rural Australia. Harry’s parents, Max and Edith, stayed and perished in Nazi camps.
This story, of forced migration, assimilation, loss, resilience and determination despite the odds, is one that has been lived countless times throughout history and continues to be a common human experience. Harry’s particular experience also tells the history of refugee farmers in rural Australia and migrant labour companies during WWII.
Scholfield-Peters tells her grandfather’s story with three intertwining a sketched-out history based on Harry’s testimony and documentary history; her engagement with this personal history from a third-generation perspective; and the present story of Harry’s growing infirmities and eventual death in early 2021 at age 100.
Through the hybrid narrative non-fiction form, Scholfield-Peters investigates her family history and seeks to share an ethical historical account of Harry’s life. This work necessarily skirts the edges of fiction and non-fiction, as Scholfield-Peters weaves her deep research with Harry’s recollections and imagines the unknown details.
This story, of forced migration, assimilation, loss, resilience and determination despite the odds, is one that has been lived countless times throughout history and continues to be a common human experience. Harry’s particular experience also tells the history of refugee farmers in rural Australia and migrant labour companies during WWII.
Scholfield-Peters tells her grandfather’s story with three intertwining a sketched-out history based on Harry’s testimony and documentary history; her engagement with this personal history from a third-generation perspective; and the present story of Harry’s growing infirmities and eventual death in early 2021 at age 100.
Through the hybrid narrative non-fiction form, Scholfield-Peters investigates her family history and seeks to share an ethical historical account of Harry’s life. This work necessarily skirts the edges of fiction and non-fiction, as Scholfield-Peters weaves her deep research with Harry’s recollections and imagines the unknown details.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 12, 2024
This is an extraordinary story of family and how lives are transformed by world events, this story illuminates the repercussions of the holocaust on people all across the world, and the intergenerational trauma it has caused. The style makes a difficult idea accessible, I can't wait to read what Tess Peters writes next.
July 9, 2024
An incredible story crafted through expert research and emotional storytelling, honouring Max and Edith’s hardships and sacrifices and Harry’s wish to pass on Jewish history and heritage through his family.
December 1, 2025
Deeply personal and moving.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews