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The Freedom Circus: One family’s death-defying act to escape the Nazis and start a new life in Australia
One family's death-defying act to escape the Nazis and start a new life in Australia.
Written by award-winning author and journalist Sue Smethurst, whose husband is Mindla and Michael’s grandson, The Freedom Circus is an epic story of courage, hope, humanity, survival and, ultimately, love.
When Sue Smethurst first sat down with her grandmother-in-law and asked how she survived the Holocaust, she was shooed away. By that time Mindla was in a Melbourne Jewish nursing home with other survivors, her body ageing but mind still razor sharp.
‘Vhy do you vant to know?’ she’d ask. ‘My story is nothing special.’
As death began approaching Sue became a little more pushy. She knew Mindla’s life had to be recorded and they were running out of time. Each week she’d bring cake from her favourite shop in St Kilda, a bottle of the brightest nail polish she could find, a handful of old pictures and her tape recorder. They’d chat and paint Mindla’s nails, and with each ‘chat’ her story unfolded. It was beyond anything Sue could have imagined.
The tale of how Mindla and her husband Michael Horowitz, a circus performer for the famous Staniewski Brothers, escaped from Poland with their young son and embarked on a terrifying journey through the USSR and Middle East to Africa and ultimately to safety in Australia, is nothing short of extraordinary.
Written by award-winning author and journalist Sue Smethurst, whose husband is Mindla and Michael’s grandson, The Freedom Circus is an epic story of courage, hope, humanity, survival and, ultimately, love.
When Sue Smethurst first sat down with her grandmother-in-law and asked how she survived the Holocaust, she was shooed away. By that time Mindla was in a Melbourne Jewish nursing home with other survivors, her body ageing but mind still razor sharp.
‘Vhy do you vant to know?’ she’d ask. ‘My story is nothing special.’
As death began approaching Sue became a little more pushy. She knew Mindla’s life had to be recorded and they were running out of time. Each week she’d bring cake from her favourite shop in St Kilda, a bottle of the brightest nail polish she could find, a handful of old pictures and her tape recorder. They’d chat and paint Mindla’s nails, and with each ‘chat’ her story unfolded. It was beyond anything Sue could have imagined.
The tale of how Mindla and her husband Michael Horowitz, a circus performer for the famous Staniewski Brothers, escaped from Poland with their young son and embarked on a terrifying journey through the USSR and Middle East to Africa and ultimately to safety in Australia, is nothing short of extraordinary.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 3, 2020
30 people are currently reading
490 people want to read
About the author
Sue Smethurst
14 books18 followersSue Smethurst is an award-winning journalist and author. She has written for Australia’s biggest titles, including The Australian Women’s Weekly, The Weekend Australian magazine, The Age Good Weekend, Domain, RM Williams Outback, New Idea, Woman’s Day, the Herald Sun, Victorian RSL’s Mufti magazine. Her work is also regularly featured in international magazines.
Her career has taken her around the globe interviewing a who’s who of celebrities, newsmakers, colourful identities, sports stars, politicians and royalty. In addition to her editorial career Sue has worked in television and radio.
Sue is an award-winning, best-selling author specialising in non-fiction. She is the author of ten books, including her latest title The Freedom Circus which is now available in Poland and the Czech Republic and will soon be available in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Her career has taken her around the globe interviewing a who’s who of celebrities, newsmakers, colourful identities, sports stars, politicians and royalty. In addition to her editorial career Sue has worked in television and radio.
Sue is an award-winning, best-selling author specialising in non-fiction. She is the author of ten books, including her latest title The Freedom Circus which is now available in Poland and the Czech Republic and will soon be available in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
March 13, 2022
De schrijfster vertelt het verhaal van de Pools-Joodse grootouders van haar man. Hoe ze elkaar hebben leren kennen, trouwden en moesten vluchten voor de Duitsers. Na de oorlog konden ze zich in Australië settelen.
Elk verhaal verdient het om verteld te worden 'opdat we niet vergeten'.
The writer tells the story of her husband's Polish-Jewish grandparents. How they got to know each other, got married and had to flee from the Germans. After the war they settled down in Australia.
Every story deserves to be told 'lest we forget'.
Elk verhaal verdient het om verteld te worden 'opdat we niet vergeten'.
The writer tells the story of her husband's Polish-Jewish grandparents. How they got to know each other, got married and had to flee from the Germans. After the war they settled down in Australia.
Every story deserves to be told 'lest we forget'.
August 30, 2021
Australijska dziennikarka i nagradzana autorka Sue Smethurst z czułością, wyczuciem i szacunkiem prześledziła losy swojej bliskiej rodziny i opisała je w najlepszy możliwy sposób.
„Ku wolności” jest opowieścią jednej rodziny, a jednak to opowieść tak wielu. Nie przez przypadek Mindla Horowitz – która do 2015 roku mieszkała w żydowskim domu opieki w Australii – pokazując na swoje przyjaciółki zaznaczała, że przeszły to samo. Sue Smethurst wiedziała, że musi jednak opowiedzieć jej historię, bo każda z takich opowieści zasługuje na to, by o niej usłyszeć i pielęgnować pamięć o minionych wydarzeniach i ludziach, którzy je przetrwali. Historia przetrwania, walki, poświęcenia… Historia rodziny i świadectwo tamtych wydarzeń.
„Ku wolności” jest opowieścią jednej rodziny, a jednak to opowieść tak wielu. Nie przez przypadek Mindla Horowitz – która do 2015 roku mieszkała w żydowskim domu opieki w Australii – pokazując na swoje przyjaciółki zaznaczała, że przeszły to samo. Sue Smethurst wiedziała, że musi jednak opowiedzieć jej historię, bo każda z takich opowieści zasługuje na to, by o niej usłyszeć i pielęgnować pamięć o minionych wydarzeniach i ludziach, którzy je przetrwali. Historia przetrwania, walki, poświęcenia… Historia rodziny i świadectwo tamtych wydarzeń.
May 2, 2021
4.5★s
The Freedom Circus is a memoir by Australian journalist and award-winning author, Sue Smethurst. The author explains in her prologue how it took patience and gentle encouragement (and bright nail polish!) for her grandmother-in-law, Mindla Horowitz, to reveal the details of a life she believed was no more remarkable that those of her compatriots.
The story begins as a sweet pre-war romance between a tannery worker and a circus clown, aided by Mindla’s sisters, set against a background of spreading anti-Semitism. Kubush Horowitz woos Mindla Levin and manages to overcome her father’s reservations to marry “the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen”. His life with a touring circus means long periods apart, but their love is strong.
It’s during one of those periods apart that the Nazi invasion of Warsaw sees Mindla packing up her two-year-old son and heading for Russian-occupied eastern city of Bialystok, hoping to reunite with Kubush. It’s a trek that involves being squashed in an old oak farmer’s cart, refuge in barns and a night river crossing, with some narrow escapes from the Germans.
Things don’t quite line up, though, and while Mindla spends time in crowded jail cell, Kubush and his Jewish circus colleagues hide in plain sight doing performances for the Nazi soldiers occupying Warsaw and overseeing the building of ghetto walls.
When Shmuel Levin told his daughter “Nothing good comes from a clown”, he could have no concept of quite how wrong he was: a position with the great Moscow Circus and an apartment at the sumptuous Hotel Moskva was something none of them could have predicted.
Smethurst easily evokes the era and setting with descriptions of folk cures, traditions strictly observed, the opulent Cyrk Staniewski circus pavilion. With her vibrant prose, the sights, sounds and smells of the circus are almost tangible, while the fear and sadness triggered by the bombardment of a beautiful city with its attendant destruction of landmarks and icons holding memories, are palpable.
As she describes what they endure (indignity, cruelty, unscrupulousness, hunger and cold), Smethurst easily conveys the myriad of emotions and feelings these brave people experience: fear, loss and anxiety but also hope and optimism. This is a story of extremes: poverty in Warsaw, hunger in a crowded jail cell, luxury in a Moscow hotel, freezing cold in Russian camps, lush abundance in an African refugee camp, appalling conditions in an Italian one, and finally, safety, security and freedom in Australia.
While an account of such a life could be dry and tedious, Smethurst fills it with such rich detail that it is never dull or boring: it reads like a novel, and the reader cannot help but feel anxious for these people and their unenviable fate, and joy when things fall their way. Twelve pages of photographs of those populating the book cement the connection. This is a moving and inspiring read.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by the author.
The Freedom Circus is a memoir by Australian journalist and award-winning author, Sue Smethurst. The author explains in her prologue how it took patience and gentle encouragement (and bright nail polish!) for her grandmother-in-law, Mindla Horowitz, to reveal the details of a life she believed was no more remarkable that those of her compatriots.
The story begins as a sweet pre-war romance between a tannery worker and a circus clown, aided by Mindla’s sisters, set against a background of spreading anti-Semitism. Kubush Horowitz woos Mindla Levin and manages to overcome her father’s reservations to marry “the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen”. His life with a touring circus means long periods apart, but their love is strong.
It’s during one of those periods apart that the Nazi invasion of Warsaw sees Mindla packing up her two-year-old son and heading for Russian-occupied eastern city of Bialystok, hoping to reunite with Kubush. It’s a trek that involves being squashed in an old oak farmer’s cart, refuge in barns and a night river crossing, with some narrow escapes from the Germans.
Things don’t quite line up, though, and while Mindla spends time in crowded jail cell, Kubush and his Jewish circus colleagues hide in plain sight doing performances for the Nazi soldiers occupying Warsaw and overseeing the building of ghetto walls.
When Shmuel Levin told his daughter “Nothing good comes from a clown”, he could have no concept of quite how wrong he was: a position with the great Moscow Circus and an apartment at the sumptuous Hotel Moskva was something none of them could have predicted.
Smethurst easily evokes the era and setting with descriptions of folk cures, traditions strictly observed, the opulent Cyrk Staniewski circus pavilion. With her vibrant prose, the sights, sounds and smells of the circus are almost tangible, while the fear and sadness triggered by the bombardment of a beautiful city with its attendant destruction of landmarks and icons holding memories, are palpable.
As she describes what they endure (indignity, cruelty, unscrupulousness, hunger and cold), Smethurst easily conveys the myriad of emotions and feelings these brave people experience: fear, loss and anxiety but also hope and optimism. This is a story of extremes: poverty in Warsaw, hunger in a crowded jail cell, luxury in a Moscow hotel, freezing cold in Russian camps, lush abundance in an African refugee camp, appalling conditions in an Italian one, and finally, safety, security and freedom in Australia.
While an account of such a life could be dry and tedious, Smethurst fills it with such rich detail that it is never dull or boring: it reads like a novel, and the reader cannot help but feel anxious for these people and their unenviable fate, and joy when things fall their way. Twelve pages of photographs of those populating the book cement the connection. This is a moving and inspiring read.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by the author.
November 25, 2020
A superbly researched and written book that chronicles the harrowing ordeals of a young couple who managed to escape war-torn Poland and make new lives for themselves and their family in suburban Melbourne. Smethurst succeeds in transporting you through time and space, such is her skill. Despite the subject matter, this is a wonderful, uplifting book that captures the spark and optimism that drove the Horowitz couple. And in a personal note, towards the end of the book I realised that I would have been served by Mindla Horowitz back in the 1960s in their Hampton milk bar, just up the road from where I lived.
March 6, 2021
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
‘You must tell their story,’ Marika insisted. ‘Every story must be told.’
A miraculous act of courage helped one family defy the odds and make a getaway from the Nazis to the freedom of Australia’s shores. Drawn delicately from first hand interviews and a great deal of research, The Freedom Circus is journalist Sue Smethurst’s tribute to her grandmother in law’s life story.
Initially meeting stiff resistance from her grandmother in law, Sue Smethurst persisted in asking this much-loved family member to share her experiences of the war. Despite the passage of time and the sheer level of trauma experienced by Mindla, Sue Smethurst’s grandmother in law did not duffer from memory loss. Eventually, Mindla began to slowly reveal her secret life story to Sue, which Sue carefully documented. The Freedom Circus is a direct product of these interviews, along with a high level of research. What emerges from these interviews and research is the courageous story of how a circus performer, his wife and son managed to undertake a perilous journey through a number of dangerous countries in the heat of the war, to eventually reside permanently in Australia. How this family managed to survive and find safety truly begs belief.
Sue Smethurst is a non-fiction based writer and I have come to trust her storytelling abilities thanks to three books I have read previously by Smethurst. Now a senior writer with the Australian Women’s Weekly, Sue Smethurst draws on the experiences of her husband’s family to form the basis of her latest release. The Freedom Circus is an honest, emotional, surprising and respectful set piece. I was amazed by this daring escape tale from the opening to the close of The Freedom Circus.
The Freedom Circus begins with a hooking prologue, that serves to pull the reader right in to this strong family history tale. Following the intriguing opening piece there are thirty-five chapters, told over three separate parts The Freedom Circus is supported by an epilogue, acknowledgments, bibliography and photograph spread. Over three hundred pages, the reader learns of the devastating but remarkable story of how Mindla and her circus performing husband Kubush managed to break away from the clutches of the Nazi rule in Poland, to the safety of Australia. We follow the early days of this couple’s courtship, marriage, the impact of war on their relationship, their brave escape from occupied Poland, their cross country trek to safety and their eventual migration to Australia. The interesting spin on this particular war tale is the viewpoint taken of the travelling circus, which was Mindla’s husband’s occupation during their time in Poland. Having only read a fictional wartime tale based round a circus during this tumultuous era, these real-life experiences were quite the eye opener.
Sue Smethurst has worked hard to fill in the gaps of her grandmother in law’s story and although Mindla’s memory was incredibly sharp, there were still spaces to cover in this intriguing family history story. As a result, Sue Smethurst embarked upon a large amount of research gathering, which also included translating documents and conducting first hand visits to places of significance to piece together this family jigsaw. Although Sue met resistance on Mindla’s part to retell her story, what has emerged from Mindla’s brave testimony and Sue’s persistence is a story that must be told.
The Freedom Circus is book #15 of the 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge
‘You must tell their story,’ Marika insisted. ‘Every story must be told.’
A miraculous act of courage helped one family defy the odds and make a getaway from the Nazis to the freedom of Australia’s shores. Drawn delicately from first hand interviews and a great deal of research, The Freedom Circus is journalist Sue Smethurst’s tribute to her grandmother in law’s life story.
Initially meeting stiff resistance from her grandmother in law, Sue Smethurst persisted in asking this much-loved family member to share her experiences of the war. Despite the passage of time and the sheer level of trauma experienced by Mindla, Sue Smethurst’s grandmother in law did not duffer from memory loss. Eventually, Mindla began to slowly reveal her secret life story to Sue, which Sue carefully documented. The Freedom Circus is a direct product of these interviews, along with a high level of research. What emerges from these interviews and research is the courageous story of how a circus performer, his wife and son managed to undertake a perilous journey through a number of dangerous countries in the heat of the war, to eventually reside permanently in Australia. How this family managed to survive and find safety truly begs belief.
Sue Smethurst is a non-fiction based writer and I have come to trust her storytelling abilities thanks to three books I have read previously by Smethurst. Now a senior writer with the Australian Women’s Weekly, Sue Smethurst draws on the experiences of her husband’s family to form the basis of her latest release. The Freedom Circus is an honest, emotional, surprising and respectful set piece. I was amazed by this daring escape tale from the opening to the close of The Freedom Circus.
The Freedom Circus begins with a hooking prologue, that serves to pull the reader right in to this strong family history tale. Following the intriguing opening piece there are thirty-five chapters, told over three separate parts The Freedom Circus is supported by an epilogue, acknowledgments, bibliography and photograph spread. Over three hundred pages, the reader learns of the devastating but remarkable story of how Mindla and her circus performing husband Kubush managed to break away from the clutches of the Nazi rule in Poland, to the safety of Australia. We follow the early days of this couple’s courtship, marriage, the impact of war on their relationship, their brave escape from occupied Poland, their cross country trek to safety and their eventual migration to Australia. The interesting spin on this particular war tale is the viewpoint taken of the travelling circus, which was Mindla’s husband’s occupation during their time in Poland. Having only read a fictional wartime tale based round a circus during this tumultuous era, these real-life experiences were quite the eye opener.
Sue Smethurst has worked hard to fill in the gaps of her grandmother in law’s story and although Mindla’s memory was incredibly sharp, there were still spaces to cover in this intriguing family history story. As a result, Sue Smethurst embarked upon a large amount of research gathering, which also included translating documents and conducting first hand visits to places of significance to piece together this family jigsaw. Although Sue met resistance on Mindla’s part to retell her story, what has emerged from Mindla’s brave testimony and Sue’s persistence is a story that must be told.
The Freedom Circus is book #15 of the 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge
October 31, 2020
There are many reasons why this memoir makes fascinating reading, but for Melbourne readers of a certain age, it will also bring back memories of 'the Golden Age of children's television'. This memoir is the story of Mindla and her husband Kubush a.k.a. Michael Horowitz, known to those of us who watched The Tarax Show in the 1960s, as Sloppo the Clown. The photo inserts in the book show him just as I remember him, but you can also see him at this photo gallery, fifth row down on the RHS.
Written by Melbourne journalist Sue Smethurst, The Freedom Circus tells the story of her grandparents-in-law, and their astonishing escape from Poland during WW2. The couple met and fell in love in Warsaw, and they married despite Mindla's parents feeling dubious about the merits of a professional clown as a husband for their daughter. Kubush, however, was no ordinary clown: he performed to sellout crowds in the world-famous Circus Staniewski. It had a permanent home in Warsaw, but it also toured nationally.
And it so happened that Kubush was away on tour when Hitler invaded Poland. Mindla could not persuade her parents and family to flee with her, but knowing what she did of the occupiers, she set off with her small son Gad on a perilous journey with a people smuggler, to join Kubush in the eastern city of Bialystok. Bialystok was, at that time before the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact was broken by Hitler, under Soviet rule because the two powers had partitioned Poland between them. But Kubush wasn't there: the circus had moved on, and Kubush was on his way back to Warsaw to be with his beloved wife and child. Mindla had no alternative but to journey on to her Uncle Aldo's house in Sokolka where she was sent by the Soviets to work in a tannery.
Eventually, under pressure for Polish refugees to choose between becoming Soviet citizens or returning home, Mindla left the relative safety of Sokolka and set off on another perilous journey back to Warsaw. She was not so lucky with the people smuggler this time, and, captured by the NKVD, she was imprisoned in the Bialystok prison under appalling conditions, the worst of which was that she was separated from little Gad.
Kubush, meanwhile, since the Circus Staniewski building had been bombed, had kept himself busy entertaining sick children in the Warsaw hospital. However, in April 1940 Lala Staniewksa, the entrepreneur who managed the circus, wangled a temporary reprieve from conscription into labour gangs for her performers by reviving the circus to entertain their German occupiers. This initiative probably saved the life of the clown Faivel Ditkowski who, as a dwarf, was at risk from the Nazi eugenics program. Hitler's demand that this Polish circus be replaced by a German one, however, coincided with the establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto, but Lala managed to get false papers for her staff and in a brilliant manoeuvre, arranged for their escape right under the noses of the Germans.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/10/31/t...
Written by Melbourne journalist Sue Smethurst, The Freedom Circus tells the story of her grandparents-in-law, and their astonishing escape from Poland during WW2. The couple met and fell in love in Warsaw, and they married despite Mindla's parents feeling dubious about the merits of a professional clown as a husband for their daughter. Kubush, however, was no ordinary clown: he performed to sellout crowds in the world-famous Circus Staniewski. It had a permanent home in Warsaw, but it also toured nationally.
And it so happened that Kubush was away on tour when Hitler invaded Poland. Mindla could not persuade her parents and family to flee with her, but knowing what she did of the occupiers, she set off with her small son Gad on a perilous journey with a people smuggler, to join Kubush in the eastern city of Bialystok. Bialystok was, at that time before the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact was broken by Hitler, under Soviet rule because the two powers had partitioned Poland between them. But Kubush wasn't there: the circus had moved on, and Kubush was on his way back to Warsaw to be with his beloved wife and child. Mindla had no alternative but to journey on to her Uncle Aldo's house in Sokolka where she was sent by the Soviets to work in a tannery.
Eventually, under pressure for Polish refugees to choose between becoming Soviet citizens or returning home, Mindla left the relative safety of Sokolka and set off on another perilous journey back to Warsaw. She was not so lucky with the people smuggler this time, and, captured by the NKVD, she was imprisoned in the Bialystok prison under appalling conditions, the worst of which was that she was separated from little Gad.
Kubush, meanwhile, since the Circus Staniewski building had been bombed, had kept himself busy entertaining sick children in the Warsaw hospital. However, in April 1940 Lala Staniewksa, the entrepreneur who managed the circus, wangled a temporary reprieve from conscription into labour gangs for her performers by reviving the circus to entertain their German occupiers. This initiative probably saved the life of the clown Faivel Ditkowski who, as a dwarf, was at risk from the Nazi eugenics program. Hitler's demand that this Polish circus be replaced by a German one, however, coincided with the establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto, but Lala managed to get false papers for her staff and in a brilliant manoeuvre, arranged for their escape right under the noses of the Germans.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/10/31/t...
May 26, 2022
Een heel aangrijpend verhaal over Mindla en Kubusz die samen de holocaust overleven in Polen. Een verhaal over doorzetten, liefde, diep verscheurend verdriet en een constant op de vlucht zijn. Door het circus, waar Kubusz een clown speelt weten ze te overleven en zich, na vele omwegen met slechte omstandigheden, te vestigen in Australië.
Dit verhaal is gebaseerd op ware gebeurtenissen en wordt aangevuld met oorlogsverslagen. Dat maakt het tot een duidelijk hartverscheurend geheel.
Dit verhaal is gebaseerd op ware gebeurtenissen en wordt aangevuld met oorlogsverslagen. Dat maakt het tot een duidelijk hartverscheurend geheel.
January 17, 2022
Samenvatting:
Mindla Horowitz leer je kennen voordat de oorlog aan de gang is. Het leven is al een stuk lastiger want er is weinig geld en weinig eten. Haar familie hoort regelmatig berichten vanuit Duitsland, over hoe zij daar de Joden behandelen. In eerste instantie zijn Mindla en haar familie nog niet bang, ze zitten ten slotte in Polen. Tot het moment aanbreekt dat er geruchten rondgaan dat de Duitsers naar Polen willen komen.
Mindla en Michael Horowitz zijn pas net getrouwd en in verwachting van hun eerste zoontje, wanneer de Duitsers Polen binnenvallen. Michael is op dit moment circus artiest en daarom niet in de buurt van Mindla.
Op weg naar veiligheid gaat Mindla samen met haar jonge zoontje op pad om haar man te zoeken, zodat ze elkaar in veiligheid kunnen brengen. Dit gaat echter moeizamer dan ze eerst had verwacht. Uiteindelijk vinden ze elkaar en reizen ze over maar liefst drie continenten.
Het verhaal van Mindla en Michael is geschreven door Sue Smethurst en gebaseerd op het verhaal van haar schoonfamilie, ondersteunt door foto's en informatie vanuit de familie archieven.
--
Een vlucht naar veiligheid
We kennen allemaal al wel een aantal Tweede Wereldoorlog verhaal. Joden die de kampen hebben overleefd of zijn ondergedoken. Dit verhaal is net iets anders en daarom erg interessant om te lezen.
Mindla volgen we vanaf voor de oorlog. Je krijgt hierdoor een goed beeld van hoe een Joodse Pool op dat moment leefde en hoe zij de ontwikkelingen in Duitsland volgen, met grote angst tot gevolg. Het is erg interessant om hier ook eens over te lezen.
Daarna volgen we de indrukwekkende reis van Mindla en haar zoon, waarvan je verwacht dat het niet goed af zal lopen. Dit stuk is emotioneel gezien heftig maar ook spannend om te lezen. We lezen hoe het is om als Joodse Pool gevangen te zitten in Rusland, hoe ze daar waardeloos behandeld werd en elke dag in angst moest leven. Aan de andere kant lezen we dan vanuit Michael, die op zoek is naar zijn vrouw en zoon. Je leeft erg met hem mee want je vrouw en zoon terug vinden in een Tweede Wereldoorlog gaat niet gemakkelijk.
Het is dan ook hartverwarmend om te lezen hoe Mindla en Michael uiteindelijk terecht zijn gekomen. Hierover ga ik niks verklappen, daarvoor moet je het boek zelf even gaan lezen. Beide ouders hebben enorm hun best gedaan om aan het welzijn van hun zoontje te denken en een toekomst te kunnen creëren waarin hij veilig zal zijn. Het is heel erg mooi om te lezen hoe zij ondanks alle nare omstandigheden zo hun best doen en daar in slagen.
Het verhaal is enorm interessant, emotioneel op een aantal punten, spannend maar ook hartverwarmend. Sue Smethurst heeft een verhaal neergezet over haar schoonfamilie die wegleest als een spannende roman. Het lijkt mij als schrijfster enorm heftig om hierover te schrijven, omdat het tenslotte om familie gaat.
De schrijfstijl van Sue Smethurst voelde op een aantal punten wat traag en langdradig aan, maar hetgeen wat ze schrijft maakt dit helemaal goed. De gegeven informatie is goed omschreven en geeft een zeer duidelijk beeld van de omstandigheden tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, op sommige momenten komt een sterke maag ook wel van pas.
Sue Smethurst heeft al meerdere non-fictie titels op haar naam staan, maar "Het circus van de vrijheid" is het eerste boek die is vertaald naar het Nederlands. De originele titel is "The Freedom Circus". Het boek is vertaald door Vanja Walsmit en Janne-Meije van Rijn.
Mindla Horowitz leer je kennen voordat de oorlog aan de gang is. Het leven is al een stuk lastiger want er is weinig geld en weinig eten. Haar familie hoort regelmatig berichten vanuit Duitsland, over hoe zij daar de Joden behandelen. In eerste instantie zijn Mindla en haar familie nog niet bang, ze zitten ten slotte in Polen. Tot het moment aanbreekt dat er geruchten rondgaan dat de Duitsers naar Polen willen komen.
Mindla en Michael Horowitz zijn pas net getrouwd en in verwachting van hun eerste zoontje, wanneer de Duitsers Polen binnenvallen. Michael is op dit moment circus artiest en daarom niet in de buurt van Mindla.
Op weg naar veiligheid gaat Mindla samen met haar jonge zoontje op pad om haar man te zoeken, zodat ze elkaar in veiligheid kunnen brengen. Dit gaat echter moeizamer dan ze eerst had verwacht. Uiteindelijk vinden ze elkaar en reizen ze over maar liefst drie continenten.
Het verhaal van Mindla en Michael is geschreven door Sue Smethurst en gebaseerd op het verhaal van haar schoonfamilie, ondersteunt door foto's en informatie vanuit de familie archieven.
--
Een vlucht naar veiligheid
We kennen allemaal al wel een aantal Tweede Wereldoorlog verhaal. Joden die de kampen hebben overleefd of zijn ondergedoken. Dit verhaal is net iets anders en daarom erg interessant om te lezen.
Mindla volgen we vanaf voor de oorlog. Je krijgt hierdoor een goed beeld van hoe een Joodse Pool op dat moment leefde en hoe zij de ontwikkelingen in Duitsland volgen, met grote angst tot gevolg. Het is erg interessant om hier ook eens over te lezen.
Daarna volgen we de indrukwekkende reis van Mindla en haar zoon, waarvan je verwacht dat het niet goed af zal lopen. Dit stuk is emotioneel gezien heftig maar ook spannend om te lezen. We lezen hoe het is om als Joodse Pool gevangen te zitten in Rusland, hoe ze daar waardeloos behandeld werd en elke dag in angst moest leven. Aan de andere kant lezen we dan vanuit Michael, die op zoek is naar zijn vrouw en zoon. Je leeft erg met hem mee want je vrouw en zoon terug vinden in een Tweede Wereldoorlog gaat niet gemakkelijk.
Het is dan ook hartverwarmend om te lezen hoe Mindla en Michael uiteindelijk terecht zijn gekomen. Hierover ga ik niks verklappen, daarvoor moet je het boek zelf even gaan lezen. Beide ouders hebben enorm hun best gedaan om aan het welzijn van hun zoontje te denken en een toekomst te kunnen creëren waarin hij veilig zal zijn. Het is heel erg mooi om te lezen hoe zij ondanks alle nare omstandigheden zo hun best doen en daar in slagen.
Het verhaal is enorm interessant, emotioneel op een aantal punten, spannend maar ook hartverwarmend. Sue Smethurst heeft een verhaal neergezet over haar schoonfamilie die wegleest als een spannende roman. Het lijkt mij als schrijfster enorm heftig om hierover te schrijven, omdat het tenslotte om familie gaat.
De schrijfstijl van Sue Smethurst voelde op een aantal punten wat traag en langdradig aan, maar hetgeen wat ze schrijft maakt dit helemaal goed. De gegeven informatie is goed omschreven en geeft een zeer duidelijk beeld van de omstandigheden tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, op sommige momenten komt een sterke maag ook wel van pas.
Sue Smethurst heeft al meerdere non-fictie titels op haar naam staan, maar "Het circus van de vrijheid" is het eerste boek die is vertaald naar het Nederlands. De originele titel is "The Freedom Circus". Het boek is vertaald door Vanja Walsmit en Janne-Meije van Rijn.
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January 22, 2021This review was first published on the Underground Writers website: http://underground-writers.org/review...
Sue Smethurst’s The Freedom Circus is not only a well-written novel but one that perfectly exemplifies the power of people. While it is a difficult read at times, it is also an important piece of literature in society’s current climate and should not be overlooked; The Freedom Circus does exceptional cultural work as it reminds readers not only of the past but of why we should fight so hard to preserve the intimate details of it.
Each time Smethurst sat down with her grandmother-in-law, Mindla, to hear and record her story of the Holocaust, she was shooed away. At the time of the recording, Mindla was living in a Jewish nursing home in Melbourne with other survivors; although her body was deteriorating, her memory sharp as a tack. Mindla would insist that her story was ‘nothing special’ and questioned why there was such an interest in it. As her health began to deteriorate, Smethurst began to push harder to uncover the truth. Each week Smethurst would bring a cake from her favourite shop in St Kilda, a bottle of the brightest nail polish available, a selection of old pictures, and her tape recorder to capture Mindla’s history. And what an unbelievable one it was. Smethurst learnt the story of a young woman who lived in Warsaw who met and fell in love with Kubush, a performer in one of Poland’s premier circuses. When Poland was divided by the Russian and German armies, Mindla and Kubush escaped with their young son — embarking on a daunting journey through the USSR and the Middle East to Africa and eventually Australia.
The Freedom Circus is an exceptional novel that shines an uncomfortable — yet necessary — light on the experiences that aren’t oftentimes at the forefront of dialogue regarding World War Two. Concentration camps, gas chambers, and fighting on the front, while still within the story, are not at its core. The brutality of German occupation is instead given great attention with a grand chunk of the novel focusing on Mindla’s experience with the Soviet-controlled areas of Poland. This new account of and angle on hardship makes this novel all the more powerful. At times, it is easy to forget that The Freedom Circus is the tale of an actual person as opposed to a fictional character. Smethurst is so thorough in her explanation of people and events that it would not be difficult to believe that this story is the fictional product of a wonderful and experienced writer; however, it is not. Smethurst does an exceptional job in seamlessly blending the information given to her firsthand by Mindla and that acquired via an extensive historical deep dive. It is well-executed, so much so that it could be considered art.
Essentially, Sue Smethurst’s The Freedom Circus is a tribute to the people that have shaped our lives today—those that demonstrated resilience, strength and power in the most brutal of circumstances. It is an incredible story full of incredible people that will no doubt have a great effect on our cultural climate. I look forward to seeing its success not only within Australia, but worldwide.
Sue Smethurst’s The Freedom Circus is not only a well-written novel but one that perfectly exemplifies the power of people. While it is a difficult read at times, it is also an important piece of literature in society’s current climate and should not be overlooked; The Freedom Circus does exceptional cultural work as it reminds readers not only of the past but of why we should fight so hard to preserve the intimate details of it.
Each time Smethurst sat down with her grandmother-in-law, Mindla, to hear and record her story of the Holocaust, she was shooed away. At the time of the recording, Mindla was living in a Jewish nursing home in Melbourne with other survivors; although her body was deteriorating, her memory sharp as a tack. Mindla would insist that her story was ‘nothing special’ and questioned why there was such an interest in it. As her health began to deteriorate, Smethurst began to push harder to uncover the truth. Each week Smethurst would bring a cake from her favourite shop in St Kilda, a bottle of the brightest nail polish available, a selection of old pictures, and her tape recorder to capture Mindla’s history. And what an unbelievable one it was. Smethurst learnt the story of a young woman who lived in Warsaw who met and fell in love with Kubush, a performer in one of Poland’s premier circuses. When Poland was divided by the Russian and German armies, Mindla and Kubush escaped with their young son — embarking on a daunting journey through the USSR and the Middle East to Africa and eventually Australia.
The Freedom Circus is an exceptional novel that shines an uncomfortable — yet necessary — light on the experiences that aren’t oftentimes at the forefront of dialogue regarding World War Two. Concentration camps, gas chambers, and fighting on the front, while still within the story, are not at its core. The brutality of German occupation is instead given great attention with a grand chunk of the novel focusing on Mindla’s experience with the Soviet-controlled areas of Poland. This new account of and angle on hardship makes this novel all the more powerful. At times, it is easy to forget that The Freedom Circus is the tale of an actual person as opposed to a fictional character. Smethurst is so thorough in her explanation of people and events that it would not be difficult to believe that this story is the fictional product of a wonderful and experienced writer; however, it is not. Smethurst does an exceptional job in seamlessly blending the information given to her firsthand by Mindla and that acquired via an extensive historical deep dive. It is well-executed, so much so that it could be considered art.
Essentially, Sue Smethurst’s The Freedom Circus is a tribute to the people that have shaped our lives today—those that demonstrated resilience, strength and power in the most brutal of circumstances. It is an incredible story full of incredible people that will no doubt have a great effect on our cultural climate. I look forward to seeing its success not only within Australia, but worldwide.
November 2, 2021
We are familiar with the horrendous accounts of the few extraordinary Jews who survived Hitler's brutal extermination regime in labour camps or through smuggling efforts, but there were a number of routes of survival through the war that are less well known. This is one such story.
Well written, engaging and hopeful, this book celebrates the courage and endurance and creativity of these survivors.
Well written, engaging and hopeful, this book celebrates the courage and endurance and creativity of these survivors.
October 13, 2021
An exceptional history of this amazing family!
December 11, 2021
A moving and interesting story about a Jewish couple who escapes Poland ahead of Hitler's armies and finally get to Australia after many harrowing years.
May 28, 2022
Bij het zien van de mooie cover van Het circus van de vrijheid van Sue Smethurst wil je weten wie de mensen zijn en wat hun verhaal is. Je wilt weten waar ze naar toe gaan. Het is goed dat men de originele cover heeft aangehouden, het is alleen jammer dat men de Jodenster er niet bij heeft geplaatst, zoals te zien is op de originele cover. Die geeft een duidelijker en ander beeld van het gezin op de cover. De titel, en vooral de subtitel, maken nieuwsgierig. Je wilt weten hoe het gezin dankzij een circus kon ontsnappen. Je vraagt je af of ze als artiesten zo verkleed en geschminkt waren, dat ze niet meer te herkennen waren en daardoor op die manier konden ontsnappen samen met valse papieren. De mooie foto's maken het boek compleet.
Het circus van de vrijheid van Sue Smethurst gaat over een gezin dat dankzij een beroemd Pools circus wist te ontsnappen aan de nazi's. Het is een indrukwekkend verhaal dat opgedeeld is in drie delen: voor de oorlog, tijdens de oorlog en na de oorlog. Je leert de familie voor de oorlog kennen, waar Michael en Mindla kennis met elkaar maken, uiteindelijk trouwen en een kind krijgen.
Lees verder op https://surfingann.blogspot.com/2022/... .
Het circus van de vrijheid van Sue Smethurst gaat over een gezin dat dankzij een beroemd Pools circus wist te ontsnappen aan de nazi's. Het is een indrukwekkend verhaal dat opgedeeld is in drie delen: voor de oorlog, tijdens de oorlog en na de oorlog. Je leert de familie voor de oorlog kennen, waar Michael en Mindla kennis met elkaar maken, uiteindelijk trouwen en een kind krijgen.
Lees verder op https://surfingann.blogspot.com/2022/... .
March 11, 2022
Mooi verhaal. Recensie binnenkort op De Leesfabriek.
June 9, 2024
What a beautiful love story… thank you for sharing.
July 25, 2023
Een beklemmende beschrijving van de meedogenloze manier waarop de Nazi bezetters van de Poolse hoofdstad de Joodse inwoners uitroeiden. Maar ook van de weergaloze moed en vindingrijkheid van hen die hun leven wisten te redden.
January 25, 2022
Een boek dat inderdaad leest als een roman maar waar niet te vergeten is dat het gebaseerd is op een waargebeurd verhaal. Het verhaal van Mindla en Michael, de schoonfamilie van de auteur Sue Smethurst, en waar ze mee aan de slag ging.
Boeken zoals deze zijn kostbaar, net zoals elke boek over WOll, maar dit boek geeft ook de angst mee van voor de oorlog uitbrak. Het geeft een inkijk hoe mensen de dreiging dichter en dichter zagen komen en hoe mensen veranderden. Tijdens de oorlog volg je het gezin op hun vlucht maar ook na de oorlog laat dit gezin je, dankzij de verhaallijn, niet los.
Sue Smethurst heeft een fijne schrijfstijl waardoor dit boek vlot leest maar je toch blijft beseffen dat dit wel degelijk een hard, echt, intens en verdrietig verhaal is. Dat wat gebeurd is enorm triest is maar dat de lach van een clown kan verzachten.
Boeken zoals deze zijn kostbaar, net zoals elke boek over WOll, maar dit boek geeft ook de angst mee van voor de oorlog uitbrak. Het geeft een inkijk hoe mensen de dreiging dichter en dichter zagen komen en hoe mensen veranderden. Tijdens de oorlog volg je het gezin op hun vlucht maar ook na de oorlog laat dit gezin je, dankzij de verhaallijn, niet los.
Sue Smethurst heeft een fijne schrijfstijl waardoor dit boek vlot leest maar je toch blijft beseffen dat dit wel degelijk een hard, echt, intens en verdrietig verhaal is. Dat wat gebeurd is enorm triest is maar dat de lach van een clown kan verzachten.
October 24, 2022
Journalist Sue Smethurst's meticulous research, scene setting and storytelling skills shed light on the little known story of the Staniewski circus and Mindla and Kubush's daring escape from Nazi occupied Poland, ultimately, to Australia. Along the way, readers are embedded in the horrors of Białystok prison and to Moscow, where to survive, Kubush performs in the world renowned Moscow circus, oblivious to the fate of his and Mindla’s family and friends trapped inside the area of Warsaw the Nazis walled off area that was known as the 'ghetto'. The Freedom Circus is a must-read story of courage, survival and hope, about how making others laugh helps us heal wounds that are too painful to reveal.
November 14, 2021
How can you write a review about such a book and do it justice? This story is real. This story is heartbreaking. I cannot believe this amount of pain in one lifetime can be endured. I thought I was aware of the horrors of the Holocaust. I was not. And this is just one story. A story that should be read by all. I am a seventh generation Australian and I will never understand how Nazi soldiers could do what they did on a day to day basis. You can blame Hitler, but I would have shot myself before stooping to the level of depraved humanity that defined these soldiers. Words fail me.
July 31, 2021
When Mindla told her father she had fallen in love with Kubush, a clown, her father's response was: 'A clown is not a husband. Nothing good comes from a clown.'
But it was Kubush and his circus partner, Faivel, a chain-smoking dwarf who could swear in four languages that lead them to freedom from Hitler's genocide of the Jews.
A beautifully written story that will captivate you from beginning to end.
The full review can be viewed at jacqx.com
But it was Kubush and his circus partner, Faivel, a chain-smoking dwarf who could swear in four languages that lead them to freedom from Hitler's genocide of the Jews.
A beautifully written story that will captivate you from beginning to end.
The full review can be viewed at jacqx.com
May 15, 2021
A remarkable story based on real people and events. A lesson in resilience and courage.
I can only fault this book on its description of a 'Tehran winter' as blue skies and rolling red sands... Tehran is nestled in a mountain range and winters reach below zero degrees celsius and snowing. It certainly is not a sandy desert paradise as described in the book.
I can only fault this book on its description of a 'Tehran winter' as blue skies and rolling red sands... Tehran is nestled in a mountain range and winters reach below zero degrees celsius and snowing. It certainly is not a sandy desert paradise as described in the book.
October 27, 2021
A wonderful book quite different to other Holocaust stories I have come across in that it concentrates on the incredible constant journey these people endured. I am constantly amazed at the resilience of these people who made a new life again and again. The irony of the Epilogue brought me to tears more than anything in the rest of the book. Every story should be told.
January 5, 2023
The story telling in the first chapter was a little underwhelming – it read a little like a teenaged romance, accentuated by the duel narrators – I’m pleased I kept listening as the story of this family’s harrowing journey as Jews through WWII to finally settle in Australia is interesting and hopeful.
August 19, 2021
It is not often that I have read a better family history ,that make want to read to the end, yes there are tears for family lost in various death camps,there is also of family reunion after some trails,and after the war,settling in australia.
November 24, 2021
Amazing story- well written and very eAsy to read. Some of it was a little light-on but I get it was hard to know all the details from trying to piece it all together after the fact. Would make a great movie tho.
March 29, 2021
holocaust from Warsaw, Bialistok to Melbourne Montefiore, circus clown and Masha flamboyant
January 1, 2021
A story of an incredible journey, beautifully told.
January 2, 2021
A great read - particularly because I have taught Charlie Horowitz the great grandson. A remarkable story. Would recommend for Year 5 and upwards
February 11, 2021
It started out a little “eh” for me, but I soon got swooped away by the unbelievable plot, big hearted moments, and care for the characters. In the end I was crying and I loved it.
May 23, 2021
It is so heartbreakingly important these family stories are written and read. Thank you for sharing.
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