Description
This is the journal of Ignatz Himmelsputz, survivor, dwarf and entertainer. It is 1974 and Ignatz lives in Frankfurt with Giselle, who is the singer in his band, his teacher and a transvestite survivor of the Vietnam War. A chance meeting with Hermann, the son of Von Buhler, an SS Officer under whose control he was kept in the Nazi period, triggers in Ignatz a desire to get his story down: how he was forced to be the companion to Von Buhler's sister who had Down's Syndrome and how he witnessed the sister's descent into the hell of the Nazi euthanasia programmes. He writes down his story interspersed with the detail of his struggles in helping Giselle to cope with her own past. He befriends Hermann and finally reconnects with the man who caused him so much suffering and is now a successful Child Psychologist. Together they are forced to confront their pasts... This compelling story of man's inhumanity to man and the liberating elation of forgiveness, is a worthy parable for the twenty-first century.
About the Author
Jerry Simcock is now retired and lives a quiet life, painting, writing, gardening and making willow baskets in East Lothian. He studied European History and German at Sussex University in the 1970s and spent some of his late teens and early twenties in Frankfurt and Bonn. In Frankfurt he was caught up in the underground scene and with the general mood of the time questioning the events of the past and the American presence in the city. After University he became a baker in Brighton and then trained to teach excluded and disadvantaged children. He worked for many years as a teacher in a child psychiatric unit and later worked with children, young people and adults needing additional support. His stay in Frankfurt was a mind-blowing year of encounters and discovery and is the source of this debut novel - Giselle and Mr Memphis. He is a Zen Buddhist practitioner.
Book Information
ISBN 9781913212261
Author Jerry Simcock
Format Paperback
Page Count 262
Imprint Vagabond Voices
Publisher Vagabond Voices
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 140mm * 19mm
About the Author
Jerry Simcock is now retired and lives a quiet life, painting, writing, gardening and making willow baskets in East Lothian. He studied European History and German at Sussex University in the 1970s and spent some of his late teens and early twenties in Frankfurt and Bonn. In Frankfurt he was caught up in the underground scene and with the general mood of the time questioning the events of the past and the American presence in the city. After University he became a baker in Brighton and then trained to teach excluded and disadvantaged children. He worked for many years as a teacher in a child psychiatric unit and later worked with children, young people and adults needing additional support. His stay in Frankfurt was a mind-blowing year of encounters and discovery and is the source of this debut novel - Giselle and Mr Memphis. He is a Zen Buddhist practitioner.
Book Information
ISBN 9781913212261
Author Jerry Simcock
Format Paperback
Page Count 262
Imprint Vagabond Voices
Publisher Vagabond Voices
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 140mm * 19mm
