About the book
It is Hamburg, 1920. Abruptly Erna leaves her marriage and her three daughters, and disappears from the family. No one speaks of her again. One by one the other members of the Simon family begin to disappear, with death from natural causes and then as a response to what is happening in Germany with the rise of the Third Reich. The family is Jewish, they cannot stay.
During the war, what appears to be the remnant of the Simon family finds its way to New Zealand to start a new life. There are three: Wally, Liesl and Eric. Time passes and the family grows. Then one day an email arrives.
We came from Hamburg is a story of secrets, persecution and escape, and the elation of finding people half a century later who share a story you thought had been left behind.
Vivienne Ullrich KC is a retired Wellington lawyer and Family Court judge, who has an MA in Creative Writing from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. During the course she wrote the first draft of We came from Hamburg. It is her first book.
