
Auslaender
One family's story of escape and exile
Michael Moritz(Author)
Profile Books Ltd (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 25. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-80649-117-9 (ISBN)
Description
'Profoundly moving' ANDREW MARR
'Deeply personal' SUNDAY TIMES
'A shout from history that we cannot ignore' THE IRISH TIMES
Sorting through papers and photographs after his mother's death, Michael Moritz uncovers the history of close family members murdered by the Nazis. Exploring their journey takes him into a past of tragedy, grief and the dark shadows cast on Jewish life by the Holocaust.
Leaving Germany as child refugees, Moritz's parents escape to London before settling in Cardiff, Wales, after the war. But the idea of being a stranger or outsider - Auslaender - haunts the family; running through Moritz's childhood and resurfacing in his adopted home of California, where he has become one of Silicon Valley's
most celebrated investors.
'As the shadows of Trump lengthened, the refrain I had heard from my parents rang ever more loudly ... "If it did happen somewhere, it can happen here".'
Disturbingly relevant to contemporary America, Auslaender shows what can happen to families when
ordinary people hand licence to despots.
'Deeply personal' SUNDAY TIMES
'A shout from history that we cannot ignore' THE IRISH TIMES
Sorting through papers and photographs after his mother's death, Michael Moritz uncovers the history of close family members murdered by the Nazis. Exploring their journey takes him into a past of tragedy, grief and the dark shadows cast on Jewish life by the Holocaust.
Leaving Germany as child refugees, Moritz's parents escape to London before settling in Cardiff, Wales, after the war. But the idea of being a stranger or outsider - Auslaender - haunts the family; running through Moritz's childhood and resurfacing in his adopted home of California, where he has become one of Silicon Valley's
most celebrated investors.
'As the shadows of Trump lengthened, the refrain I had heard from my parents rang ever more loudly ... "If it did happen somewhere, it can happen here".'
Disturbingly relevant to contemporary America, Auslaender shows what can happen to families when
ordinary people hand licence to despots.
Reviews / Votes
Auslaender casts a unique shaft of light into the darkest years of European history, and a profoundly moving, personal story of disaster and triumph unlike any other you will read. * Andrew Marr, writer and broadcaster * A book that stands alongside Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes and Philippe Sands's East West Street as a deeply personal immersion into the horrors of the Holocaust -- Kathryn Hughes * The Sunday Times * A magisterial act of filial piety. Michael Moritz encodes and decodes his emotional DNA - and what that means for his reading of the world now. It is rare to be invited to see our world so fully through someone else's eyes. * Neil MacGregor, former director of the British Museum and the National Gallery * The best memoirs are deeply personal but connect to the universal. ... Auslaender more than meets this mark -- Richard Waters * Financial Times * A restlessly enquiring and at times strikingly poetic book, sounds a warning against the totalitarian temptation * Spectator * Compelling ... a shout from history that we cannot ignore right now -- Hugo Hamilton * The Irish Times * An outstanding examination of how tragedy reverberates across generations * The Economist * Moritz is that rare thing: a reliable journalist and witness. His book is a triumph ... A beautifully written memoir * Jewish Chronicle * 'Michael Moritz's career as a tech investor has been astoundingly successful, a classic version of the American Dream. Yet this powerful memoir is focused on his Ashkenazi Jewish roots and his enduring sense of being a "foreigner," whether growing up in gritty South Wales or reaching the top in glamorous Silicon Valley. Alienated by recent political developments on both sides of the Atlantic, he articulates a sense of homelessness that many readers will recognize. Once a journalist, he writes with elegance but also with disarming candour.' * Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution, and author of The House of Rothschild * This might be one of the most important books you read this year ... poignant and powerful * The Courier * When Michael Moritz was diagnosed with a genetic disease, it launched him on a bracingly honest search into his heritage. It's an inspiring and unsettling family and religious tale, but also something larger: a guide to how we all struggle to figure out what we must embrace and what we want to banish from our past. * Walter Isaacson author and biographer of Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci * Set against the upheavals of Trump's America, this memoir offers a meditation on memory, identity and the fragility of democracy - and the author's fear of antisemitic rhetoric becoming a permanent fixture in the English-speaking world * Financial Times * Both a Holocaust story and an examination of the present * Money Week * What distinguishes Auslaender is its refusal to separate historical catastrophe from the intimate textures of family life. Moritz writes with restraint and clarity, allowing small details to carry enormous emotional weight. The book moves fluidly between past and present, showing how trauma is inherited not only through stories told, but through those left unspoken ... A deeply moving and elegantly written exploration of survival, identity and remembrance, illuminating how the past continues to shape who we are. * The Voice * This book deals with some very large issues and an under-examined corner of Wales' experience too. I can't recommend it too highly. * nation.cymru * A wonderful poignant telling of a life and a family * Jewish Tribune *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
40 images b&w
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
260 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80649-117-9 (9781806491179)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Michael Moritz was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1954. A former Time journalist and regular contributor to the FT, he is the author of several books, including The Little Kingdom, the story of Apple's years as a private business. He was a partner in Sequoia Capital for 35 years and led the business between 1995 and 2012, becoming one of the most successful investors of his generation. Together with his wife, the author Harriet Heyman, he formed Crankstart in 2001 - a San Francisco-based foundation devoted to helping those who might otherwise be left behind.