The Kolber's Host 2019 Academy Award Winning Screenwriter
Chhange Shines Bright at Starry Night: Generations Writing for Right
"...Guests enjoyed a riveting, interactive discussion with featured speakers Charlie and Shirley Wachtel. Shirley, gifted writer and proud mother of Charlie, described how her writing has been profoundly influenced by her life experience as a child of Holocaust survivors. Charlie shared personal insights about his journey to the Academy Award ceremony. Attendees also viewed a powerful video produced by George Kolber and his brother Charles about their family’s remarkable journey to Shanghai during the Holocaust. This memorable evening concluded with a presentation of Star Awards of Appreciation to the Wachtels and to Vita & George Kolber by Chhange Board President Howard Dorman, Executive Director Dale Daniels, and Special Projects Co-Director Susan Yellin..."
Charlie Wachtel (left) George Kolber (middle) Vita Kolber (left)
Shirley Wachtel (left) and Charlie Wachtel (right)
Christa Kolber (left) Charlie Wachtel (middle) Charles Kolber (right)
Thrown Upon The World Now On Radio
Thrown Upon The World “A fascinating read. I promise you."
- Joan Hamburg
ME TV’s Jersey Matters Interviews the Kolbers
Larry Mendte interviewed George & Charles Kolber to discuss their book Thrown Upon The World.
HIAS Promotes Our Story
A Story of WWII Love, Refugee Life, and Escape (with Help from HIAS) - BLOG POST- By Sharon Samber, HIAS.org
Everyone has a story, the saying goes. But some people’s stories not only explain their own family’s history, but function as a universal kind of storytelling. You read their story and you understand the world, and maybe even your own life story, in a different way.
Such is the case of George and Charles Kolber, who wrote their family saga. The brothers, now 68 and 69, were raised in the United States but the tale of what happened before they were born is what led them to write a book. They start with the tale of their grandparents: the Kolbers’ flight from the Nazis in 1938, their incredible journey to Shanghai, and then the intertwining with the Chen family, who had also fled to Shanghai from Zhenru after having been persecuted in China by the Japanese.
As Seen in the San Francisco Review of Books
Book Review: "Thrown Upon The World" by George Kolber and Charles Kolber - By Grady Harp
This richly written book is a true story about many of the side effects of WW II – the Nazi anti-Semitism, the flight of Jews to places of safety – Shanghai in this story, and the miscegenation resulting from loves cast on a sea of insecurity, and more and more.
As Seen in The Two River Times
The Kolber Family's Freedom Flight - By: Rick Geffken
LINCROFT – Most of the flights to freedom that Eastern European Jews took during World War II went through France to England, or perhaps Switzerland to the United States. Not so for the Kolber family’s incredible journey. Josef Kolber and his wife Eve fled west from Austria in 1938 and eventually settled in Shanghai, China after taking separate and hazardous routes.“Thrown Upon the World,” the new book about that improbable escape, written by Josef and Eve’s grandsons, George and Charles Kolber, was launched on Aug. 1 at the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (Chhange) on the Brookdale Community College Campus...
Events
Book Signing and Private Exhibit Showing
Enjoy a special opportunity to
- Meet the authors and receive your Special Event signed copy of Thrown Upon the World , the newly released book about the Kolber Family's courageous Holocaust journey to Shanghai
- View the Kolber Family's rare archival items
- Tour Chhange's compelling, new exhibit Journeys Beyond Genocide: The Human Experience
Order On Amazon
Receive a Signed Copy when you Donate to The Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (CHHANGE)
This true family saga of war and betrayal is both epic and intimate, pulsing with unforgettable characters caught in the tumult of history. Impossible to put down, it is deeply moving, answering heartbreak with healing through the sheer power of storytelling. What more can be asked of a book?
—Nicole Mones
Author of Night in Shanghai, Lost in Translation and The Last Chinese Chef