Reinhold Beckmann - Aenne und ihre Brüder
The story of my mother
An author reading
Reinhold Beckmann tells and reads from his deeply moving book. His Spiegel bestseller about the life of his mother Aenne is a memorial against forgetting, especially now that the war has returned to Europe - and at the same time a work full of love and hope.
The life of Reinhold Beckmann's mother Aenne was marked by losses early on. By the age of five, she was a complete orphan. She had four brothers, all of whom fell in the war. And yet, it was a successful life. Unlike many of her generation, she never remained silent about her grief and fears. Aenne's brothers and parents remained ever present, in conversations, photos, memorial days, and memories.
In his book, Reinhold Beckmann tells the story of his mother and of Franz, Hans, Alfons, and Willi, amidst the hard everyday life in the village, Catholic tradition, and the onset of dictatorship. And about what war does to people when no one returns.
Throughout her life, Aenne was never released from the fate of her brothers - and it also shaped the life of Reinhold Beckmann: standing against war and violence was a matter of course for both.
Quotes:
»A book full of love and grief. A book about the devastations of war. And a book for peace - that comes at just the right time.«
Heinrich Wefing, Die Zeit
»The book is so touching because it makes these four young lives so visible. As if it were yesterday. Yes, it was yesterday - and unfortunately, it is again so today!«
Udo Lindenberg