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 – Ausländer – haunts the family; running through Moritz’s childhood and resurfacing in his adopted home of California, where he has become one of Silicon Valley’smost 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, Ausländer shows what can happen to families whenordinary people hand licence to despots.
