The Wolves at My Shadow The Story of Ingelore Rothschild

Ingelore Rothschild was twelve years old when she was whisked out of her home in 1936. It was her first step on a cross-continent journey to Japan, where she and her parents sought refuge from rising anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. A decade later, as she sails away from what has become her home in Kobe, Japan, Ingelore records her memories of life in Berlin, the long train journey through Russia, and her time in Japan during World War II.

Each leg of the journey presents its own nightmare: passports are stolen, identities are uncovered, a mudslide tears through the Rothschild’s home, and the atomic bombs are dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Ingelore’s bright, observant nature and remarkable capacity for befriending those along her way fills her narrative with unique details about the people she meets and the places she travels to.

The story of Ingelore and her prominent German Jewish family’s escape is an invaluable account that contributes to Holocaust witness and memoir literature. Although she was forever marked by her traumatic past, Ingelore’s survival story is a painful reminder that only European Jews with significant financial means were able to carefully orchestrate an escape from Nazi Germany.

About the Editors

Darilyn Stahl Listort, daughter of Ingelore Rothschild and Harold Stahl, is a retired public school teacher, counsellor, and school administrator. Dennis Listort is a retired public school teacher and administrator as well as a poet and freelance writer. He is the author of The Writing Box, a work of adult contemporary fiction.

Table of Contents

1. Acknowledgements
2. Preface
3. Part I
   1. We Sail to America
   2. I Begin
   3. The Calm Before the Storm
   4. Deception and Dismay
   5. My Birthday
   6. Dark Clouds are Everywhere
   7. Conditions Worsen
   8. Sand Falls Through the Hourglass
   9. Everything Worries Me
   10. We Say Goodbye
4. Part II
   1. On My Own
   2. Together Again
   3. Seven Hundred Kilometres, More Goodbyes
   4. A Major Catastrophe
   5. A Bad Situation Becomes Worse
   6. The Truth is Revealed
   7. Our Secret is Safe
   8. Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
   9. A Token of Friendship
   10. The World of Garlic
5. Part III
   1. Japan is on the Horizon
   2. The Earth Moves
   3. Nature’s Violent Display
   4. The War is Coming
   5. The Americans Strike
   6. The Emperor Speaks
   7. Occupation
   8. The Time of My Life
   9. Fate Intervenes
   10. Another Story Begins
6. Epilogue
7. Bibliography

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author is credited.