Reading with Bruno Schernhammer: The Children of the Almtal

Reading with Music

Reading with Music at the Rossstall: *By the White River*. The Children of the Almtal. Reading by Bruno Schernhammer with musical accompaniment. In this novel, the author traces the fate of Polish female forced laborers in the “Oberdonau” Gau, recounting the conditions under which the children of these Eastern European workers—born here—had to fight for their survival. The Nazi system, with its insidious racism, is represented by the Gauleiter, who, with fanatical zeal, personally devotes himself to the “rearing of children of foreign races” as future slave laborers. Bruno Schernhammer traces the life story of the Polish “volunteer” Maria, who registered as a farmworker in the German Reich and was expecting a child during the winter of 1943. On another narrative level, the author takes up the story of a girl growing up in a rural community in the Almtal valley. Rosa, too, suffers the same fate: dreaming of a different life in the city, her hopes are dashed by an unplanned pregnancy following a brief relationship with a German soldier. The protagonists finally meet at a train station.

Bruno Schernhammer: By the White River. The Children of the Almtal. Vienna: Theodor Kramer Society Press, 2024. 230 pp. Schernhammer’s novels are historiography in the form of literature. Edmund Brandner in OÖ. News from April 25, 2024—With his book, Bruno Schernhammer engages in a unique form of “local history.” He demonstrates that a sense of belonging is only possible where there are storytellers who recount what has long been repressed and silenced. Ursula Seeber, Literaturhaus Wien – BASED ON REGIONAL HISTORICAL FACTS. FREE ADMISSION – VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TOWARD COSTS WELCOME. www.gruppeo2.at