THE SCHOOL THAT ESCAPED THE NAZIS The True Story of the Schoolteacher Who Defied Hitler

Julie Teal carefully narrates the story of principal Anna Essinger, a woman of unflinching spirit who was determined to save the children in her school in Nazi Germany. With impeccable English that shifts effortlessly to flawless German, Teal creates a well-paced depiction of “Tante Anna,” whose prescient decision to move her school and students beyond Nazi reach—from Herrlingen, Germany, to Kent, England, in the early 1930s—proved to be a salvation for many. Letting each unsparing detail of Nazi cruelty land with listeners, Teal also weaves in accounts of other students across Europe, including Jewish boy Sam Oliner of Poland, who hid “in plain sight” until he finally made his way to England and to Essinger—the principal whose love of children never wavered. D.H.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2022]