Escaping on the Danube River: A WW2 Historical Novel, Based on a True Story of a Jewish Holocaust Survivor

World War II Biographical Fiction, Book 1

By: Shmuel David

Narrated by: Ric Chetter

Escaping on the Danube River is their only hope for survival.

Europe, 1939. Hanne is an adolescent boy, born into a wealthy family from Belgrade. Realizing the Nazi threat is advancing toward the Balkans with giant strides, his parents are prepared to do anything to save their son’s life. The road to survival, however, is not easy.

Just as Europe’s gates are about to shut down, Hanne and 1,100 other youths sail away on the Danube River. On board the ship, under appalling living conditions, Hanne falls in love with Inge, a young German Jewish girl.

Soon, their love intensifies, and with it, the desire to build a new life together in the land of Israel. But their journey for survival is becoming increasingly difficult with each passing day. When promises of a boat that should take them to the Black Sea prove false and Nazi army forces are right around the corner, their plan for escape is in real danger.

What fate awaits Hanne and Inge? Will they be able to make the dream they share a reality?

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Interesting story. Not a fan of the reader

Would’ve enjoyed story more but the reader didn’t do it for me. Pronunciations weren’t on queue

poignant story

I struggled a little to follow the events and characters as the story moved back and forth, but it was a memorable book with many very real moments of courage, fear and human joy.

Struggled to Listen😪

The only reason I continued to listen was the story itself. It would have been wonderful if the performer hadn't rushed, mispronounced Hebrew and Yiddish words. To hear accents would have added so much to a story that must be heard/read. A disservice to Mr. David.

Just interesting history

The reader was good. just good. I kept waiting for an exciting escape but it was more like a history book. Nothing much happened. I'm not downplaying the significance but it was a little mundane and less than I was hoping for.

Narrator ruins it.

This is the oddest narrator I've heard yet. His odd, awkward hesitations in reading the story just ruin the book. The story is interesting, even if too long.

Good Story Poor Narration Poor Accuracy

A good story can be ruined by little things. For example, so many mispronunciations: Kibbutz (kibbets). Tefillen (teflin), haftorah -(can't even sound out what was said, and many others. Also, you cannot see the George Washington Bridge from Amsterdam Avenue. New York has a subway not an underground. Finally, nylon was invented in 1940--it is unlikely that there was nylon fishing line in Yugoslavia prior to or during that year; the transistor was invented in 1947 and put into commercial use by ATT in the mid-50's and finally there were no plastic sheets in Yugoslavia in 1940. These are the kinds of things that can be so distracting to a story that it takes you out of the mood the author is trying to set. A mistake here and there is acceptable, but these are blatant errors which it is hard to understand why they were not edited and/or corrected.