Vivian Lerner

Stories of My Aunt Greta: a True Survivor Vivian Lerner

My Aunt Greta was a fascinating woman. She was born in Vienna, Austria and wrote stories about her life as a small child growing up in pre-Nazi Austria. She recounts a life full o beautiful memories and experiences until 1939 when everything changed with the Nazi annexation of Austria. Suddenly, families and friends were forced to say goodbye and leave behind their homes, their lives forever changed. My aunt's family found themselves emigrating to Lima, Peru and there she recounts her experiences as a teenager in a strange new world - new customs, new language. She tells us with honesty and humor about her attempts to adapt which did not always succeed. Then as a brazen 21 year-old, she leaves her new adopted home and heads to New York on a scholarship. She shares her stories of her professional life, her friends and many fascinating experiences in Manhattan. Again, with a delightful sense of humor she tells us about her life - sometimes sad, sometimes humorous. But, always, she was a survivor and leaves us with beautiful memories of a life well lived.