THE CHILDREN OF WILLESDEN LANE - MONA GOLABEK, LEE COHEN

Travel to Vienna in 1938, where young pianist Lisa Jura, passionately devoted to classical music, faces the growing changes in her beloved city. Nazis roam the streets, and the persecution of Jews and riots become commonplace. After Kristallnacht, her parents make the difficult decision to send Lisa to a safe place. Soon, Lisa joins the trains evacuating Jewish children, the so-called Kindertransports, which leave the Austrian capital, heading to the Netherlands and England. A few months before the outbreak of war, Lisa arrives in London, where, along with other teenage refugees, she is placed in a boarding school on Willesden Lane 243, which becomes her new home.

• Inspiring story about the power of music and hope in difficult times.
• The story of Lisa Jura, a young pianist who had to leave Vienna.
• Kindertransports as a symbol of rescue for Jewish children.
• The boarding school on Willesden Lane 243 as a second home for refugees.
• The Committee to Abolish All Evil and its secret password.
• Maturation, first love and dreams of a career as a concert pianist.
• The promise given to her mother to never part with music.

In London, Lisa meets Gina, Aaron, Günter, Paul and Johnny. Together they found the Committee to Abolish All Evil, whose secret password is the first chords of Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto. Lisa matures, experiences her first love, and meets people who help her realize her dream of a career as a concert pianist. Cut off from her family, she never forgets the words with which her mother said goodbye to her: You must promise me that you will not part with music. Music will help you, you will manage. Let it be your best friend, Lisełe.

The heroine of the book, Lisa JuraGolabek, after the events described in the book, emigrated to the United States, where in 1949 she married Michel Golabek, a French resistance fighter of Polish origin, whom she met in Europe. The couple moved to Los Angeles, where Lisa taught piano. She passed on her musical passion to her daughters and granddaughters, who became concert pianists. Lisa's sisters Sonia, with her husband Sol, and Rosie, with her husband Leo and daughter Ester, also lived in Los Angeles. Lisa JuraGolabek supported charitable activities throughout her life, participating in concerts for hospices for AIDS patients and cancer research. She died in 1997.

The book, published by Austeria in 2024, has 216 pages and a format of 146x209 mm. It is a moving story about the power of music, hope and survival in the face of the cruelty of war. Ideal reading for lovers of history, music and inspiring biographies.