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The compelling story of how the quiet artisan Reinhold Duschka (1900-1993) came to save two lives in Vienna during the Nazi rule. Duschka managed to hide Jewish mother Regina and her daughter Lucia in his workshop for four years. The three of them were tied together with an invisible rope, surviving by luck and mutual trust. What happened afterwards is explored and the humble and honest Duschka is why this story touches so much.
This story wouldn't exist without the promise that Lucia Heilman gave to herself: To honour the passionate alpinist Reinhold Duschka who saved her and her mother from the deportation to a Nazi-German concentration camp. Based on Lucia's memories, Erich Hackl covers the dramatic if monotonous years in the hide out, to the immediate present. Hackl's exact language, which is glowing with passion, not only brings to life saviours and saved - it forces us to acknowledge the current relevance of this story, living in a Europe where civil courage is needed more than ever
About the author
Erich Hackl was born in Steyr, Austria in 1954. His writing is based on true stories and has received numerous awards, including the 2017 Human Rights Award of Upper Austria and the 2015 Anton Wildgans Prize awarded by the Federation of Austrian Industry. Stephen Brown is a playwright, translator, and cultural critic. His translations from German include Joachim Sartorius’s The Princes' Islands and Birgit Haustedt’s Rilke’s Venice.
Summary
As German Jews, Regina Steinig and her daughter Lucia are forced into hiding during the Second World War. Finding refuge in the workshop of a local beltmaker, they hold on to each other as they live in constant fear of discovery by his neighbors and customers. When their hideaway is damaged in an air raid in the closing months of the war, the women are forced on the run and are locked in a desperate battle for survival.
Based on a true story, On the Rope is an account of extreme courage in the face of danger, violence, and hatred. Exploring themes of displacement and survival, friendship and family, it ends with the women’s efforts to bring recognition the selfless heroism of those who faced tremendous personal risk in order to protect them. A novella by one of Europe’s most prominent literary novelists, On the Rope layers deeply personal stories in a grounded historical account of life before, during, and after the Second World War. It paints a vivid picture of the hardships forced upon people by conflict and separation, depicting the forming and unravelling of relationships as a fact of life.
