Book Talk: And The Cello Came Too
Schedule
Thu Jun 18 2026 at 06:30 pm to 08:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
The Wiener Holocaust Library | London, EN
About this Event
When Robin Lustig’s mother died in 2013, he found himself drawn back into the tangled history of his German-Jewish family — a story of survival, exile, death and endurance. He tells his family’s story in his just-published book And The Cello Came Too, part personal memoir and part family chronicle, which the historian Neal Ascherson has described as a ‘tender, skilfully composed memoir, the most sensitive account I know of how the survivors rediscovered one another, slowly settled into unfamiliar jobs in alien cities, and found new lives and loves.’
He will discuss his book, and the issues it raises, with Michael Newman, chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees.
About the speakers
Robin Lustig is a journalist and broadcaster who spent more than twenty years as presenter of The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 and Newshour on the BBC World Service, for whom he covered several major world events including the reunification of Germany in 1990, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
He began his career with Reuters news agency as a correspondent in Madrid, Paris and Rome, before joining The Observer, where he spent twelve years, including three years as Middle East correspondent based in Jerusalem. In 2013, he received the Charles Wheeler award for outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. He published a memoir, Is Anything Happening? in 2017.
Michael Newman has been Chief Executive of the AJR since July 2012, having joined in January 2001. As well as being an adviser on Holocaust-era restitution issues, guiding Holocaust survivors and refugees, and their families, with applications for compensation and the recovery of Holocaust-era assets, Michael worked with the UK government to create the position of UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues. Michael is an active member of the UK delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) advising on communication matters relating to projects and programmes and has chaired the Communications Working Group.
Where is it happening?
The Wiener Holocaust Library, 29 Russell Square, London, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
