Secrets of my family's lost café
As Meriel Schindler researched the café her Jewish grandfather set up, she uncovered some uncomfortable family truths.
Meriel Schindler grew up in London in a family of émigrés. They were Jewish and had fled Austria in the late 1930s as Hitler's Nazi Party took over and the violent persecution of Jews turned into the Holocaust. When her father died in 2017, Meriel inherited 13 photo albums. One was dedicated to the Café Schindler in Innsbruck, Austria, a venue set up by her Jewish grandfather in the 1920s. As Meriel started to research the café, she discovered it had gone from being a hub of jazz music and delicious pastries, to a Nazi watering hole. But the research would also uncover some uncomfortable truths about her father that she struggled to make sense of.
Meriel has written a book called The Lost Café Schindler.
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
Picture: Meriel Schindler and a photo of the Café Schindler in the 1930s
Credit: Holly Falconer / courtesy of Meriel Schindler
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The Outlook Podcast Archive
True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives
