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Elisabeth Åsbrink

Biography

Elisabeth Åsbrink

Elisabeth Åsbrink is a nonfiction writer and journalist. She has worked for Swedish National Television for 15 years as a reporter and editor for news shows and cultural programs, often as an investigative journalist. Her first book, OCH I WIENERWALD STÅR TRÄDEN KVAR (AND IN THE VIENNA WOODS THE TREES REMAIN), received worldwide attention for revealing new information about IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad’s ties to Nazism. It won several awards, including the August Prize for Best Swedish Non-Fiction Book of the Year (2011). Åsbrink made her debut as a playwright with RÄLS [TRACKS], based on the minutes taken at a meeting convened by Hermann Göring in 1938, and has since written four plays.

Elisabeth Åsbrink

Books by Elisabeth Åsbrink

And in the Vienna Woods the Trees Remain: The Heartbreaking True Story of a Family Torn Apart by War
written by Elisabeth Åsbrink, translated by Saskia Vogel - History, Nonfiction

Otto Ullman, a Jewish boy, was sent from Austria to Sweden right before the outbreak of World War II. There he became best friends with Ingvar Kamprad, who would grow up to become the founder of IKEA. Despite the huge Swedish resistance to Jews, the 13-year-old Otto was granted permission to enter Sweden --- all in accordance with the Swedish archbishop's secret plan to save Jews on condition that they converted to Christianity. With thorough research, including personal files initiated by the predecessor to today's Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) and more than 500 letters, Elisabeth Åsbrink illustrates how Swedish society was infused with anti-Semitism and how families are shattered by war and asylum politics.

1947: Where Now Begins
written by Elisabeth Åsbrink, translated by Fiona Graham - History, Nonfiction

The year 1947 marks a turning point in the 20th century. Peace with Germany becomes a tool to fortify the West against the threats of the Cold War. The CIA is created, Israel is about to be born, Simone de Beauvoir experiences the love of her life, an ill George Orwell is writing his last book, and Christian Dior creates the hyper-feminine New Look as women are forced out of jobs and back into the home. In the midst of it all, a 10-year-old Hungarian-Jewish boy resides in a refugee camp for children of parents murdered by the Nazis. This year he has to make the decision of a lifetime, one that will determine his own fate and that of his daughter yet to be born, Elisabeth.