"Meriel Schindler’s research is prodigious, her writing compelling, and her discoveries large and small reunite her with her far-flung family and with the community that exploited them, impoverished them, persecuted them, and even murdered some of them. Through the history of one family, the entire history of the Holocaust and the struggle to rebuild after the Holocaust unfolds.…I was moved to take this journey with her."

Michael Berenbaum, professor of Jewish studies and director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring

"Affecting.... Ms. Schindler’s insight-filled reckoning with the past can’t help but leave behind a bitter taste that no amount of Sacher torte can disguise."

Diane Cole - Wall Street Journal

"Intimate and often moving."

Glenn C. Altschuler - Jerusalem Post

"An extraordinary and compelling book of reckonings—a journey across a long, complex, and deeply painful arc of history, grippingly told—a wonderful melding of the personal and the political, the family and the historical."

Philippe Sands, author of East West Street and The Ratline

"Meriel Schindler takes us on a journey that spans 150 years and threads across countries and continents as she uncovers her family’s history. Weaving her relatives’ personal lives into the turbulent frame of European history, Schindler moves back and forth between the public and the private realms. Lovingly written and astutely observed, The Lost Café Schindler is a meditation on loss: personal loss and loss of historic significance."

Debórah Dwork, coauthor of Flight from the Reich: Refugee Jews, 1933–1946

"Powerful.... Beyond the compelling personal details, the author chillingly documents how the livelihoods of Austrian Jews were destroyed, ‘systematically stripped of their assets, at bargain-basement prices’.... Throughout, Schindler writes vividly about representation, memory, and the aftermath of atrocity. A significant addition to the literature on the Holocaust."

Kirkus, starred review

"Skillfully crafted.... reads like a novel.... A must-read work of narrative nonfiction that's highly recommended for readers of memoirs or 20th-century European history."

Library Journal, starred review

"Vividly rendered.... Schindler seamlessly weaves together the historical and personal, offering fresh revelations."

Booklist

"Rigorously researched, The Lost Café Schindler successfully weaves together a compelling and at times deeply moving memoir and family history that also chronicles the wider story of the Jews of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.…It distinguishes itself through its combination of mystery and reconciliation."

Anne Joseph - The Times (UK)

"The most fascinating—and devastating—family history.… not just a genealogical exploration.… it sets out the wider experiences of the Jewish population of the Austro-Hungarian empire, weaving in the story of how antisemitism took root.… The stories could scarcely be more powerful."

The Sunday Times (UK)

"This almost unbearably touching book traces an extraordinarily diligent and sensitive process of family rediscovery. Meriel Schindler shows us how short the window of opportunity for Central European Jews was and how lasting an imprint they nonetheless left behind."

Peter Hayes, author of Why? Explaining the Holocaust

"An extraordinary story—so cadenced and so moving."

Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes

"The Lost Café Schindler seamlessly melds two riveting histories, the tumultuous story of Jewish life in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the gripping tale of a remarkable family. Meriel Schindler’s account is a powerful personal journey of discovery. This extremely well-researched and beautifully written story is one that will linger long after the last page."

Gerald L. Posner, coauthor of Mengele: The Complete Story