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Holding me kicking and screaming, that brute ran toward the awaiting train, past Mama, whom I saw being dragged over the floor struggling and crying. The entire station was a scene of bedlam, with men, women and children being pulled, shoved and hurled into the train . . . Rene Goldman grows up entranced with the theatre, music, languages and geography. Surrounded by his parents' love and protection, he wanders the streets and alleys of Luxembourg and then Brussels, carefree and prone to mischief. Yet as he starts hearing adults speak the words deportation and resettlement, Rene is forced to grapple with a strange reality. When his family flees to France, eight-year-old Rene is separated from both of his parents and shunted between children's homes and convents, where he must hide both his identity and his mounting anxiety. As Rene waits and waits for his parents to return, even liberation day does not feel like freedom. An eloquent personal narrative detailed with historical research and commentary, A Childhood Adrift explores identity, closure, disillusionment and the anguish of silenced emotions.

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9781988065175

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Ren? Goldman was born in Luxembourg on March 25, 1934. After the war, he lived in children's homes in Paris for five years, after which he studied in Poland for three years. In 1953, Ren? immigrated to Beijing, studying Chinese language, literature and history for five years. In 1960, he pursued graduate studies in the Department of History and the East Asian Institute at Columbia University; he then accepted a position on the faculty of the University of British Columbia, where he completed his post-graduate studies and taught courses in Chinese history. Ren? Goldman lives with his wife, Terry, in Summerland, BC.

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