Prepare for the CSA
Read Watch Listen
Every year, we compose a list of websites, books, films, and podcasts for our Summer Academy participants. Naturally, we know how busy you are, but we promise that any time spent with these publications will greatly enrich your visit and your teaching.
Please keep checking for updates, as we add to the list continually.
Austria
Podcasts
1945: The End of the Second World War in Europe
In Season Two of Centropa Stories, you will meet three of our interviewees whose parents took them to Vienna’s train stations and put them on Kindertransports to England, then went home to wait for the knock on the door they knew would come. You’re also going to meet three people who fled with their entire families and, respectively, ended up hiding in Budapest, sent to a prison camp in Kazakhstan, and even to a British army prison in the Indian Ocean.
Vienna Jewcast
Vienna Jewcast is a young podcast about Jewish life in Vienna, Austria. Conversion stories, Jewish holidays, new book and music releases, events and historical landmarks - this podcast shows the abundance of the vibrant Jewish Vienna. I'm always happy to get feedback, new ideas or stories.
Vienna Past and Present
Dive into the depths of Vienna's history with 'Vienna Past and Present'! Join Carmen and Stephen on a journey through the centuries as they unearth lesser-known tales from Vienna's past. From Habsburg jaws to guilded halls, each episode brings to light a new facet of the city's rich tapestry and links it to sites that you can visit in the present day. Whether you're a history buff or a curious listener, 'Vienna Past and Present' has something for everyone. So, pour yourself a Grüner Veltliner and tune in for stories and friendly banter about the world's most livable city.
Listen here
The Wurst Guide to Living in Austria
Have you ever listened to a bilingual podcast? Driven by the idea of treating their audience to a humorous thought at the start of the week, Jacob Moss (journalist & advertiser) and Gabriel Schaffler (radio producer & cultural journalist) consciously aim to speak a language for many people. One in English, the other in German. Australia Vs. Austria. Week after week, the two hosts sit in front of the microphones and chat about Vienna, Austria, and the world out there. Whether it’s random observations, tricky moments, or current topics, it doesn’t matter.
Listen here
Film
Our Film: Vienna, its Jews and, the 20th Century
In this film, made possible by the Claims Conference, Centropa’s director, Edward Serotta, will take you through Vienna’s troubled history—from its golden age until today. Vienna, Jews and the 20th Century was produced, shot, and edited by Roman Domnich.
Vienna's Youtube Channel
Welcome to the official channel of Vienna! Take a look at why Vienna is a great destination for your next city trip. You will be presented with useful tips to plan your trip, we will show you the best tourist attractions, most important sights and some hidden treasures off the beaten path. And if you like it, visit Vienna and see for yourself.
The Third Man
A noir thriller set in post-war Vienna, this British classic features unforgettable visuals of a divided city—crumbling facades, eerie streets, and the now-famous Prater Ferris wheel. Orson Welles' performance as the enigmatic Harry Lime and the haunting zither soundtrack elevate this to a cinematic masterpiece. You can even walk the original locations on a dedicated tour.
Books
Jewish Non-Fiction
In this highly praised book, de Waal traces the history of his family, the Ephrussis, who once rivaled the Rothschilds. A moving and exquisitely crafted family saga that takes place mostly in turn-of-the century Paris and Vienna.
Although his literary reputation as a biographer and short story writer have suffered of late, Zweig wrote his elegiac portrait of a world destroyed while he was living as a refugee in Brazil in 1943. Upon completing it, he killed himself, although the world he had been born into had died long before he swallowed his poison.
Clare grew up in a middle class family in Vienna's eigth district, and his well-told-tale takes us through his teenage years and the family's flight from Vienna to Berlin (which he found to be far less "brown" than Vienna) following the Anschluss, and on to England. One of the best books of its kind.
After his grandmother's death, Bonyhady began to ask the questions that were taboo as a child: Where did all the treasures in his grandmother's flat come from? What was his family history? His inquiry takes us from his grandmother's flat in Sydney all the way to back to fin-de-siecle Vienna, where his great-grandparents were leading patrons of the arts and his great-grandmother was even a subject of a Klimt portrait. A story that combines privilege and tragedy.
Jewish and non Jewish Fiction
Considered by many to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, Roth's stories are populated by people who have almost no redeeming values. In Roth's world, things begin well and invariably spiral downward from there. This novel is his master work, and it tells the story of the decline and collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, embodied through a singularly untalented family. Emperor Franz Josef shows up from time to time, usually eating his tafelspitz (boiled beef).
In the seventeenth century, according to lost Kabbalah texts, Rabbi Löw is said to have created an artificial being—the Golem. Is it just an old legend? A figment of the imagination? A specter of the collective unconscious? In the tradition of Gothic romance, Gustav Meyrink wrote one of the first and most eerie fantasy novels.
With an astute eye for irony and a sardonic humor, Veza Canetti weaves together stories about the people of Yellow Street, the home of the leather-merchants in the Leopoldstadt district. Set in Vienna in the 1930s, 'Yellow Street' is a novel that captures the despair, poverty, enforced idleness, and crumbling moral values of those years just before the political catastrophes of World War II.
Non-Fiction
There are surprisingly few books in English on the Holocaust in Austria, but Polity Press brought out a translation of Doron Rabinovici's excellent Eichmann's Jews, a study of the leadership of the Vienna Jewish community and how they were trapped into cooperating with Adolf Eichmann. A chilling, sober study and highly recommended.
We also recommend Anne-Marie O'Connor's The Lady in Gold, which tells the story of Gustav Klimt's painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer. A riveting social history; an illuminating and haunting look at turn-of-the-century Vienna; a brilliant portrait of the evolution of a painter; a masterfully told tale of suspense. And at the heart of it, the Lady in Gold—the shimmering painting, and its equally irresistible subject, the fate of each forever intertwined.
Czech Republic
Podcasts
Prague off the Beaten Track
A podcast exploring the hidden gems of Prague, uncovering unique places, stories, and cultural experiences away from the usual tourist paths.
Bohemian
A look into the history, culture, traditions, and people of the Czech Republic from the eyes of two American expats.
Prague Times
This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it's going.
Films
While filmed mostly in Prague, this Oscar-winning epic gives deep insight into the genius of Mozart, much of whose life unfolded in Vienna. Through the eyes of rival composer Antonio Salieri, the film paints a vivid portrait of musical Vienna at the height of its cultural power. Watching it before attending a classical concert helps you understand the drama behind the music.
This British and Czech co-production is based on the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, aka Operation Anthropoid. Starring Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan, and Czech actress Anna Geislerová, Anthropoid gives an insight into a defining moment in Czech history.
Terezin
Podcasts
Four stories of survival in Terezin
They were born between 1920 and 1928. They were enrolled in school or had just started jobs. Until the Germans occupied and dismembered Czechoslovakia in March, 1939. Soon the deportation notices arrived and their descent into hell began.
Vedem: the secret boys’ magazine of Terezin
They were 13 and 14-year-old boys imprisoned in the Terezin (Theresienstadt) Ghetto and only a handful would survive the Holocaust.Every Friday night, they would take turns reading from their own secret magazine, Vedem (Czech for In The Lead) which was filled with poetry, essays, and humor
