Sven and his Friends

This is the story of a young boy in pre-WorldWar2 Denmark and his confrontation with German reality. It starts a trip that takes him around the world, to many places and cultures in his effort to find safe haven. It is a trip of wonders, enlightenment and tolerance in a time filled with turmoil and uncertainty.

Founder and director of The Stockbridge School in Interlaken, Mass. translated into action his vision of what education for adolescents should be. Born in Hamburg, he fled Nazi Germany in 1933 to avoid arrest. His first destination was Denmark where he had been the previous year as an intern trainee for social education. His flight towards freedom took him around the world and lasted ten years until he was finally released from a US internment camp and came to New York City. Sven and his Friends is a book for adolescents. It includes a great deal of biographical experience from his life at the time in the 'Wandervogel', a youth movement, and later occurrences.