His inexhaustible knowledge, his remarkable memory, and his ability to weave extensive narratives in conversation while making surprising connections were praised and admired. Yet he resisted all requests to write down his memories—almost until the end. Conversations formed the foundation of this book. Full of wit and charm, Hellmut Freund recounts his childhood and school years in Berlin, his bourgeois-intellectual family background, and his early literary impressions. He describes his experiences as the only Jewish student in the class and the difficult early days of emigration without bitterness. He gratefully recounts the life-defining encounters and friendships that arose from his journalistic work in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. This account extends up to his return to Germany in 1960. Forty-four years in total, during which...