In 1974, Antony Easton’s father, Peter, ran as a Liberal candidate for the European Parliament. His slogan was “Vote Easton, made in Britain”. However Peter wasn’t “made in Britain”. It wasn’t till he died that his youngsters found who he actually was. Going via a brown leather-based suitcase stuffed with outdated newspaper clippings, overseas financial institution notes and mysterious paperwork, they discovered a German start certificates that had their father named as “Peter Eisner” – and with it, the primary breadcrumbs of a path main again to a forgotten fortune.
If The Home at Quantity 48 had been a Second World Conflict thriller, it will be a bestseller. Antony’s household story has all of it: a billionaire metal tycoon whose firm, we’re advised, was the turn-of-the-century German equal of Uber; handwritten diary entries telling of chauffeurs, nation estates and adults whispering about Nazi threats; a portray that holds the important thing to the key; a direct connection to Adolf Hitler within the type of the subframe for the Mercedes System One “Silver Arrow”, the quickest racing automobile on this planet. “In the course of that Nazi automobile was a Jewish engineer,” Antony reveals. That’s the twist, after all, in his father’s repressed childhood. The Eisners had been Jewish. No prizes for guessing what occurred to their enterprise, property and artwork empire.
However that isn’t the place the story ends. Antony is decided to trace down the descendants of the individuals who stole his household’s fortune. He desires to satisfy them face-to-face. And he’s bringing the listeners of Radio 4 with him. Together with presenter Charlie Northcott, we observe Antony’s journey, guided by an immersive soundscape – birdsong, laughter, Weimar-era chamber music – again to the ornate townhouse in central Berlin that might have been his inheritance. It’s arduous at instances to do not forget that this isn’t fiction. Nor can it actually be referred to as “historical past”. That is actual life, in any case, with actual individuals dwelling – and never dwelling – at quantity 48. Both method, it’ll ship shivers down your backbone.
[Further reading: Radio 4’s literal guide to Animal Farm should have dug deeper]