DOWN MEMORY LANE

Having reached an advanced age and living in full retirement, Peter Ellinger has written his Memoirs. His odyssey commences with his birth in Vienna in 1933, the very year in which Adolf Hitler was democratically voted into power in Germany.Part I of the tome covers Peter’s escape from Austria, his years as a refugee in Italy and in France and his primary, secondary and tertiary education in Israel. He describes the pull of the Austrian idols of his home and of the Zionist outlook of the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine. He also talks about his growing up and about his attaining religious insights.Notably, when he arrived in Palestine, the country was still governed by Britain under a mandate. He witnessed the foundation of Israel and the struggle of the newly born country during its early years. For a short period, he practiced law in Tel Aviv. He discusses some of the cases handled by him and, turning to the political scene, gives a detailed account of Nasser’s rise to power and the Suez Crisis. He also discusses his embarkation on Bible Critique, which has remained one of his hobbies.Part II covers Peter’s years as a postgraduate student in Oxford, his move into academia and his first spell in Singapore. It deals with Singapore’s development from a Crown colony into a sovereign city-state and describes its initial incorporation into the Federation of Malaysia. During this period, Peter wedded Patricia Goh, a Chinese-educated girl. Their marriage lasted for 43 years, until Patricia’s death in Singapore from leukemia.Part III deals with Peter’s life as a mendicant professor and with his position as teacher of law in Wellington (New Zealand), Monash (Melbourne) and his return to Singapore. During a period spent in Hamburg, he envisaged the fall of the Brandenburg Wall and the unification of the DDR with Western Germany. On the personal side, it covers his antiques collection hobby.Part IV covers Peter’s second spell in Singapore, including his employment by the National University of Singapore and his experience in legal practice. Shortly after Patricia’s demise, he went into full retirement. His years as retiree are discussed in the last part of the book. Having covered the past, his eyes focus on the future.Peter realises that his odyssey is not exclusive. Other of his contemporaries - with a Holocaust background - experienced their own winding journey through life. He resolved to recount his experience because in one sense it was unique: he witnessed the foundation of two states: the unification of the two German states and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Further, he adapted to environments initially alien to him.The reader will assess whether these Memoirs are worth telling.