"Victor Nameless is an impressive novel, suspenseful from beginning to end, a tale that will preoccupy my mind and heart for a long time."
Wolfgang Emmerich, Professor Emeritus of Modern German Literature, University Bremen, Germany "Two lovers searching for freedom and for each other. An incredible true story of survival of the human spirit."
Kim Chernin, Ph.D., writer, poet and spiritual consultant "Just when you think you've read every last account of the Holocaust, along comesVictor Nameless, a heartrending, beautifully narrated story about a survivor."
Joan Gelfand, poet and author of "Fear to Shred" A true story of love, hope against all odds, and redemption, set against the horrors of the second World War, the Holocaust, and the drama of refugees. Victor, a young German-Jewish musician, falls in love with Tatyana, a beautiful Jewish photographer from Yugoslavia. Unable to stay together, they promise to carry a torch for each other. Victor, fleeing eastward from the Nazis, is sucked deep into the Soviet Union. Without papers, without a name, he survives prisons and labor camps and ends up a forgotten refugee. The sole companion on his odyssey is a simple flute. Tatyana joins the partisans in Yugoslavia and flees to Italy. She lives in Venice inperilous disguise as a non-Jew, refusing the safety of marriage because of her love for Victor. She is ultimately betrayed and deported to Auschwitz. When Victor finally gets to the West and is sent to a recovery facility in Meran, Italy, he recognizes Tatyana at the window of a neighboring sanatorium. How can these two refugees preserve their love after so much trauma? Everything is now in the balance: will their hope hold its promise? Gabriella Mautner is an award-winning author and Holocaust survivor. She taught creative writing at San Francisco State University and the Fromm Institute for thirty-four years. Her novels are Out of a Season, Lovers and Fugitives, and Addio Positano. Her memoir, The Good Place, was published in Germany and the US. She is a recipient of a Milley Award from the city of Mill Valley for literary achievements.