Meet-the-Author: The Politzer Saga

THE POLITZER SAGA

By Linda Ambrus Broenniman

A box found among the ashes of a house fire launches Linda Ambrus Broenniman on a quest to discover the truth behind her family’s biggest secret—that her Catholic father was actually Jewish and his family’s history was a lie.

In THE POLITZER SAGA (Bethesda Communications Group; September 12, 2023) Broenniman tells the story of her search for truth and pieces together the astonishing history of eight generations of her Jewish ancestors – the Politzer family – their remarkable lives almost lost to her father’s secrets.

Dating back to 18th century Hungary, The Politzer Saga is a tale of people who lived, struggled, suffered, and prevailed. Among the family members Broenniman discovers are highly accomplished doctors, entrepreneurs and industrialists, artists and musicians, and art collectors. They are buffeted by events in the world around them: world wars, political uprisings, religious persecution, and unimaginable hardships. The characters come to life with luminescent clarity, making readers forget that they are not the figments of someone’s imagination but they were real people who lived real lives.

Today, The Politzer Saga, a permanent exhibition, resides on the third floor of the Rumbach Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary. The exhibit is composed of 10 lyrical and artistically rendered seven-minute films about eight generations of Politzers, based on the stories in the book. But readers can go deeper and discover the source material in Broenniman’s amazing narrative.

LINDA AMBRUS BROENNIMAN grew up in Buffalo, NY. She is the middle child of seven born to Hungarian physicians who survived World War II and started their new life in the U.S. in 1949. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a BA in psychology and went on to get an MBA from Carnegie Mellon. Several years after graduation, she left mainstream corporate America to follow her path as an entrepreneur. She let her passion for uncovering hidden potential in unexpected places guide her. And she allowed this passion to fuel the search for her hidden family. Broenniman lives in Great Falls, VA, with her husband of 28 years and their dog, Juno. Visit www.politzersaga.com.