Vera cover art

Vera

My Story

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Vera

By: Vera Wasowski, Robert Hillman
Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

A story of courage, unconventionality and lust for life. Vera Wasowski was just seven years old when German soldiers marched her family into the Lvov Jewish ghetto in Poland. She watched her father take his own life and her mother accede to sexual blackmail in order to ensure her and Vera’s survival. With unsparing honesty and the blackest humour, she recalls a world where the desire to survive was everything.

After the war, Vera studied journalism at Warsaw University, throwing herself into the bohemian scene. In 1958, she migrated to Australia with her husband and young son to escape rising anti-Semitism. Here she would carve out an adventurous career as an ABC TV researcher and producer on pioneering programs such as This Day Tonight.

It was a wild time for politics and the media, and Vera was at the centre of it all, mixing with the Hawkes in the 1980s and forming a close friendship with artist Mirka Mora.

In Vera, acclaimed biographer Robert Hillman has captured the fierce and passionate life of an amazing Australian. Robert Hillman’s memoir, The Boy in the Green Suit, won the Australian National Biography Award for 2004.

His 2007 biography, My Life as a Traitor, written with Zarah Ghahramani, appeared in numerous overseas editions. His first collaboration with Najaf Mazari, The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif, has been a set text in many schools. He is also the author of Gurrumul: His Life and Music and the novel Joyful.

©2015 Vera Wasowski and Robert Hillman (P)2015 Audible, Ltd
20th Century Emigration & Immigration Historical Judaism Media Studies Military Women War Holocaust

Critic Reviews

"Vera was wild, exotic and utterly outrageous when I met her as a young journalist in Melbourne. When you’ve survived both Hitler and Stalin there’s not a lot to hold you back. She has a great story to tell." (Kerry O’Brien)
"Vera’s life is part tragedy, part farce but like the roast goose that she cooks so magnificently it is always succulent, rich and unforgettable." (Barrie Kosky)

What listeners say about Vera

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So much life

A terrifying insight into the horrors of life as a Jewish person / child in Eastern Europe/ Poland in the 30s and 40s and how this remained with her throughout her life manifesting as the living of her life so fully and authentically not wasting a minute of it. A great biography

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.