When they narrowly escaped the Third Reich and found refuge in Britain, Peter Gumbel’s parents and grandparents cast off their German Jewish heritage to become a perfectly British family. Cricket, Marmite and Church of England. Two generations later, deeply unsettled by Brexit, Gumbel reaches out to Germany again in search of a new passport – and a reckoning with history. 

In conversation with Isabelle Roughol, Gumbel explores the fragility of identity and who we still are when we can no longer recognize the nations we call home. It’s the story of one family and the story of Europe. 

Show notes: 

00:00 Intro

01:47 "Home is where I am"

03:14 From the Third Reich to Cool Britannia
06:35 How Brexit tore through his identity

07:56 Choosing a new passport

11:21 Coming to terms with a German Jewish heritage

15:10 How identity diverges within a single family 

17:09 Reconnecting (or not) with a Jewish identity

22:57 How to become a Borderline member

24:06 His relationship with Britain since Brexit

29:26 Could this all happen again?

32:08 Outro

Sources:

Citizens of Everywhere: Searching for Identity in the Age of Brexit, by Peter Gumbel. Haus Publishing, London, 2020.

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