Elisabeth Hartig Lentulo Illuminates History and Humanity in Near the Danube Bridge
PHOTO: Elisabeth Hartig Lentulo, author of Near the Danube Bridge, preserves her father’s legacy and a powerful chapter of Balkan history through storytelling.
A Moving Story of Survival, Family Legacy, and the Power of Memory
Elisabeth Hartig Lentulo shares the emotional creation of Near the Danube Bridge, blending personal history and Balkan turmoil to highlight resilience, trauma, music, and memory across generations.
Elisabeth Hartig Lentulo offers a powerful literary tribute to resilience and memory in her compelling book Near the Danube Bridge. Centered around the life of her father, Kalman, the narrative unearths forgotten histories of the Balkan region while drawing readers into a deeply personal exploration of identity, faith, and the human capacity to endure.
Crafted with the insight of a classically trained violinist and storyteller, Lentulo’s work vividly conveys the cultural, emotional, and historical weight of her father’s experiences. The project began just after Russia invaded Ukraine, a moment that reignited her sense of urgency about preserving her family’s past. Inspired by recordings of Kalman sharing his testimony about his incarceration and years in labor camps, Lentulo embarked on an extensive journey of research and storytelling—bringing to life the voices of those whose suffering is too often left out of mainstream historical narratives.
Lentulo delivers a poignant, masterfully researched narrative that honors untold history and captures the soul of human endurance through storytelling.
Listening to Kalman’s accented voice and witnessing his musical performances—despite injuries that impaired his technique—Lentulo felt the depth of his pain and perseverance. What began as a personal endeavor evolved into a deeply researched account, drawing on diaries, letters, family interviews, and scholarly works about twentieth-century Balkan history. She approached the work with both emotional sensitivity and academic rigor, ensuring that her father’s story was framed within the broader context of European upheaval and displacement.
As a violinist herself, Lentulo intimately understood Kalman’s emotional refuge in music. His dream of becoming a professional musician was derailed by the physical trauma he suffered, yet music remained central to his life. Whether performing hymns in church or teaching children to play, Kalman found solace and purpose in sound—something Lentulo portrays with deep empathy and authenticity.
Balancing historical accuracy with storytelling posed its own set of challenges. Lentulo aimed not only to narrate personal memories but also to integrate the global events that shaped them. She wanted readers to imagine, for instance, how someone in Yugoslavia might have reacted to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, reminding readers that the trauma of war extended far beyond the Western European front. By rooting her narrative in lesser-known histories—such as the Pančevo Massacre—she elevates the voices of those often left out of the conventional WWII canon.
Kalman’s story carries strong resonance for contemporary readers, especially amid today’s refugee crises. Lentulo hopes that readers will reflect on the ongoing cycles of injustice, displacement, and persecution that persist globally. While the Holocaust remains the most documented atrocity of the era, events like those in Pančevo deserve remembrance and reckoning.
A vital counterpart to Kalman’s story is Minka, his wife and Elisabeth’s mother. Her character was shaped through Elisabeth’s childhood memories and interviews with Minka’s surviving sister. The narrative reflects the psychological toll of trauma on both Kalman and Minka, who had no access to mental health resources and had to find their own ways to cope and support each other. Through careful storytelling and collaboration with Elisabeth, Lentulo ensured that Minka’s voice was equally powerful in illustrating the couple’s shared resilience.
The broader message of Near the Danube Bridge is one of transformation and humanity. Kalman, raised with strict religious values and shaped by hardship, eventually came to see the good in others and embraced a more compassionate worldview. Lentulo hopes that readers not only connect with his personal evolution but also become more curious about the deep, often overlooked complexities of Balkan history. The seeds of the region’s 1990s conflicts, she notes, can be traced back to the earlier social fractures documented in her book.
In Near the Danube Bridge, Elisabeth Hartig Lentulo honors the legacy of her family while opening a window into a forgotten chapter of history. With poetic depth and historical integrity, she reminds readers of the importance of memory, the costs of silence, and the resilience that endures even in the face of unimaginable adversity.
Source: Reader’s House Interview with Elisabeth Hartig Lentulo
