Counting on America: A Holocaust Memoir of Terror, Chutzpah, Romance and Escape

Counting on America, is a true story that highlights the escalation of anti-

Semitism following Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938 (the Anschluss);

and the obstacles Jewish refugees confronted attempting to cross borders,

obtain visas and flee to America. 

The urgency for Kurt and Hennie Reiner to escape Vienna accelerates when Kurt

is imprisoned in Dachau. He is released but threatened with certain arrest unless

a legal way is discovered to exit occupied Austria. As the couple seek safe haven

and scramble to obtain visas, they are conscripted for work at Fischamend, an

SS monitored farm labor camp. 

Counting on America is told in the first-person, an engaging format that

emotionally transports the reader into the Holocaust scenarios experienced by

Kurt and Hennie Reiner. Historical context interspersed throughout

the memoir supports the tale and provides an educated perspective of the

Holocaust.

The book delivers a compelling message not only about the dangers of racial

hatred and anti-Semitism, but the importance of America to refugees fleeing

despot nations in pursuit of religious tolerance and freedom.

Gary Reiner

Gary Reiner delivers on his promise that he would some day publish the memoir his father had drafted over 30 years ago.  

Mr. Reiner spent nearly thirty years as a criminal justice consultant and project director. He designed educational training programs for the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government and operational programs for  federal, state, and local criminal justice systems. To his credit, he has developed several national model programs for the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. His earlier career demanded investigative research, information management and analysis, planning, curriculum development and project management. 

Kurt Reiner

Kurt Reiner knew he and his wife had accomplished something special when they finally succeeded in crossing the Atlantic in May 1940. Following 26 months of dodging Hitler's persuit, they had made it to freedom at last. Kurt Reiner was born September 22, 1913, in Vienna, Austria. He escaped Europe with his wife, Hennie, in May 1940. His professional career  began in the shipyards of Salem and Portland, Oregon, where he helped build "Liberty Ships" and other tankers shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941.  After moving to New York at the end of WWII, Kurt Reiner settled in his profession and contributed to the defense industry of America for over 40 years. His past record of accomplishment includes employment as an aeronautical electrical design engineer for the Republic Aviation's F-105 Thunderchief, and the Grumman Corporation's Lunar Excursion Module. He began writing his autobiography in 1975 at the age of 62. Recognizing the importance of teaching youth of all religious faiths and ethnicities about the Holocaust, he lectured on several occasions at local high schools in New York until his death in 1985. Kurt Reiner remained married for 44 years.