LOVERS IN AUSCHWITZ:
A TRUE STORY

ABOUT

Keren Blankfeld Taqqu is an award-winning narrative nonfiction journalist.

The granddaughter of four World War II refugees, Keren grew up hearing stories of partisans, hidden children and orphans. Her grandparents were displaced people in Eastern Europe who found their way to São Paulo, Brazil, where Keren was born. At age 12 she immigrated to Houston with her family.

As a journalist, Keren gravitates toward stories about refugees and immigrants. Her articles have ranged from interviews with New York City DREAMers to cover stories and profiles on both refugees and billionaires. Keren has written for The New York Times, Forbes, Reuters, The Toronto Star and others.

Her new book, Lovers in Auschwitz: A True Story, will publish through Little, Brown and Company on January 2024. The book is based on her 2019 New York Times feature “Lovers in Auschwitz,” which was translated to more than ten languages and received The Silurians Press Club Merit Award for Feature Writing.

Keren started her journalism career in 2005 reporting on a sewage facility in Rahway, New Jersey. In 2008 she joined Forbes Magazine where she served as a staff writer and editor. She has been a guest on CNN, BBC World News and E! Entertainment. In 2013 Keren served as a creative executive at New Regency Productions, where she worked with screenwriters and playwrights to develop material for movies and TV shows.

Keren teaches reporting and writing at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she earned her MS. She also holds a BA in International Relations and English from Tufts University.

Keren lives in New York with her husband and two sons and spends her free time running, drawing comics and making clay creatures with her kids.

SELECTED STORIES

• He Sang for His Captors at Auschwitz. 75 Years Later, He Sang There Again (The New York Times)
  David Wisnia, whose tale of endurance and love during the Holocaust touched readers around the world, has died at 94.
• They Were the Lucky Ones (The New York Times)
  The Secret History of America’s Only WWII Refugee Camp.
• Lovers in Auschwitz, Reunited 72 Years Later (The New York Times)
  He had one question. Was she the reason he was alive today?
• Bela, the Forgotten War Orphan (The New York Times)
  The remarkable tale of a 3-year-old whose parents died in Auschwitz, and the soldier who worked to get her out of occupied Berlin.
• The Puzzling Inferno (Scientific American, PDF)
  When saving trees means less carbon storage.
• A Man for All Reasons (Forbes)
  A day in the life of “homeless” billionaire Nicolas Berggruen as he sets to fix California’s government. Read about Berggruen and his plan here.
• Hollywood Heavyweight (Forbes)
  The Hollywood producer is responsible for making Pretty Woman and Mr. and Mrs. Smith big screen hits. But before he came to Hollywood he was an arms dealer. Read more here.
• Funny Business: Billionaire Ron Perelman With His Dad (Forbes)
  LBO maestro Ron Perelman and his dad, Raymond, in an intimate conversation about rebellion, success, mistakes and the meaning of life. Read more here.
• Big Man in Brazil (Forbes)
  Eike Batista was the face of Brazil’s boom. He rode the commodities wave to become Brazil’s richest man and aimed to become the world’s richest man. Was it all a house of cards? Read more here.

Check out my other stories here.