The Test of Courage: (A Biography of) Michel Thomas by Christopher Robbins Page A

phone rang and rang but no one answered. Ten minutes later, when he called again, it was off the hook. And it remained off the hook throughout the night, although he continued to dial the number from his home before he finally fell asleep, exhausted. When he called again in the morning the operator told him that the line had been disconnected.
    He made his way to the office on foot, a man in mourning. He felt he understood the meaning behind the wordless call: Suzanne was saying goodbye. He was convinced that she was dying and knew it, and had called one last time to remind him of a lifetime of love, and to say farewell. All further attempts by Michel to phone proved fruitless. Letters were returned unopened. He wondered if Suzanne might have gone to a house she owned in Austria, and attempted to track her down there, but without success. A few months later his fears were confirmed when he learned, after contacting friends in Nice, that Suzanne had died. He had lost the great love of his youth. [29]
    Michel Thomas met Suzanne Adler in Vienna in 1937 after he moved there, directly after his visit to Lodz, to attend university on a post-graduate course. He was an intense twenty-three-year-old with an enormous appetite for life, and she was a lively, highly intelligent seventeen-year-old with wavy golden-brown hair. She seemed older than her years and very mature. Suzanne was a relative of Alfred Adler, an early associate and student of Sigmund Freud.
    Vienna was a lively and appealing city and Michel was spellbound by it, happy to be studying psychology and philosophy in his beloved German language. He soon made friends and liked to make the rounds of the numerous cafés and concert halls. One young friend, Hans Pohl, had been an early and enthusiastic member of the Nazi Party and SS. An investigation into his background for racial purity, however, disclosed that his mother had Jewish blood. It was an awakening that transformed the young man into an outspoken critic and sworn enemy of the Austrian Nazis. Michel received one of life’s lessons from Pohl: his friend’s parents ran a famous restaurant in the city and he was given the secret recipe for its highly praised and powerfully alcoholic egg-nog.
    At first Michel had a collection of girlfriends, but soon after meeting Suzanne he embarked upon a serious involvement. The relationship between them in the first months of student life in Vienna grew stronger by the day, although it was not physical. He was six years older and sexually experienced, while Suzanne was a virgin. ‘This held me back. I had always gone out with girls older and more experienced than myself.’ He was also uncertain whether he wanted to commit himself emotionally to one woman. Suzanne had already fallen in love, but he wavered.
    The couple pursued as happy and carefree a life as the times allowed. They followed a student routine in the day and at night made a habit of frequenting the Congo Bar, a club with tented booths and an orchestra where they could dance until the early hours. ‘I adapted very quickly to the life of the city because I found myself in a German-speaking country for the first time since I left Breslau. My experience as a student was eventful in a pleasant and exciting way. The intensity of life during the time spent in the city - the friendliness and ambience - appealed to me immensely, and time flew by. Friendships were easily made, and I felt absolutely great in Vienna.’
    As in Bordeaux, he pursued a variety of part-time occupations to make money. He continued to paint pictures on glass, while a jeweller employed him to make a line of miniature gold charms featuring scenes from famous operas. ‘I also helped an impressive old gentleman in his eighties with a long beard who was blind. I read correspondence and newspaper articles in various languages to him and he would dictate replies. It became a productive personal relationship in which we discussed world affairs and