3 comments about Until Our Last Breath: A Holocaust Story of Love and Partisan Resistance.

1. As someone who has spent years in Vilna, I know of the places which Michael Bart studied and Laurel Corona then wrote about. Mr. Bart did lengthy and in-depth work and Ms. Corona took that research in combination with her own visit to Vilna and research to turn Until Our Last Breath into a must-read. I have been fortunate enough to meet former Jewish partisans, Righteous Gentiles, and those rescued. After reading this book, I realize how much I missed by never having met Michael Bart's parents. They were real people cast into a surreal situation. No matter how inhumane conditions became, both of them managed to hold onto their humanity. They were heroes who never realized how extraordinary they were. The world is a far better place thanks to what they did. What they did was never surrender in the face of insanity and cruelty. If only all of us could be so strong. Thanks to Michael Bart for all of his efforts. Thanks also to Laurel Corona for putting the story down on paper so it can be shared with the world.



2. Holocaust histories are notoriously difficult to read- the subject matter is after all one of the darkest chapters in human history. Thus, Authors are challenged to not only present this history accurately, but also do so in a manner that encourages the reader to continue on. Michael Bart and Laurel Corona have really done a splendid job in bringing us this important book- which follows the story of Michael's parents during their time in the Vilna Ghetto and then as Jewish Partisans in the Rudnicki forest. Meticulously researched and footnoted, the book gives us a historically accurate, yet vivid account of what the Holocaust looked like to a young couple, married in the midst of horror and their subsequent road of survival, liberation and rebirth.



3. This book is absolutely incredible, weaving in a historical sense and perspective alongside the true story of a family's struggle in the ghettos of the holocaust. I read through this so quickly and could easily go back to re-read and focus on references to the larger history of Jews during WWII.
   
   Very inspiring, uplifting and emotional.

5 comments about My Future is in America: Autobiographies of Eastern European Jewish Immigrants.

1. I was assigned this book for a Jewish History class at my university, and so far I'm really enjoying it. We read one of the autobiographies each week, and I feel that Cohen has done an excellent job of bringing together stories from different backgrounds and different experiences, and even has a married couple each tell their stories in their own autobiographies.
   
   I'll be honest; I was expecting it to be boring - but am very pleasantly surprised to find that it's not!



2. The older brother of Minnie Goldstein, who wrote the first of the autobiographies that appear in the book, is my great-grandfather and what seems to have been passed down through the generations is a somewhat sanitised version of the truth ... I really had no idea about their dreadful poverty, or the fact that a contributing factor to Hershl Malinberg's emigration from Warsaw to the U.S. was being cheated in business by his own mother-in-law. Of course, the story has particular resonance for her own kith and kin, but it contains so much vivid detail, and is told so well, that I would recommend it to anyone.



3. "My Future Is In America" contains excellent primary source material for the student of Jewish immigration to this country and immigration history in general. The individual essays are captivating and very readable, providing a wealth of information about the immigrant experience, not only after arrival in America, but also about life in Europe pre-immigration. This book should be considered as reading in American Studies curricula.



4. I just finished reading this book. This is not only for Jewish people but other religions as well. It's a part of our history and I found it very enjoyable and informative. A must read.



5. 
   As a first generation American, I always wanted to know how and why my parents came to America... they passed away before imparting this information.... this book fills in all the gaps, in a humorous and interesting way. I could not put this book down, and reread it... Totally enjoyable!!!! 5 stars

2 comments about Three Women in Dark Times: Edith Stein, Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil.

1. This is not an easy book. It is a glance into the lives of 3 women, Hanna Arendt, Simone Weil, and Edith Stein, each of Jewish descent and, in particular, at the response each one made to Nazism. There is a review of each woman's life and her career. A lot of space is given to the education of these women, which is especially interesting since each studied under some of the biggest names in philosophy in the 20th century. It is not easy to follow, however, unless you have some basic knowledge of Heidegger, Jaspers, Alain, Husserl. But it is still interesting. Each of these women chose a different response (not just to nazism, but to the world, actually). Arendt became strongly Zionist, and an author of wonderful books; Simone Weil, strangely at odds with her heritage, but whose essays are marvels of clarity, chose a strange path of starvation (whatever the philosophical underpinnings, one wonders about anorexia); Edith Stein converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun, devoting her life to prayer (though still writing). Each of these responses is fascinating in its own right. I highly recommend this difficult, but rewarding book.



2. I am no philosopher, but have read the works of the three women who are the subjects of the book.
   I was hoping to put the three lives into the context of the intellectual and social world they lived in, and how and why they made their individual decisions on philosophy, religion, and their approach to the questions posed by both Nazism and the feminist movement.
   But little detail is given about the intellectual life. We are told the names of their mentors: but not any details of what these mentors taught (a major flaw for the non philosophy student who is not familiar with Heddiger etc.).
   At the same time, except for some fine passages on Simone Weil, there is little detail on the inner lives of the women: we see only the outline of their parallel lives, often mixed together in a confusing manner. Arendt's affair with her professor, a subject recently treated in detail in a recent Atlantic magazine article, is given one sentence. Stein converts, with no more detail on her inner life than one could read in a blurb in the Catholic encyclopedia.
   In summary, the author fails to provide details for the novice to understand the lives of these women, but does not go into sufficient depth for a philosophy student to learn anything new.
   However, the passages on Simone Weil are an exception to my criticism. I did learn a lot about both her writings and why she thought and wrote her famous letters.

4 comments about A Visit With the Tomboy Bride: Harriet Backus & Her Friends.

1. While this book was in no way as interesting as Tomboy Bride, it still brought further revelations about Harriet's interactions with the other mining families in their tiny community. It is a good, but not great, backward glance.



2. Harriet Backus's 'Tomboy Bride' is a classic - Read it and skip Duane Smith's commentary - repetitous and adds very little worthwhile new inormation.



3. After a Jeep ride that just happened to go through the Tomboy Mine, I read about Mrs. Backus' book on the Ouray, CO website and ordered it here at Amazon.com. Of course, they recommended this book as well so I ordered it at the same time. Boy am I glad I did. I enjoyed Mrs. Backus' book so much and didn't want it to end. It was great to be able to pick up Professor Smith's book and learn even more about her life.
   
   I swore I would never go up that trail from Telluride again. It is much as Mrs. Backus and Professor Smith wrote and showed-- very scary. But now I want to go back to the Tomboy Mine one more time!



4. Wonderfully illustrated with superbly vintage black-and-white photographs, A Visit With The Tomboy Bride: Harriet Backus & Her Friends is an impressive and inherently interesting collection of the correspondence that took place between Harriet Fish Backus (author of the classic book "Tomboy Bride") and Colorado historian Duane A. Smith. Delving into the adventures of Harriet's life, and exploring a unique picture of an era gone by in the rugged San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado, A Visit With The Tomboy Bride is a unique and enthusiastically recommended contribution to Colorado History reading lists and library collections.

5 comments about For Those I Loved.

1. I just had the "pleasure" of having to remove all my books from my office so the room could be painted. I came across a favorite I had forgotten I owned and must tell you, THIS BOOK will make you realize how much you MUST stop this petty "he said-she said" with those you love.
   FOR THOSE I LOVED by Martin Gray with Max Gallo is one of the most gut wrenching, soul searching books I have ever read.
   It is a Biography of Martin Gray who, in his own words, was living a pleasant life in Warsaw September 1939 when "he and everyone else was plunged into an endless hell of butchers and bombs, corps and concentration camps, a nightmare from which it was impossible to awake. At that period our lives had the resistance of stone, and our stones had the eternity of life."
   Martin Gray did survive that nightmare, but lost his entire family. How he did it builds the exciting first half of the novel. Settling in Southern France after the War he builds a successful life, has a new family and what happens next................. Well, I read this book ten years ago and I'll stop by telling you I have never been able to put it out of my mind. It's a WONDERFUL READ. I just purchased it here again for a friend overseas.



2. This review assumes the veracity of at least most of the book's contents, and is based on the 1972 English-language version.
   
   While in the Warsaw Ghetto, the Germans attempted to make Gray a Jewish informer (p. 96). He played along.
   
   Then the "resettlement" of Warsaw's Jews to Treblinka began: "Jewish policemen with raised clubs yelling orders: they needed six thousand heads that evening." (p. 101). Those Jews who attempted to hide in their homes were often betrayed by their neighbors or relatives in the Ghetto (p. 103). Gray reports what happened after the Jews in an area had been cleared out: "Afterwards, Ukrainian, Latvian, and Lithuanian SS men and the Jewish police searched the buildings, looting, killing anyone they caught there. They smashed the furniture, wrecked the beds and broke through the walls: they looked for hideouts where families had taken refuge, for gold and jewels." (p. 109).
   
   Gray also describes scenes around the death trains being loaded with human cargo: "I followed them to the hospital to find out. The cattle cars were there, lined up at the platforms, policemen yelling. I recognized the mighty Szmerling, whip held high dashing from the herd to report to the SS. Yet he was a Jew. Like them. Like me. They were shoved into the cars, separated, and if anyone shouted, protested or struggled, they got a blow from an iron bar, or a bullet." (p. 102)
   
   In time, it became Gray's turn. But after escaping from Treblinka by stowing away on a departing supply train, he experienced the incredulity of both Poles and Jews. For instance, near Zambrow, Gray encountered a Jewish work gang with no German guards anywhere near, because "the Germans trust us." (p. 162). They scoffed at the notion of Treblinka.
   
   Polish peasants sometimes denounced or killed Jews known or suspected of thievery. Gray sometimes sought Polish help, while at other times he simply stole from Poles during his treks in the countryside (e. g., p. 158, 183, 184).
   
   There is an account of an alcoholic Polish man who betrayed several Jews (pp. 233-234). The reader may not realize that the Germans encouraged alcoholism among Poles, both to degrade them and also to exploit this dependency as leverage for such collaborative acts as betraying Jews.
   
   Gray's experiences shed light on Jewish-Communist collaboration, a major factor antagonizing Poles against Jews during and after the war. He at first has positive remarks about the AK (p. 187) before lapsing into standard, mostly unsubstantiated, accusations of the AK and NSZ denouncing and killing fugitive Jews. He joins the AL, and includes a photo of himself and Mieczyslaw Moczar in the book. Moczar sends him on a mission to spy on the NSZ, from which he narrowly escapes with his life (pp. 224-226). Later, after the arrival of the Soviet occupants, the NKVD also uses him for espionage: "Do your best, find us the NSZ, the informers, the denouncers, the collaborators, the people who don't like us." (p. 233)



3. I could not put down this beautifully written book. It is an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man. After completing this book, my thought was - here is a 20th century Book of Job. The story is of survival beyond all odds, of suffering beyond one's endurance, and of an improbable faith, yes, the faith in G-d despite the tragedies that would overwhelm and destroy any ordinary human being. A MUST read for all who attempt to comprehend man's ability to endure in the face of horrific evil inflicted by other men, and, tragically, by fate itself.



4. I first heard of this book when I was in college during a course on the autobiography. We didn't read it, and it was only mentioned in passing. The theme of the course was autobiography & truth and we spent a great deal of time discussing what our expectations of authors were in terms of telling the truth.
   
   Martin Gray's book is particularly problematic because it is extremely inspiring. It tells the story of survival and heroism in the face of the Holocaust and sends a strong affirmative message about the ability of victims to take their destiny into their own hands. Very strong, and very moving.
   
   Unfortunately, it appears that there are troubling doubts about the accuracy of Gray's book. We know that he lived in the Warsaw Ghetto. We know that he lost his parents. That something terrible happened to him, nobody questions. However, some of his accounts of Treblinka appear to be impossible. He supposedly saw things at times that they did not yet exist. His role in N.K.V.D. is not mentioned. He also (more understandably) elides the fact that he took some serious "short cuts" (wording from the introduction) in setting up his antique business.
   
   The thing is that as you read the book, there is something very implausible about the feel of the text. He does so much, accomplishes so much, and without the ordinary pacing of ordinary life that seems normal even in the most heroic of men. It is clearly so important to Gray to show that there were Jewish heroes during the Holocaust that it seems possible that he would be willing to stretch the truth in order to make his point.
   
   We will never know how much of For Those I Loved is truth. And that, it seems to me, is too bad. The crazy folks over at the revisionist extreme right have seized on the inaccuracies in Gray's book, and use them to attack other unimpeachable memoirs and accounts of the Holocaust. No matter how noble his mission was in the beginning, it is time for somebody to set the record straight. I personally suspect that the truth would be found to outweigh the lies, but then I generally have high hopes for people. Gray's passion and the strength of his life speaks to his essential sincerity.
   
   For Those I Loved was ghost written by Max Gallo.



5. If it's all a true account of Martin Gray's life experiences, then it's remarkable. If not, as the previous reviewer contends, then it's a shame. I found it an interesting read, giving it the benefit of any doubts. However, the writing is often redundant in it's expressions of despair. Without doubt, such experiences would be despairing, however the frequency of mentioning it is distracting. A long read but not too difficult to get through. A story of many, deep losses.

5 comments about American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party.

1. I enjoyed this book and felt it was a fair treatment of the subject. Dr. Simonelli is a highly respected historian and can be seen providing insight on networks such as The History Channel.
   
   I found that many of the other negative comments on this web site appeared bias to begin with.
   
   I would suggest reading the book and treating it as what it was meant to be. Overall 5 stars.



2. Not that the discerning reader can't get a lot of good info out of this book but it appears to me that the author went out of his way to portray Rockwell as a loser, a misfit, and someone in need of psychiatric care.
   
   Simonelli somehow managed to get access to much of Rockwells personal correspondences but it seems that he selectively used them to point out instances of turmoil and sadness in Rockwells state of mind. He especially uses Rockwells feelings of despondency about his wife, who was the daughter of the Icelandic ambassador to America, leaving him and taking their children back to Iceland with her. I don't think its a particuarly radical statement for me to say that feeling sad about losing your wife and kids is a sign of being normal. Simonelli somehow manages to twist this into an example of Rockwell being an insane loser.
   
   The other bio of Rockwell, Hate by William Schmaltz, is a far superior and unbiased account of GLR's life and highly recomended. However I can only recomend American Fuehrer to somebody who is researching Rockwell and knows how to read with a discerning eye.



3. Rockwell is another in a long line of haunted personalities mining the hatred of Jews for his own benefit. The same psychosis, blame the Jews and the Blacks for all the abuse he received as a child. Instead of facing his psychological problems, Rockwell scapecoated them and ended up being killed by one of this own supporters, a small band of latent homosexuals, who channelled all their fears and rage into hatred of minorities.

   But what is interesting is the man before me charges that the Jews control the media, and distort the news. How do they do this? Do they meet at a Chinese restaurant every Sunday to give out orders in controlling the world. Who is the top Jew? Larry King, Barbara Walters, Noam Chomsky, or maybe Michael Moore, who is really a Jew hiding his identity.

   If the Jews control the media, why is it everytime I pick up a paper I see favorable pictures of Palestinians, and unfavorable pictures of Israelis, even when they are innocent civilians riding in buses and eating in restaurants?

   Yes, there are a lot of Jews in the media, but when does that become a crime, and what type of personality, sees all Jews acting in a conspiracy?

   This is the same type of person who feels humiliated by anyone who is more talented and competent than him, a perpetually impotent type of personality who is looking for a rationale for his failure in life and love.

   The great crime of the Jew is that he has been successful, and to the perpetually impotent personality this is something that can never be forgiven. Personalities like Rockwell perpetually exploit this hatred, which is basically a hatred of life and love in all its forms. Their true focus is not the Jew per se, but all talent, all ability, all life-positive action.




4. Rockwell may have been the only hope to how our world became today.
   America no longer the same country it was say 30 years ago.
   mass non-white immigration from third world nations flooding America has taken away the spiritual beauty of this once proud land.Rockwell was our only hope.if he live today.the Nazi Party
   may have gotton a good start.Rockwell was indeed the Greatest man who walked this nation!



5. Simonelli's book has two main virtues. First, he had a great deal of access to Rockwell's correpondence and papers and quotes from it liberally. Second, he had a great deal of access to the files of Jewish organizations and individuals who opposed Rockwell.

   In spite of this wealth of primary sources, however, the book is disappointing and prefunctory. It seems that after all his archival sleuthing, Simonelli lost interest in his subject matter when he actually sat down to write the book. This leads to a distorted picture of Rockell's ideas and personality. A much fuller picture is found in the Schmaltz biography HATE.

   One case in point: Simonelli's discussion of the case against John Patler, Rockwell's convicted killer, leaves out crucial pieces of evidence, giving the impression that the case against Patler was weaker than it actually was. Then Simonelli goes on to air the conspiracy theories blaming Matt Koehl, William Pierce, and others for the murder. These may seem plausible to the reader only because the case against Patler is stated weakly. This is VERY MISLEADING and quite simply unjust.

   Simonelli actually does a better job of documenting how Jewish organizations first tried to terrorize and intimidate Rockwell, and then, failing that, resorted to a very successful press blackout to deny him publicity and prevent his ideas from being heard and debated. Simonelli demonstrates just how powerful the Jewish control over the media is, and how Americans are fed a version of reality that is distorted to protect and advance Jewish interests. This is a frightening thought, because if they did it then, they can do it now too.

   The bottom line: I recommend this book as a supplement to Schmaltz's HATE, but not as a substitute. If you read one book on Rockwell, read HATE.

3 comments about Sunken Red (Twentieth Century Lives).

1. The book starts where the mother of Jeroen dies. For years he has hated his mother and tries to explain why. This leads him back to the Japanese camp where he and his mom spend several years in torment when he was only 5 years old. In the beginning you think of Jeroen as a strange man, but while the story goes on you start to understand him more and more. The ending will move you to tears. This is my all time favorite book and I can recommend it to anyone.



2. Ce livre retrace la vie terrible dans les camps de concentration en Indonésie détenue par les Japonais.Cela vous arrache les entrailles;et à chaque page les larmes restent bloquées dans notre gorge devant le courage de cette mère face à ce destin inhumain. Il n'y a pas de partie pris car la cruauté en tant de guerre est partout la même.



3. Angoissant, fascinant, d'une beauté et d'une cruauté absolue. Comment la perte d'un être cher fait ressurgir dans la tête de l'auteur ses souvenirs (insoutenables) d'internement dans un camp japonais en Indonésie, et comment de ces souvenirs, l'homme nait au jugement de lui même, de sa famille (des pages magnifiques sur sa mère) et d'autrui. A lire absolument.

2 comments about My Tainted Blood.

1. The author grew up secretly Jewish in a Europe controlled by the Nazis. Only now, decades later, he writes about how it was for his alter ego (Horst)in this partly autobiographical story. He and his mother did finally make it to the USA after the war but by then he had grown almost to manhood. The story is a partly fictionalized window into his personality and the weird conditions of life during that time of turmoil and great personal danger. In real life, Mr. Kueter became a gourmet chef and for almost 30 years ran a restaurant in Maine specializing in continental cuisine - - an outcome foreshadowed in this tasty novel.



2. This is an extremely well-told story of a most unusual youth -- one Kueter spent hiding his Jewishness from the Nazis and from his neighbors in wartime Germany. In addition to the anxieties of being sent off to a concentration camp, there were the more everyday concerns of hunger, concerns Kueter attended to with a Robin-Hood-like panache. Robin Hood plus Reynard the Fox: those two role models helped the teenaged Kueter outwit the authorities and consistently provide food for an extended family. In addition to tales of derring-do, there are recipes that show that even as a boy, Kueter was already a chef/restaurateur-in-training. An unusual addition to wartime memoirs/Holocaust memoirs. This is a tale not to be missed.

1 comments about Ponary Diary, 1941-1943: A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder.

1. I've decided to read this book because I visited Vilnius (Lithuania) last month and there I visited the KGB museum. The museum is very impressive, but where it does show a lot of wrongs of the KGB (when the Soviets were in power in Lith.), it hardly mentions anything at all about the significant role local Lithuanians played in the Holocaust during WW II. I stumbled upon this title by surfing Amazon, and then decided to order it. The 'Ponary Diary' is hard to digest realy. It is an almost casual diary of a Polish journalist who lived in the area of the infamous killing fields of Ponary. What I found so hard to digest, is the matter-of-fact style in which the entries are written. There is no emotion whatsoever, Sakowicz could have been describing the local cattle slaugther-house. But maybe it is a good thing he writes in such a distanced way, so the facts (the things he actually witnessed with his very own eyes) don't get blurred. I'm glad I read this book, but I would not want to read it again. It is that hard to take. (What bothered me also a bit, was the fact that nothing was written by way of an epilogue, of what happened to those sadistic Lithuanian and German mass-murderers. They remain nameless and faceless for the most part).

1 comments about When Memory Comes (George L. Mosse Series in Modern European Cultural and Intellectual History).

1. April 2008 - I read this book when it was first published. A very beautifully written and translated memoire of a Jewish boy raised as a Catholic in order to save him from the Nazi death camps.