5 comments about The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World.

1. The Great Escape by Kati Marton. The book is about the lives of amazing Jewish Hungarians who fled Hitler and impacted the world. The character that I enjoyed reading about was Leo Szilard because he was one of the scientists that help create the atom bomb. The book also references the dramatic poem The Tragedy of Man by Imre Madach and showed that Leo Szilard could recite the poem word for word which I thought was Ironic because of the fact that Leo Szilard created a bomb designed to help stop Hitler and save many lives but instead caused enormous destruction.
   Leo Szilard had much compassion for mankind which is ironic because he creates a bomb capable of destroying lives. Although the creation of the atomic bomb was designed to aid the United States in gaining the upper hand in the war, it was used to kill many people. I believe there is a relationship between the bomb and the meaning behind the dramatic poem by Imre Madach. The bomb is the tragedy because although Leo Szilard created it to save mankind it was used to destroy it.
   Knowing this, Leo Szilard tries in the years later to save mankind. "His mission since reading The Tragedy of Man was to save humanity from self destruction." (Kati Marton, pg. 65)
   To save humanity from self destruction, Leo Szilard tries to get the brightest minds to concentrate on some sort of arms control. He had American and Soviet scientist meet face to face, an enormous accomplishment. He started the Council for a Livable World. This shows his compassion for humanity and life itself and shows how he wants to stop the tragedy of man he fears so much.
   Leo Szilards sincerity is what made Kati Marton's book a wondrous read. His sympathy for humanity since his read of the dramatic poem was inspiring. His honesty and the way he tried to do everything he could to stop the use of the atom bomb showed how compassionate Leo Szilard was. Kati Marton's book and the life of Leo Szilard was influential.



2. The Great Escape is a magnificent tale about finding one's self. It is a story about the trials and tribulations that immigrants must go through. America, the land of opportunities, is home to an array of many different cultures. It is the story of nine Jews who changed the world. The book, which is excellently written, focuses on the struggles that these nine Jews faced in achieving greatness. The 20th century underwent radical changes in almost every area of human endeavors. Nine men, however, were responsible for most of the advancements and everlasting recollections of it.
   The book is the story of nine men who grew up in Budapest's brief Golden Age, then, driven from Hungary by Hitler and his fascist party, fled to the West, particularly to the United States, and ultimately changed the world as we know it. These men were film directors, photographers, writers, physicists, and a computer pioneer that completely revolutionized the fields of science and art. But what can a scientist and an artist have in common? Well, besides changing the world, these men were outsiders in every aspect. As Arthur Koestler said, "Hungarians are the loneliest people on this continent." This was exceptionally true of these nine men, natives of a small, linguistically incomprehensible, landlocked country. They were also Jews living in a time of great anti-Semitism. Above all, what unites these nine men is a small, dynamic café by the name of New York. The New York, right in the heart of Budapest, was a refuge from the outside world for these men and the catalyst that sparked their creativity and mastermind thoughts.
   Kati Marton writes of the astounding lives of 4 scientists, Edward Teller, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, and John von Neuman, who helped pilot the nuclear age and the advancement of the computer. Marton also tells of the legendary photographers Andre Kertesz and Robert Capa, film directors Michael Curtis and Alex Korda, and writer Arthur Koestler. Their contributions are everlasting. Teller, Szilard, and Wigner's atomic bomb was one, if not the greatest, scientific advancement of the 20th century. Robert Capa's D-day photographs earned him his reputation as the best wartime photographer of all times. Curtis is accredited for one of best, most romantic movies of all times: Casablanca.
   Although The Great Escape is an account of the Hungarian diaspora of the 1920's and 1930's, it is an inspirational tale of hard work, perseverance, and the struggles of isolated, solitary refugees. The novel serves as an encouragement to all, especially immigrants. Given that the United States is primarily made up of immigrants, the novel serves to tell of the importance of such people. Immigrants are generally regarded as unworthy, serving no useful purpose. However, in The Great Escape we see that sometimes the outsiders are the ones that change the world.



3. I haven't read a book in about 6 months. It was a refreshing comeback with Kati Marton's The Great Escape. Her use of vivid imagery and lively characters paved the way for an interesting and enjoyable read.
   My favorite characters in the book reached the hearts of millions of people through art. Capa and Curtiz had me captivated from the moment my eyes caught their names. Before this book, I hadn't heard of either of them. Now, after reading it, I find myself intrigued enough to perform research on their works. I am partial to art over science, and so the invention of the h-bomb, though a breakthrough in science, didn't spark my interest as much as that of Capa's photographs and Curtiz's films.
   Marton had a way of enticing me to play a video in my head every time I turned a page. The idea of Budapest as this spectacular city and the New York Café as the center of the Universe probably caught my attention more that anything in the book. I am fully aware that the anti-semitism should promote a feeling of sympathy or anger in me. It should have touched my heart in some way. Yet, I was distracted by this amazing city in its thriving era. Every time I read about it, images of old-time café's and gentlemen dressed in tan-colored suits relaxing, watching one of Curtiz's films on a pull down screen or a blank wall seemed to dominate my though process.
   I envisioned Hollywood in its radiance. The huge studio complex of Warner Brothers, people rolling away sceneries, famous actors being chased by hair and make-up, directors shouting commands. As my eyes crossed every word, the more vivid the picture became. The stronger the smell of cigar smoke and freshly painted sets.
   The portrayal of Capa's adventures in photography were fascinating. The Normandy invasion, in its detailed clarity had me feeling the breeze of the ocean as the soldiers hit sand.
   Alexander Korda living above his means left a picture in my head of a man impeccably dressed even to sleep. A man seen holding his chin high, a scarf around his neck, a cigar in his had and the world in his palm.
   I found myself diving into every syllable of this book. It gave the effect of not only words on a page, but traveling through time, seeing history made through scientific discoveries and the foundation of today's artistic culture.



4. When I first read the title of the book, The Great Escape, I thought this was going to be another book regarding the hardships and struggles of Jewish people while Hitler was in power. However, shortly after reading the first few pages I could already notice that Kati Marton was about to prove me wrong, but in a good way. One of the reasons why I liked this book was because of Kati Marton's writing style. I found her writing style to be a bit confusing with all the jumping around between the nine characters and not being able to predict who she was going to write about next. For that reason, it was quite a challenge for me to try and keep up with each character and his story. This was a feat because their stories were written in fragments and would intertwine with the stories of other characters. However, I found this writing style interesting and intriguing because it did not follow the linear path of most books. Marton's writing style reminds me of how our minds work, jumping from one thought to the next. Therefore, I think Marton did an excellent job in writing about these nine characters in a unique manner, which is challenging, but imitates our everyday thought process.
   Once I got used to Marton's writing style, I was able to enjoy the individual stories better and really appreciate the boldness and strength of each character. I especially admire each of the characters for leaving his home country and starting new in a foreign place with nothing but experience. I also admire how they did not let these struggles hold them back in any way, but rather incorporated them into their works. Therefore, by including such inspirational and personal experiences, those who witness their works are greatly impacted. Moreover, Michael Curtiz, the film director, is the character that I find most intriguing and motivational. I admire how his passion and drive for film was so great that he would do anything to better his ability in this art. It amazes me how his fervor was so intense that he left his home and pretended to be a deaf-mute in order to learn more about the industry. Aside from his boldness, the thing that stands out to me the most about Curtiz is his approach to film making. I like how he not only incorporated his experiences into his movies, but also how he was spontaneous with the script. This spontaneity gives his movies a more real and life-like quality since he would adjust it as the cameras were rolling. Although his concept of filming might be unusual and at times stressful for everyone involved, I believe it reflects Curtiz's life and that of everyone else in having to adjust in the moment. One example of this technique is given by Marton with Curtiz's classic film, Casablanca. This film resembles Curtiz's life before fleeing Budapest and was reworked as it was being filmed, thus incorporating personal experience as well as spontaneity. Therefore, he appeals to me the most because he gives the impression that he lives in the moment, which inspires me to seize the day. Even though Curtiz is the person I enjoyed reading about the most, I found the other characters interesting as well along with Marton's unique writing style.



5. Many different types of people could relate to this book in various ways, whether you like photography, science, writing, films or even just reading. If you have gone through something difficult in your life and you felt that there was nothing left, this book might be able to provide you with the light you need in order to remember that anything is possible. Not only did Kati Marton do an amazing job with this book but she also did a great job in speaking out to her audience. The Great Escape is great for people who have faced a difficult moment in their lives.

2 comments about Modigliani: A Life.

1. Meyers provides a wonderful insight into the harsh world, both mentally and physically, of Modigliani (Modi) and the art scene at the turn of 20th C Paris. Along with the tortured world of Modi, Meyers also offers bios of Modi's contemporaries, art dealers and lovers...Soutine, Lipchitz, Brancusi, Utrillo, Derain, Picasso, Pascin, Gris, Severini, Kisling etc. And the lives of this lot wasn't all roses either, with a number of them coming to various grisly ends. However, many of them were to find varying degrees of fame during their lifetime. Alas for Modi that wasn't the case. Frequently on the verge of starvation, trading drawings for food, drink & drugs, suffering from tuberculosis, charismatic while sober, menacing while drunk, he wouldn't back down and subscribe to any one of the various "isms" that were currently rife in Paris. He knew he had a unique style lurking within and belligerently strove to expose it. African art had a huge impact on his final style. And even when he managed to sell a painting (often bought out of pity) he would only accept a couple of francs even though the buyer was offering more.
   
   As with most artistic tragedies, Modi was ahead of his time. Towards the end of his life his pictures sold for approx 150 francs. Ten years later those same paintings commanded 500,000 francs. And today they exchange hands at auction for tens of millions of dollars, making Modi's "unique" vision the most sought after compared with his contemporaries (Picasso aside).
   
   Meyers, through Modi and the other artists, provides good insight in to the squalid conditions that existed in Montmartre and Montparnasse. Modi's charm and good looks certainly made him a hit with the ladies. He had a string of lovers and fathered a number of children also. His last love, Jeanne, jumped to her death 2 days after his.
   
   The book is flawed by the short supply of photo's with only 23 works collected here, and they are in b&w. Throughout the book Meyers provides descriptions of many of Modi's works, but due to the scant selection provided I found myself looking elsewhere for images. "A picture is worth a 1000 words" is particularly apt here. Eventually, I found myself skimming over his descriptions as they were fairly arbitrary focusing on colours, body/head positions, which didn't lend anything to the story. I got the impression that maybe Meyers had intended to include a greater selection but possibly for cost cutting or copyright reasons that was curtailed close to publishing. Or he's just padding out the text. Also there appears to be one photograph and 1 painting that are titled differently to the text.
   
   This is the first book I have read on Modigliani so I cannot offer any comparison with other bio's available. I found it to be a good read. Meyers sews together the various aspects of Modi's life well. The writing style is straightforward compared with the convoluted writings that pervade art literature.
   
   Recommended.



2. I cried thinking of the tormented genius we all admired in the recent feature biopic Modigliani starring Andy Garcia. As Jeffrey Meyers points out in his workmanlike bio, Modligiani inspired at least five poems and nine novels, and also there was an earlier biopic which sounds terrific starring from 1958, directed by France's great cinema genius Hacques Becker. This film, Les Amants du Montparnasse, stars Gerald Philipe in the title role, and Lea Padovani (from CHRIST IN CONCRETE) as his leading lady, and of all people Lilli Palmer playing the very English Beatrice Hastings, while poor Anouk Aimee assigned to undergo the mist difficult of all the parts, poor doomed Jeanne Hebuterne. Can't wait to see this one on DVD!
   
   However until then cry your eyes out reading about how Modligiani, who came from the Italian-Jewish section of Livorno which also gave birth to many of Italy's greatest 20th century novelists including Primo Levi, soon became a master of painting, although he had only one one-person show in his entire brief life, and you could go to a box and buy one of his drawings for the equuvalent of 25 cents. Though some women thought him a great lover, Meyers hints that perhaps his circumcised penis caused him to "stand out" from other men in pre World War I France, and ceryainly his treatment of poor Jeanne, who loved him so much, was awful. He raped her on first meeting her and she had to beg a seamstress to sew up her underwear before she could return home to her parents. A painter herself, Jeanne had the strange, "Goth" look of one who has lived a long time in underground burrows like the Hobbits, and her yellow braids were pinned over her ears like earmuffs, or, some said, like microphones so she could spy on others more effectively. Modi was a terrible dad, and he wasn't very good about committing himself to others, but, as Meyers reveals, he was a very good painter, and he picked up poetry tips from another girlfriend, diva assoluta Anna Akhmatova.
   
   Meyers argues that his painting broke traditions of Jewish art by including pubic hair in his nudes of women. He is on shakier ground however in trying to determine which of Modi's paintings are authentic. It's shocking to see how much Modi's paintings have increased in value over the years. Rats ate a whole slew of his drawings, because they were stained with sausage crumbs and grease. Speculators had a field day, and forgers too. Women loved him and cried real tears when he died, only in his thirties, of painful TB, and poor doomed Jeanne tried to live without him for awhile, but she liked it not, and instead she jumped to her death within 48 hours of his funeral service.

5 comments about Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir.

1. Lillian Faderman writes an autobiography with an engaging and compelling style that easily pulls in the reader. She is technically the child of a Holocaust survivor, although her mother and aunt arrived before WWII, sent ahead to America (one presumes this is the Promised Land in Faderman's book title) by the family, to find work in America, sending money home, preparing the way for the rest of the family to eventually settle in America.
   
   Only that reunion never happened: all of Faderman's relatives perished in the Holocaust, and the rest of her mother's life was defined by survivor's guilt, a legacy of conflicting emotions that were inevitably passed on to the first generation of children born after the Holocaust. Lillian Faderman and others of her generation carried the burdens of the ghosts of the slaughtered, the relatives and loved ones who were killed before they were even born.
   
   Faderman's story goes beyond being Jewish: as the first-generation American child born to an immigrant, her experience is one that will speak to many, Jewish or otherwise, and it really is a classic story. The child of an immigrant garment worker, she grew up to live the American dream, getting a college education, eventually becoming a noted historian, textbook author and researcher. True life stories don't get any better than this one.



2. I savored every bit of this memoir. There are, sadly, so few really well-written lesbian memoirs. "Naked" is a terrific book and an engaging reading experience. I highly recommend it.



3. I wonder if other men love this book like I do. I loaned this book to someone then forgot whom I loaned it to. Doesn't matter. I've thought about this story a thousand times.
   
   I love my own mother deeply, tenderly, but if I could have chosen my own mother, notwithstanding some very tempting candidates out there, Lillian Faderman would have been numero uno. I'll say it. I'm a softie for strong character; people who have been dragged through the muck and not only survived, but emerged from the pure hell of life to bring honor to themselves and to those who have struggled for the right to their own dignity.
   
   I bought this book the first day it hit the shelf and read it from cover to cover and wished it would not end. I wanted to read it and I didn't want to read it because I've spent maybe two decades sculpting and perfecting this pedastal I've had Lillian Faderman on and I was worried that she would demolish it by turning out to be a prep school and legacy brat from the suburbs. No danger here.
   
   Everything I know about the real lives of lesbians I learned from Dr. Faderman and, I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd enjoy anything else after Maya Angelou's "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings." I read Radclyffe Hall's "The Well of Lonliness" and was sickened by it's twisted logic and it stamp of approval from kook psychologist Havelock Ellis. I thought Gertude Stein's "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" merited points for chutzpah. But Stein, Hall and Angelou are no Lillian Faderman.
   
   This book is rich with terror, heartbreak, despair, grief and finally - triumph. It's what "Brokeback Mountain" should have been rather than another story about how a homosexual dies or gets murdered in the end.
   
   I've changed my mind. It does matter. Whoever has my copy of this book - GIVE IT BACK !



4. By far, Lillian's best yet. Her previous writings were way too heady for me, but this one held my attention. For those looking for the juicy tidbits of Faderman's personal life, this book pretty much hits the spot. I am looking forward to the sequel -- this woman has much more to tell.



5. Ms. Faderman has always been an outstanding scholar, giving the academic and Lesbian worlds her well researched, and highly informative books about Lesbians and Lesbianism. She has also written other scholarly works that are highly recommended, if not a little heavy for most readers. In her latest venture, her memoir " Naked in the Promise Land", Ms. Faderman shows her readers another side of her makeup, her personal side. The Memoir is as interesting for what it reveled about Ms. Faderman's past life as well as what has been carefully left out. Readers may well have to wait for a bioghapher to tell the complete story of Lillian Faderman's life for it appears that she is willing to go only so far in its telling.
   What is also a point to note is the muse that Ms. Faderman has chosen to use. It defiantly is not the carefully structured formal English she used for her academic books, nor should it be. However, as a memoir it reads more like an Ann Bannon or Clair Morgan novel, and this, perhaps, is part of its charm as well as its draw.
   Finally, in the telling of part of her life story the reader is made aware that Ms. Faderman is a consummate actress. After all she studied hard to learn the techiques. As such, one has to wonder if what she has presented to the world after her "Sunset Strip" life, is nothing more than another act in one more carefully constructed costume.

3 comments about The Hidden Children.

1. 
   I just finished another book about the Holocaust that mentioned children being smuggled out of the Warsaw ghetto in backpacks and I wanted to hear more stories about how children survived the Holocaust.
   
   This book is considered juvenile non-fiction but the information is the same regardless of the reader's age. Howard Greenfeld does a very good job organizing the stories of children who were hidden during the Holocaust. He includes their stories in their own words as well as photographs of the survivors.
   
   A moving collection regardless of the reader's age.



2. I bought this book for my son, Jefferson, who is 9 years old. When I looked through it, I started reading it, and just couldn't put it down. It is a wonderful book, of hardships like we have never known before, and survival of a wonderful religion and people. We are not Jewish, but I enjoyed this book immensely, and will be reading other books by this author. This book is great for adults, really makes one appreciate all that we have in this country; freedom first and foremost. For children, it is a great book to teach about hardships and compassion for others, as well as understanding history and the second world war. A DEFINITE 5 stars from me.



3. This story is quite a good one. It's not one of my favorites but i've read it a couple times. It has lots of different people who contributed to it and it's sad and happy.

5 comments about Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family, Fatherland and Vichy France (Vintage).

1. Carmen Callil, the Australian author of Bad Faith and founder of Virago Press, began to see a psychiatrist in 1960 after a failed suicide attempt. She was referred to Dr. Anne Darquier in part because Dr. Darquier was part Australian, although born and raised in London. After a decade of three times a week sessions, Callil went to her appointment one day and the doctor was not in. Anne Darquier de Pellepoix (Calill saw her full name on her funeral program) had indeed committed suicide herself.
   
   Needless to say, when Callil saw this name while watching a television documentary about Vichy, France (Marcel Ophuls' The Sorrow and the Pity: The Story of a French Town in the Occupation) and knew this surname to be connected to an official of the Vichy government, she was intrigued. When this man was shown in the film "respectfully" greeting Rienhard Heydrich, the Nazi head of France's Reich Central Security Office, Callil knew there was a story to tell.
   
   Similar to Adolf Hitler, Louis Darquier was not the smartest or most motivated kid. While his bothers excelled in school and business, Louis spent a lot of time drinking, carousing, playing around, and then getting angry because his work wasn't getting done and his grades were bad or he wasn't making any money. As Callil shows, he married his Australian actress wife while she was still married to another man, and proceeded to physically and psychologically abuse her while they both stayed drunk most of the time and begged money from family. Like Hitler, who blamed the downfall of the German economy on the Jews, Louis Darquier blamed his own economic downfall on Jews who happened to do better business than he did.
   
   Men like Darquier bloomed during the occupation of France, collaborating within the Vichy government and drinking in as much power, wealth, and alcohol as humanly possible. Suddenly, stupidity was actually the rule of the day, and men like Darquier had the means to exact revenge on anyone they felt had wronged them in the past, especially if they happened to be Jewish.
   
   While Callil's research is impeccable and she approaches her subject with fervor, I could not share her excitement. Darquier is yet another stupid idiot who floated to the top of the heap when idiots ruled the world. Witness his treatment of his daughter Anne, raised by a nanny far away from home and never seen by her parents, who assumed that sending a teeny bit of money and asking for a photo once in a while constituted care. He apparently didn't even believe that Jews were being sent to die; he just wanted them out of his backyard and enjoyed the power conferred on him by the Nazis. It is even worse that he outlived his wife and daughter, moving to Spain where he died in 1980, denying the holocaust all the way.



2. Shortly after France surrendered to Germany in 1940, Louis Darquier, a captured French officer, was released from a prison camp. The Germans thought that Darquier, a professional anti-Semite, would be useful to them in occupied France.
   
   In the 1930s, Darquier had made a reputation in France as a participant in an anti-government riot, as a right wing, nationalistic politician and journalist, and as "Hitler's parrot" for crying "Bravo, Fritz!" after Kristallnacht when Hitler unleashed Nazi terror against Germany's Jews.
   
   In Vichy France, German's puppet state, Darquier was eventually elevated to the position of Commissioner of Jewish Affairs, a position in which he could put his anti-Semitic rhetoric into effect.
   
   Several strands run through Carmen Callil's very interesting book. The main strand traces Louis Darquier's life before and after the point where "he could be paid by the Vichy state as well as the Germans to rid France of its Jews" while also getting his long dreamt of "public recognition, power, honor and acclaim."
   
   In the period before Vichy, Darquier had adopted himself to a French political landscape saturated in anti-Semitism. Callil is very good at describing the far right, anti-Semitic political milieu in 1930s France. It was a time when right wing groups were "like squabbling soldiers ignoring the enemy and turning upon each other in the trenches, they argued and disagreed and fought each other with words and fists and with their little newspapers." Initially aligning himself with royalist and French fascist Charles Maurras, Darquier eventually found his own place on the anti-Semitic right that detested the government of the Jewish and socialist Prime Minister Léon Blum.
   
   It is Callil's assertion that Generals Pétain and Weygand, who were called to lead France in the war against Hitler, shared this hatred and surrendered to the Germans because they "viewed a good portion of (their) countrymen and women as unworthy of defense." The new national revolution that Pétain intended to make under the auspices of the Germans gave Darquier and his ilk their moment.
   
   Although Darquier held power of life or death over French Jews, he seems to have wanted his position more to preen and to enjoy himself than to exercise those powers. Callil writes that the Germans always underestimated the extent of Darquier's allergy to work and notes that he was one of the few people who gained weight during the war. As depicted, Darquier was a loudmouth, a bully, a liar and a ranting anti-Semite. He was also extremely lazy and inefficient at his job as well as greedy. When he actually was in his office and not at a bar, Darquier would sign arrest warrants for Jews, though not for Jews who could pay him a nice sum. It was men like Rene Bousquet, Vichy's Secretary-General for the Police, who really did the dirty work for the Nazis in occupied France.
   
   As said before, the main strand of the book is Louis Darquier and his nastiness. Callil also tells the story of Louis' marriage to an Australian, Myrtle, an alcoholic who had a life-long loyalty to Louis. More important to Callil is the story of their daughter Anne whom Louis and Myrtle abandoned in Britain and who grew up to be Callil's psychiatrist and friend. Anne's unhappy life and early death inspired Callil to write this book, but the best part of the book is about Louis who survived his wife and daughter to die in Spain in 1980.
   
   In one scene in Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg makes a little girl wearing a red coat stand out in the midst of a crowd fleeing and hiding from the Nazis. In same way, Callil focuses on one man in the tumult of the thirties and in Vichy's "renewal of France." The background of Darquier's life is French, despite the shifts in scene to Australia, Britain and Spain. Darquier is there when France goes to war in 1914, disintegrates politically in the 1930s, and collapses in 1940. Of the war years, Callil writes:
   
   "In one sense the years 1940 to 1944, for the French people, had little to do with the world war raging outside their occupied territory, but much to do with what the French did to the French, and how they ended the long civil war which had begun with the revolution in 1789."
   
   Watching Darquier thrive in those awful years is to come closer to understanding how France came to that ending.



3. After reading 400+ pages I don't feel that I truly know the full extent of Louis Darquier as an individual. I have no doubt that this book was expertly researched but it left me feeling that I understood Vichy, Louis Darquier, collaboration, etc. on the surface but without the insight I would expect from a book of this length. The exploration of French anti-Semitism and Catholicism before the war is the only aspect of the book that comes across as truly 3 dimensional. I learned a lot from this book but it leaves me looking for other sources that will take me deeper into these people, institutions and times.



4. This is very scholarly book but never boring. It is a fascinating look at an evil man. I was sad to come to the end of it, I enjoyed it so much.



5. Fascinating as a history of anti-Semitism in France. The author, however, is off-putting in the first section of the book. So much time and space is evoted to the family background in Australia, and the detail is so involved, that there is a temptation to put the book down and forget about it. But skip through this intial section and it becomes more and more revealing and exciling and gruesome as we learn of this wretched bunch of French fascists fighting among themselves to rid their country of a tiny minority on whom they blame all their social ills. Stanly B. Dickes

No comments about Angel Girl (Carolrhoda Picture Books).

5 comments about An Uncommon Friendship: From Opposite Sides of the Holocaust.

1. Friendship comes in many forms, and that relationship between Bernie and Fritz, from different sides, Jewish and Christian, of the deep divide of WW2, is a marvelous testimony to "friendship". The only bitter-sweet moment was when I realized that Bernie had given up his religious beliefs in his "americanization". His children were not raised as Jews; another generation lost to the Holocaust, as much as the six million were.
   
   I first saw this book when a seat mate on a flight was reading it. He praised it, so I ordered it. The book was well worth the praise.



2. In a world with a lot of open wounds in need of healing, "An Uncommon Friendship" helps bridge former sins and ongoing roots of bitterness to establish a world pregnant with new beginnings--every day. This book shows that other options are possible beyond the labels of cultural bigotry. When properly understood and appropriated, understanding and forgiveness are seldom far apart in life-giving relationships.

   Recently we came in contact with a person who has such a high disregard for Germans. If only they knew and understood the rich heritage German culture has also given as a gift to the New World of new beginnings.




3. I was very impressed with this book; for such a difficult subject it was beautifully written. I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Israel, and though the documentation there is quite graphic and disturbing, the voice of the child in Bernie, and the voice of the child on the other side in Fritz, completes a picture that is enlightening, but reveals a picture that no one wants to believe. It seems to me that is often the way people have dealt with this very terrible time, and the authors are very brave to tell this story. I think this book should be required reading for all college students.



4. The two authors of the book just visited my school today, and told me and the other students their stories. Bernat Rosner went to my school, Thomas Jefferson School, and he even mentions and has pictures of it in the book. I've yet to read it, but I'm eagerly anticipating it. Their stories are so touching, and I feel so honored to have met these two men. Also to have had a man as interesting as Bernie Rosner go to my school in 1950, it's just so amazing. They are very interesting people, and there's just so much more I could say, but this review would unfortunately become boring. I strongly suggest that everyone should read this book, the authors have two great stories to tell.



5. Each memoir is important in adding to the historical record of this terrible period, and this book adds a considerable dimension with the authors shared as well as separate memories and their astute and insightful analyses of every aspect of their experiences. By the time I finished reading this book, I felt I knew both authors well and also many of the people who surrounded them over the years. I hope the book is widely read and given a place of honor in Holocaust literature. It deserves deep attention by scholars and general readers and seems eerily prescient, too, in light of September 11th, and its concern for the horrors our species can inflict on its victims. If I were still writing book reviews, this book would be a prime choice for me. It deserves all the notice in print it can get.

2 comments about Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Jewish Community.

1. The release of this book, which is a well-documented look at the interesting relationship between Martin Luther King and American Jews, is quite timely and appropriate. In these early days of the millennium, Black-Jewish relationships seem to currently be on the mend from the low points of the 1990s, and books like this may help in the recovery process. Also quite well written with some little known information and rarely-read speechs by MLK on Black-Jewish realtions.



2. You mean blacks and Jews did not all walk hand-in-hand during the Fifties and Sixties, even though nearly 70% of white Freedom Riders were Jewish? You mean not everyone prayed with their feet like Rabbi Heschel in Selma? You're telling me that president of the UAHC, leaders in social action, was forced by his members to withdraw an invitation to King to speak at the group's 1959 convention in Miami? Did the Reverend James Bevel, a leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Selma, Ala., actually wear a kippah (freedom beanie) at his rallies and it protected him from the sheriffs? In this book, Rabbi Schneir tells us the story of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King's support for human and civil rights for Jews, his use of the Jewish experience in his speeches, and his call for the Baptists to stop trying to convert Jews. He also tells us the story of Jewish avid support of and reluctance to support King's movement. Rabbi Schneir, the son of Rabbi Arthur Schneir of Manhattan's Park East Synagogue, is a rabbi, founding rabbi of the West Hampton Synagogue, planner of the Palm Beach Synagogue, force behind a new cross-denominational rabbinical assembly, leader of the New York Board of Rabbis, President of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and member of the NAACP. Schneier is quite frank, and includes the wariness of some supporters of the far-left-wing Jews in King's entourage. He also discusses King's attitudes toward Israel, Zionism, militarism and the Six Day War. By the way, while King may have been dis-invited to a convention in 1959, by 1968, when King spoke at the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly's convention, he was greeted by over a thousand rabbis singing "We Shall Overcome" in Hebrew. King was planning to join Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel's family for a Pesach seder in 1968, but was assassinated before he could.

3 comments about Hidden on the Mountain: Stories of Children Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon.

1. This non-fiction book is a unique collection of real-life accounts from individuals who as children were sheltered during the Nazi era in the mountains of Southern France in a town called Le Chambon. This work is quite admirable, as individuals interviewed recall their experiences in journal form. The stories attest to the heartbreak and the realistic dangers of the times, but provide an added sense of hope and an appreciation for those who rose up against evil. Each entry is followed with an epilogue that gives the reader the satisfaction of knowing what has become of each child. The stories are not without pain and great loss, but what shines through is the righteousness of the citizens of La Chambon. The Jewish children who were sent to La Chambon, a Protestant community, were separated from their parents. In the face of trauma, the children were warmly welcomed into their new community. The children attended school, worked on farms, and participated in activities with other children. The uniqueness of La Chambon was in the sense of duty the entire community had in protecting the Jewish children. Many of the individuals discuss their Judaism, including the struggle to make sense of their religious identity. The "Note to Readers" in the beginning of the book, clearly details the research process and the care taken by the authors to share these stories with authenticity. The authors' passion for the project is felt throughout the book. For ages 11- 16.



2. I just chanced upon this remarkable book: Hidden on the Mountain by Deborah Durland DeSaix and Karen Gray Ruelle: Stories of Children Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon. The authors spent four years finding and interviewing people, who as children and youth were protected during WWII by this community. They have then masterfully proceeded to tell their stories.
   
   Le Chambon is a mountainous region of France inhabited by Huguenot Christians. These people, many poor farmers, opened their homes and supported three children's homes for children needing safe haven during WWII. Many of these children were Jews. They are credited with saving at least 3,500 Jews as well as about 1,500 other refugees.
   
   In addition to the memories of the children and youth, the book includes a detailed time line of events of the war; numerous pictures of the children, people, and places mentioned in the book; a glossary; index; maps; and informative chapters about the war, the region, and its people.
   
   This book was written for children and is exactly what I am looking for to share with my children, ages 10 and 13, as we study WWII.



3. This book is geared for preteens and reflects absolutely accurately the interviewees' stories. We can attest to it, because we were there and are written up in the book. To this day, the people of Le Chambon do not understand why they are going down in history because "they only did what was right". This book is definitely worth reading.
   Hanne & Max Liebmann

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.