1 comments about Simon Wiesenthal: A Life in Search of Justice.

1. This is an excellent story about the life of Simon Wiesenthal. This fine book takes you through Wiesenthal's mission in life to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. You are shown the time that he spent in a concentration camp up until the present.You are also given the inside look at some of the cases he dealt with in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice.This is avery good book about the life of Simon Wiesenthal.

No comments about Simons Says: Faith, Fun, and Foible : Selections from His Writings and Talks.

4 comments about Off-White: a memoir.

1. Laurie Gunst's book takes you inside the world of the country-club South and gives a unique portrait of the "upstairs/downstairs" relationships. Her topic is supposed to be race. She provides a compelling account of her relationships with the blacks in her life, and how she has won her struggle to create human relationships that overcome the distortions prescribed by society. But I also found the work very powerful in talking about the hidden intensity of surrogate mothering -- in her case, the black caregiver who was emotionally available to her in ways that her biological mother could not be. There are passages of great beauty in the writing, as well as painfully honest self-examination. This is not a perfect book, but it is brave, admirable, and unfortunately still necessary in a society that continues to take comfort in certain forms of self-deception.



2. as a young southern "christmas tree jew", i found this book to be touching, and sad. as someone who did not feel the direct sting of jim crow and still seeing the ghost of it everywhere, i thought the story of the 'unsavory grandfather' fascinating. the duality and doubly binded mentality is examinined, tho not as thoroughly as i would have liked it to be in her later years. i think gunst's story is triumphant in many ways, and what my hope for it is is, not to piss off black folks (which i am sure it will) but to make white folks think about their own relationship with their own whiteness in the world. i think this book is a good tool to educate and open discussion - the childhood memories (mythic thought) and adolescent (romantic) are honest and true and well written. however, in the end, in adult life, she does not quite make it to the higher level of thinking (philisophical). she is on the cusp. i felt certain questions were unanswered, for fear of failing to do so. maybe her next novel will cover that one. maybe it will only raise more questions. i liked this book. it's gutsy.



3. This is just more mammy business. If you're white, you're white. Period. Nobody knows or cares about what went on in your house or wherever. This is America, and you're American, and you're white. That means racist.
   Stop trying to act like you're better than everybody else.



4. Somewhere between the harsh lines of black and white lie the inevitable shades of gray, as Laurie Gunst so adequately describes in her memoir, OFF-WHITE. Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, Gunst formed a strong bond with not only her nanny and caretaker Rhoda, but with all of the faces of color that shared her life.
   
   Already marked different because of being Jewish, Gunst felt her insides were different as well. In many ways, she saw herself as a white face with a black psyche due to her family's racially liberal ideals and her environment. She was the surrogate child of many African-Americans who were not only workers in her family's wealthy home, but also genuine adopted family members. She takes her readers on an identity pilgrimage throughout her childhood and adult years, adventures at Harvard and in Jamaica, and climaxing with the search for ancestors of both blood and spirit.
   
   While I thought OFF-WHITE started out a little slow, once I got to know the cast of characters in Laurie Gunst's life, I was smitten, intrigued, and enthralled with every last one of them. Gunst's writing is pensive and reminiscent without being too philosophical or academic. While the prose is certainly intelligently written, it was done so in a way that I felt she was telling me a story rather than relating mundane facts. Valuable lessons and awakenings abound in Laurie Gunst's memoir, and I am glad I got to know her and the people who touched her life.
   
   Reviewed by CandaceK
   of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

5 comments about Lord Will Gather Me In: My Journey to Jewish Orthodoxy.

1. I first became aware of David Klinghoffer when I saw articles by him on the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion." I appreciated his comments and wanted to read more by him. So, I picked up this book.

   I have mixed feelings about it. At times I got the strong sense that someone had informed the author at some point in his life that he was brighter than other people and that he didn't need to do the same intellectual work that others do. Further, I got the impression that, thanks to that perception, the author is a bit contemptuous of other people and a bit lax in presenting the facts.

   I don't mean to make ad hominem attacks on this author, but if my perception is correct, it is unfortunate. Klinghoffer writes about Judaism and Christianity and troubled interactions between the two faiths. This interface is of world importance. One must be very circumspect when addressing these issues. For this reader, Klinghoffer was not adequately circumspect.

   An example of intellectual laxity: Klinghoffer claims that Paul converted to Christianity from Judaism because he did not want to, or could not, follow Torah. This statement alone renders every reported fact in Klinghoffer's entire book suspect.

   People who know nothing else about Paul often know that he converted as a result of one of the most famous conversions experiences in history. Paul's dramatic conversion is so famous that "road to Damascus" has become a phrase to describe a conversion experience of any kind, Christian or non-Christian, indeed, religious or secular.

   Too, Klinghoffer implies that Catholics sing "Deutschland Uber Alles" as part of the mass. I'm a lifelong Catholic and I've never heard the German national anthem sung during mass. There is a Christian hymn that uses the same music, but I've never heard that in mass, either. Klinghoffer never makes any of this clear, which is unfortunate, given one incorrect current trend that equates Christianity with Nazism.

   Klinghoffer is no kinder, in some ways, to Judaism. His description of a synagogue bar mitzvah in Los Angeles where rude Jews speak at football-stadium volume while a rabbi inveighs against evil "Goyim" creates, however inadvertently, a negative stereotype of Jews. This may be an accurate description of a real service, but it was not presented with enough context to render this passage comprehensible as anything other than an anti-Semitic caricature.

   An example of the author's condescension is the misogynist way he discusses his Catholic girlfriend, Maria. Three times when talking about her, he says, "Women cry so easily." When Maria creates something artistic, the author describes her as "adorable" in a very condescending way.

   Also, as a person of faith who struggles with the misogyny and homophobia in my own faith tradition, I found Klinghoffer's attempts to explain away the Levitcal association of menstruating women with abomination not at all convincing, and his association of homosexual love with death to be truly alienating.

   In short, Klinghoffer works too hard to make God -- or our human understandings of God -- rational. In general, this reader was uncomfortable with Klinghoffer's tendency to set Judaism and Christianity against each other as if they were horses competing in a race. Certainly, Klinghoffer himself set these two traditions in competition with each other when he was deciding, like the nuns in "Sound of Music" how to solve the problem of Maria, his Catholic lover, but the stance of competition is not the happiest one for Judaism and Christianity to be assuming vis a vis each other right now. Rather, the two faiths had better learn to coexist.

   On the other hand, this book offers truly precious moments that make up for the book's failings. At times the author loses his arrogance, his lax hold on important facts, and his contempt, and he writes of his own experiences from his own heart, and it is at those moments that this book is most valuable. When the author is most himself, and most vulnerable, he is the most powerful as a writer.

   When the author, early on in the book, compares Judaism's appeal to him with the appeal a sunken ship holds for an explorer, his writing reaches its poetic height. When the author confesses that Catholic Maria married someone else and has children, and, yet, when he sees her, his former love for her seems to hover in the air as an almost palpable presence, when the author admits his yearning for his roots, biological or spiritual (the author was an adoptee), the sensible reader will not be able to avoid being moved, being taught, and being changed.

   Too, at other times, Klinghoffer does a good job of presenting key facts. He is entirely correct in telling Maria that Jesus did not fit every model for a Messiah as presenting in Jewish scripture.

   This reader hopes that Klinghoffer will continue to write in a confessional, memoirist vein, which was his strength here. This reader further hopes that Klinghoffer will sharpen his fact checking skills, and consider the impact of episodes like his description of his visit to the LA synagogue, and place such episodes in some illuminating context, if he does use them. This reader also hopes that Klinghoffer will lead with what he revealed here as his greatest strength -- reporting with courage and honesty his own unique experiences.




2. An illustration of the highly personal nature of religious experience. If you have struggled to relate the scripture of a spiritual tradition to your life there is something to appreciate here, but not the insight that one might be hoping for.



3. I spent the better part of a Shabbos afternoon poring through this book at my local Barnes & Nobles. Rarely have I considered a book a greater waste of time than this one.

   I hoped that, in reading the story of a fellow convert, I might develop a better picture of the Orthodox community than I have developed over the past three years. Instead, what I found was worthless, self-centered drivel by a man far too ignorant to teach anything useful about Judaism.

   I was disappointed that this book relied so heavily on anecdotal evidence (the behavior of certain Reform Jews in Beverly Hills, his bad experience with a gay friend who considered him "intolerant" and "uncompassionate"). As another reviewer has already pointed out, I could match him point for point in some of my experiences with Orthodox people.

   My most intense reaction to this book, however, was stark disbelief that someone as intelligent as Klinghoffer could be fooled by some of the bad logic he presents in this book. Every argument Klinghoffer makes regarding the need to believe in the divine authorship of the Torah and the Talmud I could refute on simple basic logic. His argument that, without the Oral Law, we could not know what God meant when God said to "afflict [our] souls" on Yom Kippur is particularly ludicrous. Klinghoffer simply assumes that this must refer to some clearly stated ritual action or actions, and endeavors to show us that--TaDa!--the Talmud lists what these actions are. It never occurs to him that this might refer to an inner state one is supposed to achieve, and that how a particular person achieves this state is up to him. (And believe me, I've met some people who don't or can't fast on Yom Kippur but have definitely found other ways to "afflict their souls").

   The only reason I don't give this book one star (or zero) is that it helped me realize how far I've come in my Jewish journey, seeing that I could refute all of Klinghoffer's bad theology on logic alone.




4. Kudos to the 'reader' from North Brunswick NJ for his observations. Just to briefly give some detail to his comments: regarding Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith "to which every Jew must assent," no less an (Orthodox) authority than Nachmanides (the Ramban) takes issue with the 7th principle, that Moses' level of prophecy exceeds that of all others. See "Kitvei Ramban" (ed. Chavel) page 322/323, where after discussing the relative insight of Abraham, Moses and the angels, Ramban states that Mashiach will have a fuller understanding of God than them. Ralbag (Gersonides) states a similar opinion. Regarding the 8th principle, that the Torah we have today is exactly what Moses received, although the transmission process has been meticulous, there are many traditional (orthodox) sources that acknowledge that this may very likely not be the case. Tractate Soferim in the Babylonian Talmud makes references to variant readings, the Midrash in Bamidbar Rabba "describes" a visit to Ezra the scribe by Elijah the prophet where the nekudot (dots over the Masoretic Hebrew text) are characterized as signs pointing out words/letters of "questionable" authenticity. One can also mention the phenomenon of Ketiv u'Keri (words spelled one way in the Torah, yet pronounced differently) as reflecting some uncertainty in the text. Although it is a mitzvah (commandment) for one to write for himself a Torah scroll, the halacha (law) is that the scribe does not make a blessing prior to writing precisely due to the uncertainty of the text. Maimonides himself is known to have searched extensively for an "accurate" text of the Torah. His eight principle is believed to have arisen as a polemic to the masses, who were being accused by their Islamic neighbors that Jews had changed/falsified the Torah. This is an example of what he termed "necessary opinion" as opposed to a "correct opinion." Even Rashi, who no one as of yet has accused of not being Orthodox, seems to have a version of the Torah with an extra letter "vav" that does not appear in our text in parashat Teruma. As regards the Oral Law, the very existence of Machloket (differences of opinion) among the sages suggests that, yes, while the Torah and much of what is embodied in the Talmud is of Sinaitic origin, once it was given to Man, it became vulnerable to human imperfection in the process of transmission ("Lo bashamayin Hee" - the Torah is not in heaven)



5. This book is the story of a very personal journey of identity and authenticity. It contributes to the multicultural understanding of modern America. I could not always understand the author's sentiments and emotions, but I do not doubt his sincerety. It certainly caused me to question whether I have been true to, and sufficiently respectful of, my own race - the author's emphasis on the need for authentic expression of one's bloodline is compelling.

2 comments about Return to Naples: My Italian Bar Mitzvah and Other Discoveries.

1. The author takes us on a journey of personal discovery while entertaining us with the idiosyncrasies of Naples.



2. author robert zweig reminds all of us how our simple and beautiful childhood memories could affect our life forever. this book is a wonderful read for everyone for all ages.

3 comments about The House at the Bridge: A Story of Modern Germany.

1. The property is located in Potsdam. It was the summer house of the Wallichs. After reunification the house still stood. Hermann Wallich had been a banker and an assimilationist. By 1911 the fortune of the Wallichs was thirty one million reichmarks.
   
   Hermann's son Paul and his daughter-in-law became enchanted with the house at Potsdam. During World War II the house served as a library for the Nazis and later as a hospital for wounded Russian soldiers. Paul Wallich committed suicide in 1938. The house was in the Russian sector. During the war three servants stayed in the house. Afterwards, in East Germany, the remaining servant was ordered to leave.
   
   Next the house was used as a kindergarten, such use lasting for some forty years. There were five day a week boarders, the children of socially irresponsible citizens. After the wall went up, the director of the kindergarten began to scheme to leave the country. In 1961 barbed wire went up, seemingly overnight.
   
   The bridge, the Glienicke Bridge, near the house became famous for the exchange of spies. The bridge had first gone up in 1660. Structures near the house were torn down to give the guards a better view in the border zone. The East German childcare system became vast as childbirth was encouraged and it was necessry for mothers to work.
   
   The books shifts its focus from the kindergarten director to a young teacher, Ulrike. Ulrike was friends with Wolfgang, a Marxist dissident who followed a sort of socialist third way. (In East Germany a third of the citizens had Stasi files.)
   
   The night the wall fell Ulrike and her husband were at home with friends playing Irish music. The following day Ulrike walked to her school amid euphoric people. Afterwards the first few weeks were dreamlike. Ulrike and her husband visited the West. Reunification took place in October 1990. Earlier there was a currency union. There were Trabi jokes. Ossies and Wessies were not getting along with each other.
   
   Return of property became a central and contentious debate after unification. Claims started to arrive by the tens of thousand for property lost between 1933 and 1945. What belonged to whom became a matter of central importance. One of the Wallich sons, Henry, had been at Yale and had been on the Federal Reserve Board. His daughter, Christine, was interested in the house at Potsdam. Land registries became artifacts of a capitalist past in East Germany after 1950. The Nazis had kept meticulous records of the deportation of Jewish families.
   
   There were very old trees on the property of the Potsdam house. A scholar sought information on the gardens' original design. The scholar of landscape architecture found the plans of Gustav Meyer. Dirk Heydemann published a one hundred fifty page paper on the garden's design. The Wallich heirs did get their property returned to them. The house is in a state of extreme disrepair. The Wallichs are considering offers to sell the property to developers. The go-go time of real estate fortunes in the early nineties in the vicinity of Berlin has passed.



2. If you're interested in getting to the belly of the beast, in this case, the finger-nail crud of unification, look to Katie's absolutely bottom-line insights into the east German perspective. The house is still there, hard by the two-taxi stand as you come across the bridge, ironically just down the wooded lane from where they signed the Potsdam Agreement, and, in its crumbling, grafitti-stained magnificence, it can be seen, if you wish, as some sort of symbol, of what's gone wrong, and what's gone right. with the "new" Germany. The book tells a wonderful tale of brick and mortar and the dreams and ambition it contained. Rarely does the door to a complex turning open so joyously and so widely. Read it and learn how it is.



3. Having lived in Germany before, during and after the wall went down,
   The House At The Bridge encapsulizes succinctly the emotions of change
   that I, and others, saw and felt during Germany's paradigm shift of
   politics and society. This story isn't just about a house, but of
   families and a country in transition. Ms. Hafner cleverly uses the
   house as a common thread to tell the history behind the house's
   inhabitants and the political changes that effected them. The
   comparisons between (former) East and West Germany are poignant and
   real. Any history lover, travel buff or architect(professional or
   amateur) will be pleasantly surprised by the story this house tells.

2 comments about Who Were the Magi?.

1. This book is of extraordinary quality. The stunning artistry and literary attention to detail is breathtaking, and you won't want to put the book down. From the first page, you are drawn into a rich and vibrant account that will inspire, instruct and encourage!



2. I am excited about this book because it was written in love and in a differnt light than we are used to seeing. I couldn't put the book down after I started reading it as it grabbed my curiousity and interest as I have never heard why or how the Magi came to visit baby Jesus. Although the book may appear to reach a younger audience it held my attention as well as I feel it would to a younger audience. Great job!

2 comments about The Abbé Grégoire and the French Revolution: The Making of Modern Universalism.

1. The Abbe Gregiore is one of the most controversial figures in the French revolution. He was an ardent revolutionary and argued viciously against the continuation of slavery. His ideals were tied with the Caribbean and what happened domestically in France. For those looking for a book that will help explains the problems of the enlightenment and how they relate to the French revolution this is a good place to start. This is not a book for beginners and some knowledge of the Caribbean and the French Revolution are necessary. Sepinwall also adds an interesting idea on what biography should be although falls back into her own trap by the end of the book. For those studying the French Revolution this is a great book to add.



2. Superbly written and extremely well-researched, Sepinwall's book examines an interesting and somewhat unusual figure from the period of the French Revolution. Virtually unknown in the US, the Abbe Gregoire remains somewhat of a hero in, of all places, Haiti. As a comparitively liberal clergyman, Gregoire supported unpopular goals, even for the French revolutionaries, including rights for women, blacks and Jews. However, Sepinwall skillfully describes and explains the many contradictions in his beliefs including the idea that the previously mentioned groups were in some ways inferior to the white, Christian male. Unlike many of his peers, on the other hand, Gregoire also believed that women and minorities were not genetically or inherently inferior, but could be "brought up" to the level of French Christian males through conversion and education. His support for the Haitian Revolution also showed that he bravely followed his convictions despite the unpopularity of the causes. Sepinwall's book does not only follow the life of a great, but virtually unheard of man, it also examines the French Revolution from the points of view of women and minority groups that have been generally ignored by other French historians until recently. Also important, Sepinwall provides some background to the Haitian Revolution, which helps American readers to better understand that country's history and how it was unable to develop despite its democratic goals and values. Sepinwall's Gregoire is both a man of his times and a man who transcends time in that he is saddled with many of the preconceived notions of race, religion and womanhood, yet was not afraid to think and speak for himself and against the norm if he felt injustice was being done, often at risk of his own life. Alyssa Sepinwall's book about the Abbe Gregoire teaches us much about our history, but it tells us even more about ourselves, our times, and what it means to be a 'great' person. Though Dr. Sepinwall is a professor of Modern French History who generally writes for an academic audience, this is one of the few scholarly books that is very readable and accessible to the general public. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, biographies, or just a really good read.

5 comments about Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust.

1. A gentile is defined as one who helped many innocent Jewish people during the time period when Nazi power took over during the Holocaust.  Rescue the novel written by Milton Meltzer is a touching story of how many brave gentiles tried to save the lives of those who were looked down apon, such as the Jews during the Holocaust. Many of the gentiles took the Jews into their homes, at risk they may too be caught. These gentiles spent much money and time on hiding these Jews. These gentiles exceeded the meaning of a hero. Through the book I got a personal understanding of how heroic these people were, and at how much they put themselves at risk. The book was extraordinary and helped the reader understand much of what was going on in the lives of the people who weren't Jewish, and how much they really did try to do to help their Jewish friends and neighbors.  I feel this book was worth while reading, and I really enjoyed this piece of literature. The theme of  a hero is seen throughout the novel in various ways.
   The story takes its position at the beginning of the book explaining to the reader the start of the Holocaust and how it came to be. As the reader reads further on the author starts to discuss the significance of the many people who helped save lives during this harrowing time. The first hero that is introduced to us in the book is Maria von Maltzen. Maria took in Hans Hirschel. Hirschel was a forty year old Jew who went into hiding in 1942. Hans called Maria, Marushka. Marushka was a countess whom loved Germany but despised the Nazis. Soon to prove she greatly opposed what the Nazi's were doing she met up with Hans and took him into her flat. Marushka and Hans suffered many times through out the book, but Marushka kept her head high during all the tragic events. This act of courage demonstrated that these gentiles were indeed heroes and that they put themselves at risk.
   Another section in the story that an act of courage is demonstrated is in the story of Carola Sapetowa, a Christian villager.  Carola worked for a Jewish family by the name of the Hochheiser's. When the Nazi's invaded Poland Mr. Hochheiser was shot, his wife and children were placed in a ghetto. When the day came and that ghetto was being emptied and its prisoners were being taken to the concentration camps, Carola waited outside of the ghetto gate and took the two Jewish children, whom she had earlier on worked for home with her. There she fed them and gave them a place to stay. This act of courage once again portrays the kindness of these gentiles and the heart they had to move on in life and help those around them.
   One of the most successful families of all was the Dane family. The Danes all in all transferred 8,000 Jews across to Sweden to safety. The Dane's successfully accomplished this by out smarting the Nazi's at their expense. If a gentile were ever caught he would be killed in the public or just shot right when the Gestapo men had found Jews in hiding. The Dane family put much at risk to save these Jew's but never once lost hope. They were determined they could over come the evil and help save innocent people. This act will forever be remembered. The tragedy that this novel showed to us must never happen again and these many gentiles were here to prove that they didn't accept what was going on, and that they would do anything to stop it.
   I feel that this novel was very persuasive. It used many literary techniques to help the reader comprehend what was going on. The novel gave back round information and used first hand documents to describe one of the worlds most unforgettable time periods. This book adequately prepared the reader in the beginning about what this book was going to be about and didn't allow the reader to enter the book blindly.  This book was excellent I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a touching story. The book is open to all audiences and the language is used in an appropriate manner to express its point. The book was marvelous and really got one to understand the true meaning of the gentiles.



2. When  you think of the word "Holocaust", a horrific image of Hitlers Nazis persecuting Jews for their faith comes to mind.  This, of course, was the case in Nazi-controlled Europe during the forties, however, Milton Meltzers Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved the Jews in the Holocaust offers a new light to such a dark topic.  The Nazi attempt to "eliminate", or murder, all of Europes "impure" citizens killed six million Jews.  While, yes, many groups worked to eliminate those of the Jewish faith, others found this destruction morally wrong and put their efforts towards saving the persecuted.  These wonderful humans, many of them unknown, sacrificed their comfort, safety, and even their own lives to rescue those stricken by the Nazi hand.  The book takes you on a journey through Europe, showing the rescue efforts of  Poland, Germany, Italy, Holland, France, Denmark, Russia, and other nations gentiles.  Excellently written yet understandable this book is, for the most part, interesting.   This touching book is a wonderful reading experience for everyone.  
   From risky and daring rescues to merely sharing a piece of bread, the heroes of the Holocaust  got the Jews through the tragic time.  Meltzers down-to-earth and comprehensive story-telling technique makes the many tales featured in this book engrossing and very realistic.  The stories give a rescue perspective for nations throughout Europe.  In Poland, aiding the Jews was an extremely difficult and dangerous endeavor.  As the book points out, "in scarcely three weeks.the Nazis had Poland in an iron grip".  In addition, the Jews really stuck out from the Christians, were different from them in many aspects.  These harsh circumstances didnt keep some Polish Christians from sheltering and hiding Jews, taking them in as their own.  The "sin" of hiding a Jew was punishable by torture and death, and not just for the offender, but for the heros entire community.  Even in Germany itself, all was not lost for the Jews.  One of the German saviors, Oskar Schindler, saved many Jews by concealing them in a factory he pretended to run.  He even saved Jews already located in Auschwitz, one of the worst death camps.  Danish gentiles managed to rescue Jews from execution by guiding them on a dangerous sea voyage to neutral Sweden.  If  you Want to hear of more heroic acts from these and other nations, read the book!   
   The stories in Meltzers book  not only penetrate the brain with factual information, they also reach the reader on a deep emotional level.  The tales include one of two lovers of different religions sacrificing a safe and comfortable life to conceal themselves and their baby, a young girl brought up to despise Jews who risked her life to safe a Jewish woman tangled in wires and then moved her family around the country to conceal the woman, and catholic priests and nuns who hid dozens of Jews in their churches.  Most of the gentile heroes who saved the Jews went without fame and fortune, they were true heroes who did their deeds purely out of the goodness of their hearts.  They were able to put aside the differences they had with the Jews and recognize only the fact that the Jewish were human being who were suffering and needed a rescue.  
   To tell the true Holocaust story, Meltzer spares none of the tragic details of this horrific time, so if you are looking for a fun, light read, this is not the book for you.  However, this book is an excellent learning tool for people of any age to truly understand both the pain and the heroics of the Holocaust.  When the book is closed, the reader is left with a strong sense of pride for the heroes of our world and a hopeful message that there is always light in the darkness, and human goodness will always survive.     



3. The biography, Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust by Milton Meltzer, reflects on the people and events that are not usually thought of with the topic of the Holocaust. In the book, the Gentiles prove to be convincing heroes because they go out of their way and risk their lives to help others, which they are taught to hate. This book is a worthwhile read because the heroic deeds of the Gentiles are well explained, and the author sparks the interest of the reader to learn more about each Gentile's story.
   The Gentiles are heroes because they go above and beyond what is expected in everyday life. They protected the Jews because they believe it is the right thing to do, regardless of what they are taught by the anti-Semitists. For example, a student, Marion Pritchard, witnesses the brutality by the Germans to Jewish children, while she is riding her bike down the road. This disturbing incident shocks her into wanting to do as much as she could to help them and stop this cruelty. "Crying with rage, she just sat there on her bicycle and at that moment decided she would do anything she could to stop such atrocities." (p.140). By choosing to do this, she puts herself in danger and alters the course of her life.
   The author says that the Gentiles even help strangers; this is not an unusual characteristic of heroes since they tend to be selfless, and do not distinguish between the people they help. In Poland, a woman, Elizabeth Przewlocka, grabs a Jewish boy before he is about to be deported. She hid him until she could find an orphanage for him. "Elizabeth Przewlocka, snatched a Jewish child she didn't know while the Nazi guard wasn't looking." (p.32). The author gives several examples of this throughout the book. Milton Meltzer successfully paints a vivid picture of the activities taking place. This makes the reader feel like they are physically seeing the story unfold.
   The author, Milton Meltzer, writes the story of the Gentiles in an intriguing way. He gives the reader informative stories about many different Gentiles who assisted the Jews during the Holocaust. He also makes connections between different places and periods of time when the Holocaust was taking place. For example, Adolf Eichman, a German Nazi bureaucrat, is described in a few places throughout the book. First, his background is explained, and then later in the book, some of the horrible things he planned for the Jews. These include in Budapest with his goals of destroying every Jew possible, and the deportation of families in Holland, like Anne Frank's. "Adolf Eichmann prepared a plan to round up the Jews in Budapest, the capital." (p.106), "Anne was sent to Auschwitz in the last deportation of Dutch Jews organized by Eichmann." (p. 134). Also, the book and its events are connected, even from chapter to chapter, so that all the stories flow smoothly. For example, chapter six is about Le Chambon and Andre Trocme, "That `dangerous, difficult Trocme,' as he had been called by his national church, had made goodness happen in Le Chambon." (p.87), and leads into the next chapter, which is about Denmark and Sweden, "In the village of Le Chambon all the people came together to save the lives of thousands of Jews. In the country of Denmark another spectacular act of human solidarity took place." (p.89). This makes the book easy to follow and understand. To get an even fuller understanding of where each of the rescues is taken place, there are maps at the beginning of each chapter. There is also an index in the back of the book to find specific events or people, which are mentioned throughout the biography. Milton Meltzer leaves readers with questions to think about, "Would I, could I, we wonder, stand up for the persecuted and the helpless? Would I risk so much? Would I care that much?". (p.156).
   This book is a must read because it gives a different view of the Holocaust, from the heroic people who help rather than the ruthless ones who kill. The book is particularly suitable for people with little knowledge of the Holocaust. It is written for people with interest in the Holocaust, but without emphasize on the gruesome details. This biography shows that there are many ways in which people show their heroism.



4. This book proves a worthwhile read for anyone searching for a real-life hero. This book tells of people willing to risk their lives to save those of others. Rescue gives great insight into the lives of the heroes, and gives proof that people don't need to have super powers to change someone's life. Through this book, it's readers will come to realize (if they have not already) the importance of acceptance of diversity.

   Although every person featured in this book is a hero, one group of people stands out the most, the people of a small village with a large university. The head of the (Christian) school had many of his Jewish villagers looking for protection from the Nazis. He protected every person that came to him. He set up schools for the Jewish children and taught them of their heritage. When word got around to other gentiles of what the schoolmaster was doing, they sent many refugees there. In the end, this village which secret had been kept throughout the war, ended up saving over a thousand lives.

   Some people mentioned in this book did very small things, but even the smallest deed can change someone's life. The Nazis of Hitler could not help but feel for the suffering Jews. Many times during Rescue, they could be bribed or for no cost they would turn their heads. They would pretend they say nothing. The Nazis let hundreds of people travel from Denmark to free Sweden where they could live without torment.

   
   Rescue is a collection of many stories about Christians helping Jews in Europe during World War II. In that time, helping Jews was cause enough for punishment. These Gentiles were risking a lot for others. One woman of great respect held hundreds of Jewish children in her home. She risked a punishment of being sent to a concentration camp. This brave soul fell in love with a Jew, secretly married him, and bore him a child. Although the son died, the couple still had a wonderful marriage. Without her willing to accept people of different beliefs, many more children could have lost their lives.

   Some say that heroes have to be strong, manly, and dashing. Some say that heroes have to fly, see through walls, and be as fast as a speeding bullet. In this book, The Rescue, to be someone's hero, all you need is some compassion, bravery, and a willingness to help others in need. In other words, some humanity. This book helps to see that times have greatly changed from long ago, when the Greeks developed their own ideas of heroism. Now all you need to be a hero is to help or change someone's life for the better.




5. Rescue: The Gentiles Who Saved Jews in the Holocaust, is a wonderful book. It tells in almost firsthand experince how the Gentiles saved some of the Jews and why.

1 comments about Lift Up Your Voice Like a Trumpet: White Clergy and the Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements, 1954-1973.

1. I Loved the Book!