1 comments about Jean Moulin, 1899-1943: The French Resistance and the Republic.

1. Jean Moulin, celebrated resistance hero, creator of the 'army of the night' a national icon in France and a martyr....yet little is known about him in the English speaking world. A decent work on the man who has assumed the status of secular saint is long overdue. In France this pre-war dilettante with his leftist leanings and a talent for art has come to symbolise the courage of resistance, that enabled the re-establishment of the French Republic in 1944. Facing the German invaders, Moulin as Préfet of the Eure-et-Loir département, stayed at his post, organising what help he could for the poupulation. From his initial somewhat foolhardy dealings with the German occupying powers grew the conviction that something had to be done and Moulin turned his skills of organisation to uniting the disparate elements of resistance. As De Gaulle's representative in France he played a key role in the great drama of 'les années noires' before finally being betrayed at a meeting in a suburb of Lyons in June 1943..captured & tortured by the infamous Klaus Barbie, the story of the circumstances of his capture and subsequent death at the hands of his torturers has all the fantastic elements of the best crime thrillers and probably does much to explain the enduring appeal of his story in France. However while the author rightly takes author Patrick Marnham to task for his recent over wrought & sensationalist account of the enigma that was Jean Moulin, this new work is ultimately far too bland to recommend absolutely..In the early chapters the author concentrates on portraying Moulin in the context of France's republican & administrative tradition, not exactly riveting stuff. Building an army of resisters, living on the run, parachutages, secret rendez-vous at safe houses, all the ingredients of a fantastic thriller are here..Yet..progress was slow & painful & amateurish and the resisters themselves, in many ways careless, & bitterly divided, could have led the clumsiest of detectives to the key suspect..I suppose the authors achievement here is showing how Moulin's capture & death was perhaps a result of this inept bungling and stupidity, resulting in a banal end for a tragic hero..this book ultimately reflects this mundanity.. the best & last chapter of the book looks at Moulin's contested legacy, reviewing the literature & some of the more recent & increasingly bizarre theories of how & why Moulin died and what he represented..
   ..However the main reason for only three stars here is the incredible price tag on this work...designed perhaps for undergraduate or university libraries, anyone actually having to pay for a decent history of Moulin and France during the years 1940-44 should forgo this work and acquire Julian Jackson's superlative "France 1940-44 - the dark years", which is a book three times the size of this one for a third of the price..!

No comments about Mi corazón herido.

No comments about HOMERUN: Krijgsgevangen, Ontsnapt, Soldaat.

No comments about Skin and Bones.

5 comments about Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death: A Holocaust Childhood.

1. As one of her acquaintances who has been urging Mrs. Bikales to finish her memoir of a childhood journey through wartime Europe, I am delighted with the result. Her book reads like a thriller as she and her mother move from one place to another to avoid the impositions of Nazi tyranny. There are warm allusions to the importance of family and survival as well as the kindness of strangers, all in the context of innocent childhood thrust into the cauldron of hatred and violence. In these times, when so many would have us suspend memory of the Holocaust by revising history, it is ever more important to have the witnesses share their stories. Gerda Bikales has shared hers, adding to the treasury of important memory. Her writing is exceptional, with the photographs bringing one family's unique existence into focus. Yet, one realizes that this family's history is symbolic of so many more in their various experiences during a tragic and unforgettable time.



2. This is a remarkable true-life account of refugee flight from the Third Reich as seen through the eyes of a precocious young girl. Full of unforgettable characters, it is the amazing story of a mother and daughter's courageous escape across the darkening landscape of World War II Europe. At times more incredible than fiction, this well-written book brings history to life in a way that the reader will never forget. I cannot recommend it too highly.



3. A childhood spent on the run from Nazis, in Poland, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Italy: what a memoir. It reminds us that even Holocaust survivors who escaped the concentration camps could hardly find a day of rest from the major and the petty harassment visited on them by Nazis. Gerda Bikales seems to have remembered every home or shed that offered her and her mother shelter, and she is generous in thanking those who helped. Remarkable that she is not bitter, but grateful for survival, that she was able to stay with her mother until almost the end, and was reunited with her eventually, and most of all that she was able to enter the United States and make a happy adult life. An amazing book. I recommend it heartily to Amazon's readers.



4. Gerda Bikales' story of her Jewish childhood in hiding in Hitler's Europe is told with a novelist's feel for scene and character - and terror. It is also authentic. There are no tortures or eyewitness murders to harrow those with little stomach for atrocities. Rather this is a profoundly moving story of the WWII through the half-comprehending eyes of child, a girl aged eight to 12, on the run for her life. Occasionally she grabs snatches of education in different countries and different languages but mostly she lives in hiding, afraid and observing with extraordinary sensitivity. Unlike many stories of this kind this one has a happy ending. If you are used to thinking about political events as semi-abstract movements and isms this book will provide a different perspective.



5. I doubt that one could find any reliable estimates of the number of Jews who managed to survive the Final Solution by fleeing their homes, moving from country to country, crossing borders illegally, hiding, assuming false identities, relying on the help of strangers, and going without. It must have been at least in the hundreds of thousands; more likely in the millions. Intelligence, physical stamina, and psychological fortitude all increased one's chances of surviving on the run, but luck, good or bad, weighed in again and again and again.
   The author was eight years old in 1939, when she and her mother left their home in Breslau, Germany. For the next four years, the two traveled from place to place in Belgium and France. They did not entirely elude the Nazis; at one point, they were held in an internment camp called "Zwartberg" in the Province of Limburg, Belgium. The years of flight were years of fear, anxiety, hunger, and cold. Gerda's memoir of this difficult time is a treasure. It is rich in detail and well-written, but it also something more. Although any semblance of a normal childhood was taken from her, she nevertheless experienced the struggle for survival through the eyes of a child. Here it must be noted that the young Gerda Bierzonski was unusually astute and observant, able to grasp much of what was going on around her and inclined to wonder. She has managed to capture her child's-eye view in the book. She has also succeeded in weaving into the narrative a sufficient amount of general historical information, enabling the reader to place her journey in the proper context.

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3 comments about Biancastella: A Jewish Partisan in World War II.

1. What struck me with this book was its honesty, the warts-and-all view of a boy's attempt at dealing with a nightmare by design; his incredible survival instincts and the places they took him. This book stands as testimony to the reality that Jews did, in fact, stand up in the face of Adolf Hilter through whatever limited or even extraordinary means opportunty presented. You can't write fiction like this first-hand account, though people like Herman Wouk have tried with great market success. The author, for example, chances upon people like Louis Armstrong giving us milestones as a frame of reference, but with a sincerity the best historical fiction writer sorely lacks.



2. My family came to the U.S. from Austria in 1907. If we had stayed, the majority of us would have been killed. This book is the personal account of a young man from a well to do Jewish family in Vienna. When the Nazis came to Austria his family fled, and when he could no longer flee, he decided to join a partisan group to combat the Nazis in Northern Italy. This book is honest and to the point. As a person who spent six years in the Marines and has a degree in History, I found Burger's accounts to be very real. His first-hand experience with resisting the Nazis is something everyone should read so it never happens again. If the world had reacted to Hitler the way Burger did as a young man, WWII probably would have been avoided. This book should be included as part of the curriculum of every WWII History course.



3. I could not put this book down! The author wrote a personal and honest story which seemed believable. I recommend it to all.

1 comments about The River Of Angry Dogs: A Memoir.

1. As gripping and moving a book as you will ever read.
   A truly extraordinary and emotional work. I had to pinch myself when I finished reading the book to remind myself where I was.

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No comments about The Oxymoron Factor 2: Part II, the Tale of the Ring: A Kaddish for Civilization (Oxymoron Factor).