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1 comments about Shanghai Refuge: A Memoir of the World War II Jewish Ghetto.

1. The refuge Heppner evokes in vivid color is of war-time Shanghai: the one place Jews could escape Hitler without a visa. From harassment and worse in Germany, he and his family find squalor, hardship, and hunger...but also hope, inspiration and, ultimately, safety. A little-known chapter of the Nazi era.
   Marion Cuba
   Author, Shanghai Legacy

1 comments about Rahel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewish Woman-revised edition.

1. Intertwining Identities

   Hannah Arendt's Rachel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewess is the biography of Varnhagen that simultaneously attempts to define Rahel Varnhagen's gender and national identity as a resident in early 19th century Germany in Varnhagen's own terms, while Arendt refines her political theory. Rachel Varnhagen is portrayed throughout the book as a complex character; a Jewish woman in a German society at the dawn and immediate following years of the Napoleonic Revolution. Arendt is an accomplished political-philosopher who despised being called a philosopher. Arendt's rise to academic prominence came when she wrote Eichmann in Jerusalem; Eichmann was where she coined the phrase "banality of evil" in reference to the famous trial of the Nazi Adolph Eichmann. Arendt was on assignment in Jerusalem for the Eichmann trial as a reporter for Harper's because she could not attain a university teaching position. Arendt had not successfully completed the monograph that was to be her Ph.D. dissertation. During the National Socialist ascension to power in 1933 Arendt was forced into exile, therefore hindering the completion of the biography of Varnhagen and her doctoral dissertation.

   Arendt studied under Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger the later of which she had an affair. She is most known in political philosophy circles for her study of totalitarian regimes in Origins of Totalitarianism. Arendt collected the published and unpublished letters of the famous salon, bourgeoisie-oriented Varnhagen to map Varnhagen's identity through the inner voice she reveals in her letters. Through reading the letters it is evident that Varnhagen is practically apolitical, but she struggles with her German-Jewish identity and her life as a woman. Arendt explores the complexities of this dynamic through attempting to slip into Varnhagen and convey to the reader Varnhagen's existence. While in the process of amalgamating the various stories of Varnhagen, Arendt also devises her political theory.

   Varhagen was at the center of an aristocratic salon where literature and culture were often discussed and she was viewed as a Jewish exception to anti-Semitism. It was believed at the beginning of the nineteenth century that all anti-Semites had their exceptional Jew, and for the many attendees of Varnhagen's salon it was Rahel. In adding her political theory into the construction of Varnhagen's biography Arendt spares Varnhagen no sympathy, often thinking that these very exceptions furthered the anti-Semitic cause.

   In essence what Arendt has done is constructed a philosophical-psychological biography delving into the subject's mind, breaking the barrier between subject and observer by using the letters as a background to reconstruct the thoughts of Varnhagen. Varnhagen wrote her letters as a narrative, waiting and watching for life to unfold, unwilling to participate in introspection. Fearing that contemplation of the past might lead to her rejecting her identity and denial of her self-asserted uniqueness.

   Varnhagen befriended many of the most prominent novelists and poets; her salon suggested a milieu of sophistication. However, Varnhagen's letters allowed Arendt intense introspection on the feeling of being a Jew in a largely anti-Semitic culture and being a woman in a misogynist culture. Arendt's political theory is never more evident then when she wears the skin of Varnhagen and talks about the Jewish question. Arendt believes that the common Jew attempted to escape their Jewishness (Varnhagen was baptized) only to allow other Jews to flounder in their Jewishness; each individual sought to break from the community at the cost of leaving the others to be victims of virulent anti-Semitism. Arendt is at her sharpest when she philosophizes on the impact of the Napoleonic Revolution on Jews, "it would be incomparably more difficult to escape from a reformed Judaism than from orthodox Judaism; that association for the assimilation of the Jews could lead ultimately to nothing but the preservation of Judaism in a form more suited to the times (179)."

   In the preface to the book Arendt says, "It was never my intention to write a book about Rahel; about her personality, which might lend itself to various interpretations according to the psychological standards and categories that the author introduces from outside; nor about her position in Romanticism and the effect of the Goethe culture in Berlin, of which she was actually the originator; nor about the significance of her salon for the social history of the period; nor about her ideas and her "weltanschauung," in so far as these can be constructed from her letters. What interests me solely was to narrate the story of Rahel's life as she herself might have told it. (81)
   
   Rahel believed she let life happen to her and simply observed and recorded her situations. She was, "letting life rain upon her." She was an prophetic individual that simply aspired to convey what happened to her as destiny. But in this role as intermediary recorder of the past she observed and her unknown, but unconscionable future destiny she thought she was an exception; one that must succumb to destiny, but not attempt to influence it. An individual that was so shortsighted that she failed to consider the fact that the destiny that awaited her, the history that was being revealed and shaped her life was less important than her own life. She was romanticized by contemplation of the past and its unraveling into the future of which she only thought she was a part. Varnhagen was a paradox; waiting like everyone else for history and life to happen but yet she continued to assert her uniqueness. Varnhagen attempts to solve the paradox by waiting for history to unveil, but not discover who she was-only what she could be. In the physical world Varnhagen could not deny her Jewishness, but she aspired to be malleable, devoid of shape and identity, traveling on the waves of history as they splashed on the shores of her continuously unfolding destiny. Arendt best summarizes Varnhagen by saying, "she wished to stand outside reality, to merely take pleasure in the real, to provide the soil for the history and the destinies of many people without having any ground of her own to stand on (145)."

5 comments about East of the Storm: Outrunning the Holocaust in Russia.

1. Hanna does an excellent job describing the horror and sacrifice her family endured as a refuge during WWII. Her prose is honest; her story remarkable.
   
   Read this book!



2. In 1939, the idyllic world of 11-year-old Hanna Davidson, born to a family of artists, professionalsand achievers, was irretrievably shattered by the momentous events of the War. What followed was her journey in the hub and later just ahead of the crest of the Holocaust. It is a tale of courage, resourcefulness and frequent depravation. However, it is also an adventure, providing insight into life in Poland, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere,ending in the haven of the United States.



3. I found the book to be well written. The historical details and personal strength of the writer and her family were a combination that made it hard to put the book down. I would recommend this book to family and friends.



4. What an absolutely brilliant narrative Hanna Pankowsky relates as she explains the years of hardship and perils she and her family experienced trying to escape the dangers of Nazi Germany. This is truly an "action thriller." The sad fact is the events actually happened and the fear, danger, pain and terror were lived by millions of men, women and children. Mrs. Pankowsky paints images in the reader's mind that are so vivid that the reader can place himself/herself in the action (even to the point of being out of breath trying to hop a train or run in the cold snowy forest!). This book is so well written and in a "first person" voice of history that this book should be in every school library as well as on the suggested reading list for history classes. Oprah needs to make this selection one of her book club favorites! Read it. You won't put it down!



5. Ms. Pankowsky was a ten-year-old girl when German troops invaded her native Poland at the start of World War II. Her family immediately experienced the awful reality of being Jewish under the Nazi regime. They fled to the Soviet Union, where they had to hide their family's past from the repressive communist government. The book is a riveting first-person account of her experiences.
   
   It's a very readable account. The majority of the book deals with her family's time in USSR where they endured great hardship due not only to wartime deprivation, but also because their family background had to be hidden. (Her father was a businessman who fled Russia at the time of the Revolution. Had this become known, they would have been considered 'enemies of the state'.)
   
   The book also briefly covers life in Poland before the war; their escape from Russia; their short-lived return to their hometown in Poland, and how they eventually reached and settled in Mexico City.
   
   I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about Last Honest Man, The: Mordecai Richler: An Oral Biography.

1. Although written with the cooperation of Richler's family, Posner's oral biography avoids turning the author of Duddy Kravitz and St. Urbain's Horseman into a CanLit saint. Like many writers, Richler had his mood swings, but his absolute determination to find a balance between the literary life and happiness is inspiring. It would have been nice to have an index and a photographic insert, but these are quibbles. Posner has used his access to the family and friends of Richler to good advantage. Highly recommended for those interested in the Commonwealth literary scene of the fifties and sixties, screenwriting, and Richler's many fans across Canada and around the world.



2. This is not a definitive biography. It is an oral biography with interviews of family friends and hanger ons in Richler's life. As an admirer of Richler it still enthralls me however. While there is nothing terribly new here the book does a good job at summing up what we knew, loved or despised about the Canadian Icon. I wasn't sure I would like a book that was just interviews but somehow it works. It provides several views of particular incidents in Richler's life. And it adds Richler's comments here and there as well in an effort to clear up any muddles. Anyone who is an aspiring writer should read this book.



3. This is not for those looking for a definitive biography. Its a wondeful read however. I wasn't sure I would like a book full of interviews but it works really well in this case. This is a must have for any aspiring writers. It makes Richler, who had impeccable work habits when it came to his craft, accessible and encouraged me to read or re-read Richler. Anyone who is a fan of Richler will really enjoy this book.



4. This is an outstanding biography and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the life and family of Mordecai Richler. The author has done a fantastic job putting together a fascinating life story from what must have been hundreds of interviews with those who knew Mordecai Richler best, including his immediate family and the people he grew up with, went to school with, and worked with.



5. 
   In my humble opinion Mordecai was one of the most interesting and colorful characters that Canada ever produced.No doubt,anyone who ever read anything he ever wrote or ever listened to anything he ever said,either loved or hated him.Especially those people who were pompous,stuffed shirts or otherwise full of themselves would be setups for him to tear into shreads and leave in tatters.Quebec language idealogues,righeous Jewish who set rules for him,or in fact anyone who managed to get his goat,was fair game for his satiric target practice.
   I have read most of his novels and being about his same age,plus having had a friend who also grew up near where Mordecai did ,and also lived in Montreal,for quite a few years,I am able to relate to so much of what he wrote about.Reading Richler one can really understand what it was like to live in
   Montreal,what being Jewish,French,English,subserviant,or an outright rebel really meant.You couldn't,or would you want to be anything but what you decided to be.Mordecai reminded me of my friend and even myself when I lived there.I first came to Montreal in 1959,and being from the Maritimes,and not speaking French,was automatically classed as English,particularly by the French.One day this guy tells me that I have a poor attitude for a person living in Quebec and being only a minority.I told him that that if I was the only person in Quebec who didn't speak French,I wouldn't consider myself a minority.I don't think he,s gotten over that yet..but that's his problem,not mine.
   Meanwhile,back to this book,the author has given us a very deep insight into the personality ,thinking and character of the Mordecai we all,at least some of us,came to love from his writings and gut renching statements he entertained us with for a time that was all too short.I often wondered what he would have been like as he grew older.You know,Mordecai never really got older,his knife just got sharper and sharper.
   Some of the comments from the family,friends,business associates,croonies,etc are priceless,such as:
   "That is what should be on his tombstone:"Here lies Mordecai,a mazik par excellence."
   "He died too soon."
   "He's laughing up his sleeve.He's putting it on for them."
   "He was an ond fashioned heterosexual male all the way through."
   "But he never forgot he was a Jew.He was buried in a plain wood coffin."
   and a couple by his editorial cartoonist friend,Terry Mosher:
   "The air of fame is heady.Make sure you don't inhale."Mordecai didn't inhale."
   "A lot of people complain and bitch.They're whiners,but they're not rascals,and he was a rascal."

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5 comments about Destined to Live.

1. William Ungar's memoir of survival is the single most moving account of the Holocaust that I have read. With vivd and heart-renching portrayls of his young wife, infant son, other raltives and friends who perished during the Holocaust, Destined to Live brilliantly depicts the devestating emotional toll the Holocaust wrought on those that survived. Without a trace of bitterness, Mr. Ungar describes how he managed to survive the Nazi's occupation of Poland, and went on to create a powerful life that postively impacted the lives of countless others. Destined to Live is not a memoir about survival for survival's sake. It is a gripping tale of how humans, even in the most dire and unjust of circumstances, can use the powers of love and perseverence to create true beauty and greatness. If I were to recommend one book to someone who wanted to learn about the impact of the Holocaust on those that survived, I would recommend Destined to Live.



2. When the Germans invaded and conquered Poland, a young Polish soldier was in more peril than most. Wilo Ungar was Jewish and badly wounded. Because he wore the Polish uniform he was given the last rites by a priest who thought Ungar was Catholic. For the months after his recovery that he was held prisoner by the Germans he was saved by his captors ignorance of his ethnicity. Finally released he made his way back through war-ravaged Poland on crutches. He was given refuge by Polish families and eventually smuggled himself across the German-Soviet border, was captured by the NKVD and imprisoned as a spy. Ultimately he made his way back to the city of Lvov and reunion with his girl. They married and when Germany turned on Russia, they and their baby Michael managed for a while to evade Nazi roundups but in 1942 they were caught and separated in a time when the Nazi holocaust was being carried out in earnest. Highly recommended for students of the Holocaust, Destined To Live is the riveting story of Wilo's search for his family in a world of love and death, organized violence and the indomitable human spirit.



3. Another wonderfully written account of the atrocitites that Jewish Poles faced during WWII. A must read for ANYONE or ANY color, ANY religion, ANY ethnic background!

   Mr. Ungars' nephew, his wife and daughter - happen to be my neighbors and close friends. So when reading this, it becomes a much more personal story to me and my family when reading this.




4. I have read this book and have learned so much more about my husband's employer. We always knew Mr. Unger had a heart of gold. He has helped our family so much through hard times, when the economy was so low. Never once has he laid his employees off. My husband, Joe Iervolino began working for Mr. Unger when he was 19. He is now 65 and ready to retire and still working for Mr. Unger. Throughout all of the hardship this man endured, he has always shown compassion and loyalty to those he employs. There must be thousands throughout the United States. He came here almost penniless, yet he has made thousands enjoy the best of what being a middle class American has to offer.
   His sponsorship of the Holocaust Museums in NY and DC has educated millions of people. His company, National Envelope has given thousands of people well meaningful employment. The next time you throw out an envelope that contains junk mail, a letter from a loved one or a bill, you are probably handling a product made by a National Envelope Employee, such as my Joe.
   Read the book. It will touch you in such a way as he has touched our lives and made us thankful that this immigrant made it to our shores.
   Destined to Live is one of the best Holocaust survivor books I have ever read. It will open your eyes to how inhumane some men can become. After becoming a victom of such men, William Unger not only survived but, became a great human being. He shows only compassion to others and hates no one. He is the ultimate survivor and an example to all of us who suffered through any sort of inhumanity. I feel this book is a "Must Read" for everyone, young and old, alike.



5. My review focuses on matters undeveloped by the other reviews.
   
   Ungar's childhood in Krasne (near the Zbrucz River) repudiates the notion of anti-Semitism (and Christian-clergy hostility) being the constant companion of Polish Jews: "Both Father Hankiewicz and Father Leszczynski mainly preached the loving kindness of God. Because of the priests' behavior, the peasants didn't bear a grudge against Jews...The result was that I had the unbelievable good luck of growing up without either hatred or fear. My playmates were Polish and Ukrainian children and no one ever insulted me or tried to beat me up...Of course, they knew I was Jewish...But they considered me one of theirs." (pp. 66-67).
   
   At least some of the sporadic anti-Semitism which Ungar later did experience was clearly related to the entrenchment of Jewish economic hegemony, which worked against Poles. One Pole said: "I don't know about Lvov, but around here they [the Jews] own all the big buildings, they own the stores, they own the banks. They take our money, and you can bet that they make sure Poles can't get into business themselves." (p. 86)
   
   Ungar provides a seldom-heard Jewish viewpoint of service in the Polish Army just prior and during the German invasion of Poland in 1939. He discusses training, tactics, mobilization, and his wounding during a Luftwaffe air raid.
   
   Polish nationalists commonly suppose that even totally assimilated Jews (like Ungar) seldom become Poles at heart. Along these lines, Ungar candidly admitted that: "I would never have called myself a patriotic Pole..." (p. 31).
   
   After Poland's defeat, Ungar made it back to Lviv, in the Soviet-occupied zone. He touched on Jewish-Soviet collaboration: "It also seemed to Wusia [Ungar's first wife] that they [the Soviets] trusted Jews more than Poles or Ukrainians." (p. 120). "Besides that, you began to see Jews in high positions, which would have been unthinkable before. There were Jewish army officers, Jewish party members, and Jewish city officials." (pp. 136-137)
   
   Up to the time of Operation Barbarossa, most local Jews thought of the Germans as a cultured people who wouldn't do especial harm to the Jews (p. 154). After the Lviv Ghetto was formed, some of the Jewish ghetto police acted reasonably towards their fellow Jews. "But many acted more like devoted servants in the hope of ingratiating themselves with the Gestapo. Others were just callous, brutal people, untouched by any of the nobler sentiments when it came to hunting down their fellows. That was how the Germans turned Jew against Jew." (pp. 171-172). "Neither of us knew any [Jewish] policemen, besides which, many of them were cruel and unscrupulous." (p. 277).
   
   While at Janowska Labor Camp, Ungar was denounced to the Gestapo by oberjude (the German-appointed chief of the Jewish workers) Tenenbaum (p. 253, 276).
   
   Contrary to some reports, Ungar never claims to have been at Belzec. He saw some bodies along the railroad tracks, inferring them to have originated from a failed escape from a Belzec-bound train (p. 298, 321).
   
   Unfortunately, Ungar cheapens his work through a sudden outburst of primitive Polonophobic innuendo late in the book. He denigrates the AK after accusing it, without a shred of supporting evidence, of being behind the killing of Rabbi Barfield. (p. 313, 316). Following Yitzhak Shamir, Ungar blanket-slurs the Poles for imbibing anti-Semitism with their mothers' milk. (p. 316)

4 comments about Righteous Gentile: The Story of Raoul Wallenberg, Missing Hero of the Holocaust.

1. I read this book about 1982. I used to work the night shift at a hospital and on Sunday mornings, I recall listening to a Sunday Morning NPR talk show. One morning, Howard Cosel interviewed the author of Righteous Gentile. I was completely fascinated by this story that I had never heard. Howard was masterful in his interview and I was so taken that I immediately purchased the book and read it. It is riveting and I could not put it down until I had consumed it all. I am always in amazed wonderment at ordinary people who perform extraordinary acts under dire conditions. Wallenberg was such a man. The story is, of course, a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, as Wallenberg disappears into the Russian Gulag. I irony of his imprisonment in the Gulag after having saved so many Jews from their fate in the Holocost. It is one of those books that is uplifting because it reminds us of both the good and evil that humans are capable of.



2. Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish aristocrat who managed to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the gas chambers in the closing months of 1944. His relief agency in Budapest issued bogus Swedish passports to as many Jews as possible. By dint of his commanding personality, his ingenuity, and his talent for pulling the wool over the eyes of dimwitted Nazi functionaries, he contrived to convince the German and Hungarian authorities to respect these entirely extralegal documents. In mid-January 1945, he was summoned to the Soviet embassy in newly-"liberated" Budapest, and he was never seen again.

   This is a great and inspiring story, and "Righteous Gentile" does justice to it. Bierman doesn't really succeed in explaining the origins of the idealism that led Wallenberg to volunteer for this job in the first place, but probably nobody could. What he does show is the skill and energy with which Wallenberg executed the task assigned to him. Actually "skill and energy" are ludicrously inadequate terms. Wallenberg not only distributed his passports, he tirelessly roamed around pulling Jews out of death marches and off trains bound for Auschwitz, he bossed Nazi thugs around in impeccable Hochdeutsch (and they listened), and he confronted Adolf Eichmann himself, all the while taking the most extraordinary risks. I can't say that Wallenberg was the greatest hero in recorded history, since I'm not familiar with all of it; suffice to say that he is by a very large margin the greatest hero I've ever read of, in fiction or history, and it is an inspiring and hopeful fact that someone like him ever existed. I am grateful to John Bierman for bringing this figure to such luminous and memorable life.

   The only problem I have with the book is that half of it consists of speculations and rumor-cataloguing to the effect that Wallenberg was alive in the Gulag until about 1980. I believe that most authorities now think he was murdered by the Soviets long before this, perhaps after they failed to recruit him for espionage. This part of the book is therefore something of an anachronism. However, it doesn't detract from the general value of the book, which should be required reading for everybody, period.




3. A five star book about a five star hero.

   The second world war threw-up some gigantic figures but ironically Raoul Wallenberg from neutral Sweden towers over all the rest.

   Like the Good Samaritan he didn't pass on by but instead left his safe homeland to assist others by putting himself in danger day after day in the inferno that was Hungary during the dreadful days of 1944-45.

   The man who saved a 100,000 jews from the clutches of Adolf Eichmann, the SS, and the Hungarian facists, the Arrow Cross ultimately fell foul of the Russian 'liberators.' He was never seen again as a free man after being taken into 'protective custody' by the Reds on 17 January 1945.

   I read John Bierman's excellent book some 20 years ago and he charts the extraordinary crusade of his subject with a deft touch.

   This is a book that will both inspire you, with Wallenberg's humanity and courage, and anger you that such a man could lose his liberty after fighting so hard for the freedom and safety of others.

   In the pantheon of heroes Raoul Wallenberg-the righteous gentile-would have to be at the very top




4. John Bierman's terrifically tragic Wallenberg biography,'Righteous Gentile' is divided into two parts;the first 119 pages lead up to his kidnapping by the Russians on
   January 17,1945.The last 97 pages deal with the world's apathy in securing his release from the Gulag.Thousands of Jews and some non-Jews owe their lives to Wallenberg's intervention on
   "behalf of the Swedish government"-which dealt with the Wallenberg kidnapping issue as buroucracies tend to do.Bierman's Wallenberg book was published in 1981-and there were credible reports that Wallenberg was still vegetating in the Soviet prison system.The sin of allowing this to happen-is beyond unforgivable.

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