1 comments about A Vase for a Flower: Tales of an Antique Dealer.

1. blends lives times places with objects that can really speak to us. Interchanges between persons that have consequences.

No comments about Men May Come and Men May Go ... But I've Still Got My Little Pink Raincoat: Life and Love In and Out of My Wardrobe.

No comments about The Girls of Room 28: Friendship, Hope, and Survival in Theresienstadt.

No comments about Facing the New World: Jewish Portraits in Colonial and Federal America.

No comments about Hannah: From Dachau to the Olympics and Beyond.

3 comments about Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust.

1. Jan Karski, who died in July 2000, was a larger than life hero from World War II, who tried to smuggle out information from Nazi occupied Poland to warn the rest of the world about the horrors happening to the Jewish population of his country. He was captured by the Nazis, tortured, escaped, eventually met with President Roosevelt, and truly lived an unbelievably brave and inspiring life. The story is better than any fictional thriller or Hollywood movie. You have to keep reminding yourself that what you are reading is true. It keeps your attention throughout the book, though the last couple of chapters are less exciting naturally than the rest, once the war is over. One has to wonder if there are people like Jan Karski living today...



2. I first heard about Jan Karski when I read his obituary in the New York Times a few years back. After reading the obituary, I thought that this guy led an exciting and profound life, and that his life story would make a great book and/or movie (Steven Speilberg, are you listening?). That's why I'm glad I found this book.

   Jan Karski was a young diplomat in Poland when the Germans invaded in 1939. Before the invasion, he seemed to be more interested in the political power struggles of the day rather than the moral and ethical quandaries of war. That soon changed after he was taken prisoner and sent to both Soviet and Nazi prison camps. He spent the war years secretly delivering messages around Europe for the Polish underground, and word of his exploits soon spread among the Allies. He was later sent to Britian and later, the United States, where he became a citizen and lived out the rest of his life.

   His near-famous quest to relay the horrors of the Holocaust to the skeptical Allies is only one facet of this individual's life. The authors excelled at opening my eyes to the political infighting among various factions of the Polish resistance (politics doesn't die in wartime, it just goes underground, I learned), and they seemed to paint Karski as an individual who became more interested in working for human freedom and dignity than for carving a political legacy for himself in a postwar Poland.

   Karski's days in Britain got a bit dry in the book; his wartime adventures in occupied Europe and his postwar days at Georgetown University (as the world began to recognize his contributions) held my attention the most.

   As a bonus, a guide to the many characters Karski dealt with in his life is included in the appendix...a handly tool for keeping track of who's who in this book.




3. Thomas Wood, an American journalist, and Stanislav Jankowski, a Polish historian, have written this biography of Jan Karski, who was tapped by the Polish resistance to escape from Poland and go tell the Allies that the Germans were committing a genocide against Poland's Jews.
   
   Karski, a universally respected diplomat, was infiltrated into Warsaw's Ghetto and into a German concentration camp to witness the harrowing persecution in progress and thus be able to aver to the Allied leaders he warned that his testimony was based on his own eyes' witness. Sadly, during World War One the British had propagated propaganda falsely accusing the Germans of all sorts of incredible and senseless brutality in Belgium, not least in order to draw the United States into the war. Many of the leaders Karski met, including FDR, Justice Felix Frankfurter, and Rabbi Stephen Wise deemed Karski's accounts to be so disturbing and unfathomable that they were unable to believe them, choosing to believe that the Polish government in exile had chosen to propagate atrocity propaganda of its own against the Germans.
   
   Karski also served as a courier in the Polish resistance, worked for the Polish resistance and government in exile in various capacities, taught at Georgetown University, and more. Obviously a fascinating man, with a fascinating and righteous life, any account of his life is worth reading.
   
   And yet more than a few improvements could be made to this book. At a scant 250 pages of text, excluding glossaries, indexes and more, it's incredibly short for a life as rich as Karski's. Enough mention is made of factions in Polish politics for the reader to understand that factions existed, but there is no introduction to the history, ideology or sociology of the various factions, which makes reading the pages devoted to Polish politics seem as intellectually stimulating as peering into a kaleidoscope. A history of Poland, its politics, and of Polish antisemitism and to a lesser extent of Poland's philosemitism would have proven invaluable to the lay reader. Bereft of such an introduction, a reader not already versed in Polish politics cames away from the book with little understanding of the intricacies and intrigues that Karski had to master. A 500 page or even 750 page text would have been vastly more enlightening.
   
   Jan Karski's life easily deserves 5 stars; the biographers of this book deserve about two stars for their efforts. Averaging the two, I've given the book 4 stars.

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

1. 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.



2. 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 comments about Elli: Coming of Age in the Holocaust.

1. Just a few words, if you have not read this book go get it now! This is one of those books written from the heart, that cannot- but have you in tears, truely written from the heart; it stired my soul! A true story of a young girl overcoming nightmares that we would not dread to imagine, it has truely opened my eyes, to the horror, that so many people lived through, and so many not....Well done Livia! A book that will live for an eternity!



2. This is a really good book, it really brings to mind things that no one could have made-up, its just way too horiffic, but it DOES open your eyes to what power one man can have, and how people follow the majority, not standing up for others.

4 comments about Lieutenant Birnbaum: A Soldier's Story : Growing Up Jewish in America, Liberating the D.P. Camps, and a New Home in Jerusalem (Artscroll History).

1. A detailed account that keeps the reader turning page after page in excitement. This autobiography by a devoted orhtodox Jew who maintains his traditions and integrity throughout the hardships of life, growing up poverty-stricken in America, and serving in the Untied States army during World War II, will surely inspire and enthrall readers from all backgrounds.



2. I started reading this book one shabbos and had trouble putting it down to daven. After shabbos I didn't put it down until I finished on Sunday. For any serious Jew this book will be absolutely inspirational, for others it is very interesting. You read about Meyer Birnbaum's life in such a way that you can picture yourself there. Learn what it was like to grow up as an Orthodox Jew in a poor family early in the Century. He was there for the near beginnings of the Agudath movement in the U.S. He was an officer in the U.S. Army (a combat soldier no less) who managed to remain observant under some very difficult experiences, not all due to combat- sometimes fellow soldiers weren't all that understanding, picture wearing tifillin to daven in the morning during basic training (anyone who was in the military should be in cold sweats at that picture). He helped with concentration camp survivors and helped get many to Israel and he moved to Israel in time to see the birth of a nation. This is an inspirational story, with doses of intrigue and suspense. One of the best books I ever read.



3. Wow. Couldn't put it down. Such an amazing person - he's done so many things in the course of his life. A Must-read!



4. Wow. Couldn't put it down. Such an amazing person - he's done so many things in the course of his life. A Must-read!

No comments about Escape Through the Pyrenees (Jewish Lives).