5 comments about The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival.

1. This is a story which every parent should read to their children. Talk about the history of WW2 and discuss the extremes of humanity. A book which once read you will never forget.



2. Full of history. Easy to follow. Great read for young and old alike.



3. This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you are a musician, you will fall in love with it. The story is inspiring and moving and will make you appreciate music to the greatest extent possible.



4. author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family
   
   from the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
   August 30, 2002
   
   Vienna, 1938. In the city of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Strauss, 14-year-old musical prodigy Lisa Jura looks forward to a promising career as a concert pianist. Hitler has other plans. With the breaking of glass on Kristallnacht, Jura's dreams are shattered.
   
   Internationally celebrated concert pianist Mona Golabek, with journalist and poet Lee Cohen, has crafted a loving, lyrical tribute to her mother, Lisa Jura, in "The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival."
   
   Jura was one of 10,000 Jewish children saved from the Nazis by the British and sent on the Kindertransport to safety from Eastern Europe. Already being compared to "The Diary of Anne Frank," this simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting tale weaves together the stories that Golabek's mother told her about prewar Austria; the gut-wrenching separation from her family; life at the orphanage on Willesden Lane; and the power of music to help her survive.
   
   As Jura's mother, Malka, puts her on the train, she says the prophetic words that will sustain and inspire her daughter and future generations: "Hold on to your music. Let it be your best friend."
   
   In a world turned ugly, the beauty of music becomes Jura's strength, and, against tremendous odds, with the help and encouragement of the 30 other displaced children at the orphanage, she wins a scholarship to London's Royal Academy.
   
   "Each kid saw something in my mother's music that reminded them of what they had left behind in Czechoslovakia, in Austria, in Germany," says Golabek, a Grammy-nominated artist, "and that's what I tried to do in the story, not only to pay homage to my mother, but to all these kids and to their bravery."
   
   The book opens with Jura's tantalizing daydream of performing in a great concert hall and closes with the fulfillment of that dream, as she makes her debut before an exhilarated crowd. And in between, the pages burst with melody: Jura pounding the cadenza of the Grieg "Piano Concerto" to drown out the sounds of bombs during London's blitz, Jura visualizing Chopin fleeing a flaming Warsaw as she struggles with the somber coda of the "Ballade," Jura remembering her mother's Sabbath candles as she plays the solemn opening of Beethoven's "Pathetique."
   
   "My mom and her mother never cared if a piece is in C major. What really counts is the passion behind it, the image. If it's `Clair de Lune,' imagine the moon over a desert island. That imagination allowed her to survive the horrors of what she experienced, because a C-major chord will not inspire you through the horrors. It's the moonlight, the idea that maybe the composer wrote it for someone he loved. These things inflamed her imagination, and that's how she inflamed mine."
   
   And now Golabek's book will inflame the imagination of a whole new generation. The Milken Family Foundation, together with Facing History and Ourselves, an educational organization that teaches tolerance to 1 million students annually, are working with Golabek to bring the story to schools across the country by developing a companion curriculum guide.
   
   Plans are under way to launch the book in Austria, and make it available to teachers as part of the now mandatory four-year Holocaust education program for students.
   
   The saga of Golabek's 18-year struggle to get the story published is almost as harrowing as her mother's story itself. "It went through many, many writings; many, many ups and downs, starts and disappointments," Golabek says.
   
   Now the accolades and offers are pouring in. On Sept. 24, she will be an honored guest speaker at the California Governor's Conference for Women at the Long Beach Convention Center and will appear at Beth Am on Nov. 17 with her sister, pianist Renee Golabek-Kaye, and Jura's four grandchildren, all musicians: Michele, 16; Sarah, 14; Jonathan, 8; and Rachel, 7. Brandeis University will honor her at the Skirball Cultural Center next March 31.
   
   Last week Golabek was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition and was the subject of a feature story by Andy Meisler of the New York Times. In the planning stages is a concert next year co-sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Austrian government. And, of course, Golabek is considering movie offers.
   
   On her syndicated radio show, "The Romantic Hours," which highlights stirring writings against a musical backdrop (Saturdays at 10 p.m., 105.1 FM), Golabek often quotes the poet Jean Paul Richter: "Life fades and withers behind us, but of our immortal and sacred soul all that remains is music."
   
   "That was a quote my mother taught me, and the whole reason why I wrote this book and why I created `The Romantic Hours' was that my mother felt through words and through music our souls would be immortalized."



5. I was unfamiliar with the Kindertransport that moved 10,000 Jewish children to safety from the Holocaust. This biography brings that event to life through the memories of Lisa Jura. At 14, her parents sent her to London and the book covers that wrenching journey and the next six years of her life. Growing up during the blitz in a refugee home with 31 children makes a fascinating book.
   Lisa's devotion to music weaves the story together as she strives towards her parents' dream. Becoming a concert pianist seems unachievable under the circumstances, but this touching biography details Lisa's progress towards that goal. This account has appeal for both adult and teen readers.
   I also recommend In The Shadow Of The Cathedral: Growing Up In Holland During WW II by Titia Bozuwa

5 comments about We Are On Our Own.

1. This is a wonderful, touching book. It is a harrowing story of a young women's struggle to survive the Holocaust and save her toddler daughter. The story takes place in Hungary in the last year of the war. A resourceful and courageous woman, the mother manages to hide as a servant woman. She is both willing and able to do whatever it takes to stay alive. The latter part of the book is devoted to her husband's search for her and his daughter. This search is eventually successful and the family builds a happy life after the war.
   
   The book moved me to tears because it touches the raw pain and desperation both of the mother and of the bewildered child. Unlike many other Holocaust books, this one focuses not so much on the cruelty of the Nazis and their Hungarian helpers, but on the many kind people who took risks to help the two survive or just showed them kindness when it was most needed.
   
   One of the central themes of the book is the young child's struggle to understand God in the context of the losses she suffers. Throughout her life, the protagonist yearned to believe in a God that she felt did not exist. It's an interesting theme and is handled in a nuanced manner.
   
   This is a graphic novel, in cartoon strip format. I did not fall in love with the images. They lack the graphic power of "Maus." Spiegleman made the cartoon medium work for him, forever changing it. Katin's images seemed to me to be less interesting and challenging. They are carefully drawn and capture the mood, but what made the book work for me was the dialog, and that could have been captured as a narrative as well.
   
   This book may not, in my opinion, be appropriate for the younger student because of sexual content. There are two situations of forced sex, and while they are not graphically depicted, the themes are rather adult. There is also discussion of an abortion. The older highschool student should be able to contextualize the material appropriately.



2. Graphic novels are in, and graphic novels about the Holocaust, keying off of Art Spiegelman's MAUS, command our attention both for their subject matter and for the way they present it. Unfortunately, Miriam Katin's WE ARE ON OUR OWN, does not do a good job on either count.
   
   As it happens, shortly before writing this review I spent a couple of hours in a bookshop in New York City that specializes in graphic novels and comic books. I soon realized that most of the graphics in the novels are poor at best. Interestingly, the best ones are done by Europeans who, it seems, are still trained as artists, something that I'm not sure we can say about their American counterparts. Katin's graphics are better than some, but still not especially compelling. They soon lose what visual interest they have.
   
   Nor does the story redeem the uninteresting graphics. As it also happens, this novel is not about the Holocaust, but about the experiences of Katin and her mother, Hungarian Jews who, in 1944, purchased false identity papers and went on the run, staying in Hungary and finding shelter with two or three Hungarian peasant families. In the meantime, Katin's father was fighting with the Hungarian Army. I don't want to minimize the experiences of any refugee when I say that Katin and her mother were singularly fortunate - though occasionally suspected to be Jews, they were never turned in by their hosts; they survived the war and, at war's end, were reunited with Katin's father. They went on to stay in Hungary until 1956, when they left in the aftermath of the Hungarian Uprising.
   
   The title reflects Katin's loss of faith in God, a loss that grew out of Katin's experiences, but the story she presents is simply not compelling. Elie Wiesel survived the concentration camps, the only one in his family to do so, yet he has made his peace with God, and he is hardly the only Holocaust survivor to do that. For far less powerful reasons, Katin wants to share with us her loss of faith, though she could as easily have found the hand of God in her and her parents' survival.
   
   Were it not for the current demand for graphic novels and for Katin's attempt to connect her story with the Holocaust - a connection that barely exists - I'm not sure this book would ever have been published. If you must read a graphic novel that is compelling and is truly about the Holocaust, read MAUS.



3. We Are On Our Own by Miriam Katin is the story of a young Hungarian Jewish woman and her small daughter struggling to survive through the Holocaust. Esther Levy is during her best to raise Lisa (really author Katin) while her husband Karoly is off fighting the Nazis during WWII. But one by one their freedoms are taken from them, including their right to own a dog or live in their apartment. Rather than go to a concentration camp, Esther fakes their deaths and flees into the countryside. She is forced to become the mistress of a Nazi commandant, raped by Russian soldiers, fights through a blizzard, and has an abortion. All in the quest to save her daughter's life. The scenes from the war are drawn in black and white with a charcoal feel to them. They are alternated with scenes from Lisa's life as a mother which are brightly colored, almost harshly so. The pictures are haunting and with a few simple strokes, Katin is able to bring remarkable depth and emotion to each frame. Several pages with the reunion of Karoly and Esther brought tears to my eyes and are examples of masterful storytelling. Another review here says that the book is pointless and doesn't have enough interest to merit publishing. I beg to differ. The Holocaust is such a huge tragedy that thinking about the death of 9 million is impossible to comprehend. But seeing the fight and heroics of a simple woman in the midst of the war brings home the destruction and devastation it brought. Not just to the landscape, but to the human spirit as well. It's a powerful story told about love and courage with the same.



4. Miriam Katin is pure brilliance! What a touching, compelling account of a terrible time in our planet's history. The artwork is just spectacular! This has to be one of the best books I've ever read.
   
   Highly recommend!!



5. The title of Miriam Katin's graphic memoir, We Are On Our Own, is the subtext and conclusion of the story of her survival in Nazi-occupied Hungary. It's one of the most powerful and relentless memoirs I've ever read, graphic or otherwise. For sheer honesty, it ranks right up there with Wiesel's Night, Bechdel's Fun Home, and Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar.
   
   Katin's recollections concern the final weeks of WWII, when the Nazis occupying Hungary know that the game is nearly over and the Soviet Army is advancing. Miriam, who's a girl of 5 or 6, and her mother Esther flee Budapest just before the last of the Jews are rounded up. Disguising themselves as gentile peasants, they resettle in the countryside, where Esther finds herself doing what she must to survive--including becoming the mistress of the local Nazi commandant. The tale is gripping: anti-Semetic Hungarians, brutal Nazis, panic and selfishness dancing with compassion and sacrifice. Esther emerges as an incredibly admirable woman.
   
   The memoir begins with Esther reading the Biblical creation story to Miriam. But as the harrowing story unfolds, whatever faith in a benevolent and protective God that Miriam and Esther might've had drops away. Time and again, they realize that they, like all humanity, are on their own. The recollections are intercut with contemporary scenes in which Miriam, now a grown woman and still without religious faith, is conflicted about her own child going to Hebrew school and temple.
   
   We Are on Our Own's honesty is refreshing as well as potentially disturbing. How can one survive the Holocaust with a comfortable faith--or any faith, for that matter--intact? This is a question too frequently sidestepped, because the answer to it can be unpleasant. Katin doesn't shy away.

5 comments about Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years.

1. I found this book at the library yesterday after I heard the news (I wanted to see it without paying for it). I read through a lot of it to get the sense of what the book was about, and I am stunned that it has taken this long for the truth to come out. Yeah, it's a fascinating story, but come on people.
   
   The people who bought this book should be given a full refund of their purchase in the same way they would be given a refund if they bought a box of cereal and opened it up to find potato chips. After the author and publisher give back all the money, they should then sell the rights to the true story to Hollywood; this entire story sounds like Pan's Labyrinth: a young girl in the most terrible of times escapes through her imagination into a fairytale of her own.



2. I would like to say that I have known Misha personnally for over 20 years and I could not be more hurt and deceived. And like the people who was closest to her we were lied to the greatest extend. And no, I was not gullible. I was there in Ipswitch along with a team of reporters who also believed her and saw what she could do with animals. Misha is actually remarkable with animals but not with people. She never has. But what I found most distasteful is that people can be angry towards me who was also a victim of her lies. So people don't be so quick to judge and hurt others! I am sorry that my own review of what I believed to be true back in 2001 has influenced others to buy and believe her story as well. And that makes me even sicker just to think about it. Now I have to reconcile my own feelings towards Misha and my family and friends who were also affected by her betrayal. So stop the hatred and blame it on the author, not me and the hundreds of people that invested into Misha's story emotionally and financially as well.



3. Here is the article, published yesterday, where the author recants the story. Below, you will find my letter to the Editor of the St Petersburg Times, commenting on the article, and my condensed review of the book.
   
   Author says Holocaust bestseller is made up
   Historians doubted her story of having been raised by wolves.
   Associated Press
   Published March 1, 2008
   
   
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   BRUSSELS - A Belgian writer has admitted that she made up her bestselling "memoir" depicting how, as a Jewish child, she lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust, her lawyers said Friday.
   
   Misha Defonseca's book, Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years, was translated into 18 languages and made into a feature film in France.
   
   Her two Brussels-based lawyers, siblings Nathalie and Marc Uyttendaele, said the author acknowledged that her story was not autobiographical and that she did not trek 1,900 miles as a child across Europe with a pack of wolves in search of her deported parents during World War II.
   
   "I ask forgiveness to all who felt betrayed," Defonseca, 71, said in a written statement. She lives in Dudley, Mass.
   
   Defonseca wrote in her book that Nazis seized her parents when she was a child, forcing her to wander the forests and villages of Europe alone for four years.
   
   She claimed she found herself trapped in the Warsaw ghetto, killed a Nazi soldier in self-defense and was adopted by a pack of wolves that protected her.
   
   Defonseca says that her real name is Monique De Wael and that her parents were arrested and killed by Nazis as Belgian resistance fighters.
   
   "This story is mine. It is not actually reality, but my reality, my way of surviving," the statement said. "I ask forgiveness to all who felt betrayed. I beg you to put yourself in my place, of a 4-year-old girl who was very lost."
   
   She said there were moments when she "found it difficult to differentiate between what was real and what was part of my imagination."
   
   Pressure on the author to defend the accuracy of her book had grown in recent weeks.
   
   "I'm not an expert on relations between humans and wolves, but I am a specialist of the persecution of Jews and they (Defonseca's family) can't be found in the archives," Belgian historian Maxime Steinberg told RTL television. "The De Wael family is not Jewish nor were they registered as Jewish."
   
   Defonseca had been asked to write the book by U.S. publisher Jane Daniel in the 1990s, after Daniel heard the writer tell the story in a Massachusetts synagogue.
   
   [Last modified March 1, 2008, 01:19:15]
   
   Here is my letter to the editor regarding this article (and is a short review of the book)
   Subject: Author says Holocaust bestseller is made up
   I first read Misha DeFonseca's memoirs in French as "Survivre avec Les Loups" (Survival with Wolves) in April, 2006. I think I knew, deep down, that several elements of the story had to be fiction, namely: Misha setting off to walk 1,900 miles "to the East" to find her deported parents, her escaping from the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, her being adopted by and raised by a pack of wolves, her witnessing the rape of a Ukrainian girl and Misha's slaying of the attacker, among others. Nonetheless, the book was moving in its depiction of the barbarity of man's treatment of fellow men, the horrors of life during the Nazi Occupation in Eastern Europe, and the hope of a child to be treated like a person instead of like an animal. I am sad that the author felt the need to embellish her story, which could have stood on its truthful merits alone. We must never forget!
   Marianna Steriadis



4. A story in the March 3, 2008 edition of the New York Times (culture section) reveals that this book is a FAKE. The author has admitted as such. Touting this book as a "memoir" is thus mendacious.



5. Readers may be interested in these letters that appeared about the Defonseca saga in the Globe:
   [...]
   Taken in by a Holocaust memoir
   March 7, 2008
   
   
   AS A chronicler of Holocaust memoirs, I read the saga of Misha Defonseca and publisher Jane Daniel with interest and more than a little apprehension ("Den of lies," Living/Arts, March 1).
   It is indeed difficult if not impossible to even check on, let alone determine, the veracity of the stories of Holocaust survivors. Nazi records, if there is anything of relevance in them regarding individual survivors, are only just now beginning to come out, as in the case of the recently released Bad Arolsen archives. Often, one has little to rely on besides an occasional lucky link between available records and a traumatized, and perhaps somewhat compromised, elderly memory. Exaggeration, embellishment, and fabrication, which can and do exist in any interviewing, always end disastrously, as we see in this saga, which even drew in the likes of Elie Wiesel.
   Thus, going into the collecting process with hope for monetary success is ambiguous at best and futile at worst. Yes, Daniel has expenses and business concerns. But in most cases, documenting the memoirs of others does not result in financial gain. Certainly with regard to atrocities such as the Holocaust, the preservation of memories holds other rich rewards for both the teller and the scribe, but most authors know to keep their day jobs.
   SUSIE DAVIDSON
   Brookline
   The writer, a journalist for the Jewish Advocate, is the author of "I Refused to Die: Stories of Boston-Area Holocaust Survivors and Soldiers who Liberated the Concentration Camps of World War II" and "Jewish Life in Postwar Germany"
   
   [...]
   
   Misguided view on veracity of Holocaust memories
   
   March 18, 2008
   SUSIE DAVIDSON'S assertion that it is is misguided and should not remain unchallenged ("Taken in by a Holocaust memoir," Letters, March 7). It is also not true that Nazi records "are only just now beginning to come out." Archives have been available in Germany and elsewhere for decades to validate the roundups and deportation of Jews from particular communities in Europe.
   Expecting witnesses who tell of their ordeals on transports and in camps to offer proof that they were in a particular ghetto or camp is like Swiss bank officials demanding that children of survivors whose parents had been gassed furnish copies of the death certificates.
   But most disturbing is Davidson's claim that, when interviewing Holocaust survivors, about all we have to rely on is "a traumatized, and perhaps somewhat compromised, elderly memory." As someone who has spent more than a decade interviewing Holocaust survivors, I have found the exact reverse to be true.
   Misha Defonseca's book is so full of confirmable historical errors that on that basis alone it was possible for informed readers to recognize that her narrative could not be true.
   LAWRENCE L. LANGER,
   West Newton
   The writer is the author of "Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory."
   
   
   Statements regarding verification of Holocaust stories still ring true
   
   I stand by my assertions that were taken to task by Lawrence Langer ("Misguided view on veracity of Holocaust memories," Letters, March 18). My statement that Langer quoted, "it is difficult if not impossible to even check on, let alone determine, the veracity of the stories of Holocaust survivors," concerns, as it states, survivors' actual stories, rather than the Nazi deportation archives Langer mentions (which I have seen, some in actuality, in Germany).
   
   Langer analogizes my statements on lack of supporting documentation to my asking the survivors I have interviewed to furnish proof. I have never done such a thing; to the contrary, over the past several years, I have organized public events, always sold my books at cost, charged no speaker fee though I invited and paid other supporting speakers, and, most importantly, publicly read these stories in forums ranging from the Boston Public Library to myriad bookstores, classrooms, synagogues, senior and veterans' centers in an effort to spread awareness of the bravery of these people during the terrible times they lived through.
   
   Yes, I have taken these dear souls at their word. That does not mean I believe that every word is inscribed, and I'm sure the survivors wouldn't either. No memory is perfect. Trauma is affecting. Although I have done my best to verify what survivors in my books have told me, feel that the stories are true, like Langer am highly impressed at their ability to recount their tales, and wholly believe in their sincerity and honesty, I am not afraid to state that I would never take credit for 100 percent, iron-clad verifiability.
   SUSIE DAVIDSON
   Brookline
   
   
   To: letter@globe.com
   Subject: Records, as well as memory, can indeed be fallible
   Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:37:07 +0000
   
   I beg to differ with Lawrence Langer. First, I have a hard time believing that Nazi records released thus far have been all that forthcoming, let alone totally forthright. Second, the sheer breadth of fallout from the deception of Misha DeFonseca alone speaks for the need to be as careful as Susie Davidson has been in her books.
   I recently saw a local public television show try to deal with having had a World War II soldier on the preview hour to Ken Burns' documentary "The War", telling tall tales about his bravery that were soon unveiled as fabrication. This and DeFonseca's book have certainly not been the only instances of unintentional publication and broadcasting of fraudulent or incorrect memoirs in the media, because, as Davidson said, memory, as well as recordkeeping, are not always correct.
   As the nephew and namesake of one of the navigators of the Exodus 1947, whose own story few would believe if it weren't true, I appreciate writers like Davidson who make the effort to verify, admit they can be fallible, and do their work for no personal gain.
   
   FRANK LEVINE
   Malden
   
   
   
   
   I REPRESENTED Misha Defonseca in litigation against Jane Daniel. I worked closely with Defonseca for more than six years. I learned that her memoir was a fabrication when her statement was published in the Globe.
   The article cites Lawrence L. Langer as expressing outrage that anyone could exploit the Holocaust for profit. Langer, an authority on the subject, goes so far as to compare them to Holocaust deniers. I think this is an unfortunate overstatement.
   The irony is that Defonseca's real story seems to be even more compelling than the fabrication. According to the researcher who uncovered the truth, her parents were Catholic members of the Belgian resistance who were captured and killed by Nazis. It is one thing to belong to a group targeted for oppression or genocide and something quite different to choose to align yourself with such a group and share its fate. Whatever our beliefs about our own integrity or moral fiber, there are few among us who would make that choice once we have assumed the obligations of parenthood.
   Defonseca's parents were among this rarest sort of human. Their daughter paid a horrible price for that choice.
   RAMONA HAMBLIN
   Newton
   
   
   
   
   WE AT Wolf Hollow were saddened by the revelation that Misha Defonseca's incredible memoir was an elaborate hoax. Upon meeting her in 1996, we were awed by her story. We were aware of many documented cases of children raised by animals, including chimpanzees, apes, and indeed wolves. Wolves live in packs that mirror our own human families, and are considered the most socially complex nonprimate mammal. In our talks with Defonseca, she demonstrated an intimate knowledge of wolf behavior. Who would not want to believe such a heartwarming story in the midst of one of mankind's darkest times?
   We became close friends with Defonseca, subsequently holding book signings and hosting a film crew from "The Oprah Winfrey Show." We spoke of her when visitors to Wolf Hollow would ask of the validity of tales of wolf-raised children, and even named a wolf puppy Misha. Readers can imagine how shocked we are now.
   For someone to feel the need to create such a story in lieu of reality is the truly sad story. Despite the deception, the Misha that we knew is a warm woman and an advocate for animals, and we trust that that much is still true.
   ZEE SOFFRON
   Assistant director Wolf Hollow
   Ipswich
   
   
   
   
   AFTER READING this story, I was speechless. I have known Misha Defonseca since 1988, when she and her family moved to Millis, and we became close friends. I truly believed her story, and supported her efforts in writing her memoirs.
   One speech she gave stands out in my mind, a night at Brandeis. Several hundred students, faculty, friends, and true Holocaust survivors gathered to hear her story, and many tears were shed as the story unfolded. Holocaust survivors in attendance that evening called out the names of the death camps they were in, and a moment of silence was observed. This experience will live in my memory forever.
   I feel so betrayed, yet my heart is broken for the true Holocaust survivors she used to promote her lies. When her book was published, I felt honored that she put my name in it, and now I am ashamed. I want no association with the lies.
   PATRICIA CUNNINGHAM
   Millis

5 comments about Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944.

1. It was a very interesting and informing book. It was easy to feel for the characters. I highly recommend it for people who are interested in the lives of young holocaust victims.



2. This was the first book I read about the Shoah in Hungary, and it was so fascinating that it got me interested in all things Hungarian. It's different from many books about the Shoah in that the majority of it takes place before the Nazi invasion of Hungary on 19 March 1944, when the remaining members of the Davidowitz family are shipped off to a ghetto. Though life is growing increasingly hard for them because of the anti-Jewish regulations and the strain of living during a war in general, and Piri had to stay in the Ukraine with her grandmother and older sister Rozsi longer than she expected to because of a border war, the Davidowitzes still have a pretty normal and decent life before they have to leave for the ghetto. During this time the family also does their part to help other Jewish families and people in need, even with hiding them in safe houses or helping to smuggle them across borders, and Iboya, the next-youngest of Mrs. Davidowitz's children by her first marriage, is very involved in Zionism. And even in the ghetto, Piri's family and her best friend Judi's little family live the best they can, trying to keep their spirits up and to be happy. Piri and Judi both have their first romances in the ghetto, in fact. It's not one of those books that starts out happily and then quickly moves to the ghetto and then the camps. In fact, the book ends as they're leaving the ghetto in the cattlecar, and only a short postscript tells us what happened after that.
   
   The book is also interesting because not all of Piri's siblings are at home, unlike many other Shoah books where all of the family are in the same house. Because her mother didn't want her grandmother to be lonely after she was widowed, she began farming out her five daughters to stay with her to keep her company, but Lilli, the oldest, wasn't her companion very long because she got married at only 16 years old and soon had a baby. Now Rozsi is living with the grandmother, and loves farm life very much, while the other older sister, Etu, is away at university in Budapest. Even after Lilli and her young daugher Manci move back in, there are still only Piri and her sister Iboya left at home along with their halfsiblings Sandor and Joli, and when Lilli's husband Lajos is arrested and Lilli insists on joining him along with Manci, there are still only the youngest four still at home. It makes it interesting because the family are in all different places instead of all suffering the same fates or suffering all together. The only complaint I have about the book is one I acquired in hindsight; it would have been helpful to have told the reader something about the pronunciation of the Hungarian names and that some of the names used, like Ica and Manci, are nicknames and not full given names.



3. I like history and the subject of World War II and Nazi Germany, that is why I was surprised how much I did not like this book. I found it boring and uninteresting. I wish the book had more action. I guess it was hard for me to identify with a nine year old girl and what she went through. I also do not like endings that leave you hanging. I wish we knew what happened to them after they got on the train. It was almost like I wish the book started where it ended. This book is probably better for someone younger or for someone who wants to avoid the violence and terror of World War II.



4. Upon the Head of a Goat is a very good book. It gives a lot of back round pre-holocaust. The fact that it is a true story is even better. It teaches and touches upon the home of a Jewish family torn from each other. It describes the obstacles they had to go through to live their everyday life. They had their food, conformability, morals, thoughts, believes, and one another taken from them.
   I liked this book, and I recommend it. There are parts in the book that you will question yourself on the answers that you would provide in certain situations. The ending of the book was a little disappointing because it didn't really touch upon what happened. They led up to all these thoughts and stopped.



5. I think that you should read this book because it is clear and it gives a good description of what it was like for the Jews as the Holocaust began. The author described how they lived, specifically, how they dressed, slept, and ate. This gives the reader a clear understanding. It is interesting to learn about an actual family that lived during these hard times, especially for the children Piri, Etu, Joli, and Sandor. Piri's family had to make hard decisions in order to survive. The book gives a good description of the Ghetto and how they had to live for those few weeks. For example, the bathroom was smelly and gross with not much privacy. The ground was cold and hard, "What if it rains during the night?" she asked. "We'll all get soaked." They were not allowed to make fires either. They don't even know how long they are going to be there so they don't know what to expect. They build somewhat of a shelter for just their family with a tent inside it for privacy and to help keep the rain out. The author, Aranka Siegal, doesn't just give an overview of what it was like in the Ghetto; she describes every detail about it. Overall, it is a good book and I recommend it to ages 13 an up.

5 comments about Streets: A Memoir of the Lower East Side (The Helen Rose Scheuer Jewish Women's Series).

1. This book was written by a very eloquent author in 1922. At 23years of age, she carefully details her struggles of growing up inpoverty on the lower east side of Manhattan. This is one of a few books that deals with the difficulties faced by immigrants of to New York around the turn of the century. Her battles are those of a poor, Jewish girl growing up without a father in tenement housing. I thouroughly recommend this book to Jews, feminists and historians.



2. This is a coming of age story depicting the harrowing early life of an extraordinary talent. Told with an amazing eye for detail and a highly developed sense of humor, this is one of the most moving autobiographies I have read. Bella Spewack writes of her thirst for knowledge and determination. In later life Bella invented the Girl Scout cookie, became a noted journalist and wrote successful plays and movies. Streets tells of the difficult circumstances of her childhood.



3. Streets: Memoir Of The Lower East Side was written in 1922 and published for the first time in 1955. This remarkable memoir of a young Jewish girl's coming of age in the tenement slums of New York's Lower East Side is gritty, candid, vivid, engaging, sensitive, and streetsmart. Bella Spewack overcame obstacles of gender, background, and religious discriminations to succeed as a celebrated journalist, playwright, and screenwriter. Streets is highly recommended, articulate reading and will prove of special interest to students of American Jewish history, Women's Studies, and biographies reflecting the triumph of the human spirit over social and cultural barriers.



4. this is my favorite book. if anyone has similar taste to me then i highly recommend them to read it. i was getting so into reading it that i never wanted it to end. to last forever. so i tried to do so by reading a limit of pages each day. i live in NYC and by reading the book i had grown a stronger love for the city and thats another reason i loved the book. the down fall of the book? well, it was and made me sad. it was kinda a depressing book. you now. like a heart-acher.

   it was indeed a pleasure to read and in the future, if you do read it, i hope you injoy.

   thats my review! i hope i helped!




5. this is my favorite book. if anyone has similar taste to me then i highly recommend them to read it.

   i'm going to describe it as a story of a girl growing into a women on the streets of the lower east side of manhattan. she tells of different jobs and the boarders that her and her mother board to help pay the rent. its very hard for me to describe becuase of 2 reasons 1) you can't describe it you have to read it 2)i read it a year ago.

   i was getting so into reading it that i never wanted it to end. to last forever. so i tried to do so by reading a limit of pages each day. i live in NYC and by reading the book i had grown a stronger love for the city and thats another reason i loved the book. i also loved the stories she has of her childhood. the down fall of the book? well, it was and made me sad. it was kinda a depressing book. you now. like a heart-acher.

   it was indeed a pleasure to read and in the future, if you do read it, i hope you enjoy.

   thats my review! i hope i helped!

5 comments about Your Name Is Renee: Ruth Kapp Hartz's Story as a Hidden Child in Nazi-Occupied France.

1. "Your Name is Renee" is the unforgettable story of Ruth Kapp Hartz, told from her viewpoint as a child in Nazi-occupied France in the early 1940's. It is too compelling to read in little increments...you'll want to consume it from cover to cover in one sitting. The writing style is simple and tremendously effective, never distracting from the story itself. Mrs. Hartz's story should be required reading from middle grades on up. Hats off to Stacy Cretzmeyer for giving us such a gem.



2. This is the story written from the view of a 5 yr. old girl who is literally torn away from her parents where she is not old enough to understand what is happening. The story is heart rendering and a good one to start reading about the holocaust. Other books are far more compelling than this as regards what happens to people, but in the eyes of a youngster it is almost life ending for her and her friends. It seems there is another book or two awaiting to tell Ruth's parents' side of the story as well as possibly the Resistance Movement in and around the geographical area mentioned in this book.



3. Your Name Is Renee is an extraordinary book that captures the mind and spirit of the reader. It keeps you interested and has so much great detail that you just fall in love with the characters. I was truely amazed at how wonderful this book was. There were several reasons I found it so astonishing. There was great detail and information about the characters, events of WWII, and of the Holocaust. While you read this book you discover how hard the Jews had to work to stay unharmed and how scary it was for them for fear of being caught. You learn that everywhere they went they had to be cautious not to give themslves away as Jews. I love how you felt as if you were there. The events seemed so real. You especially felt sorry for the young children,such as Ruth (Renee was her fake French name), who had no idea what was going on, why families everywhere were being pulled away from eachother, and why her family was on a constant run. It was very emotional to learn about the Jew's struggles and ways of life during the Holocaust. Even children like Ruth had to adapt to this lifestyle and learn exactly what they should say around strangers to keep themselves safe. I got really into Your Name Is Renee, even catching myself yelling at characters for treating Ruth or another Jew cruely or taking something away from them. I mostly loved this book because I learned a lot about the Holocaust and who was involved during it. I also learned that the Jews always had to be alert no matter where they were and careful about who they trusted. Your Name Is Renee is a remarkable book full of suspicion, suspense, suffering, and support. I recommend to each and every person who likes or dislikes reading. Your Name Is Renee will astound everyone.



4. When i was a senior in high school, the class read this book. A chilling, heart rendering tale of a horrible time in our history through the eyes of a victim too young to be so brave. While others griped about having to read yet another book. it was not long till all eyes in the class were glued to their books. The writing makes you want to continue, almost as if you stop reading then maybe you can close your eyes and act as though the horror never happened. Yet you continue out of a strange respect for this child. Luckily for our class after we had read the book and its end became known to all of us, our teacher had Stacey Cretzmeyer,the author, come and speak to our class. An awe inspiring moment for most of us. While origianlly she was there to talk about the writing of the book, it became abundanlty clear that even the toughest of kids where concerned about what had happened to that child. She informed us that she had been to a family reunion not to far long before this event.She passed pictures around the class and yes.there were tears shed as people were finally able to put faces to names we had only read about. The most poignant picture was of a group photo. A large smiling group of people looked back from the glossy page-and the most hard hitting moment that dawned on the class-and finally uttered by one of the biggest, quietest, hulking guys in the class- "They grew into such a large family" They had carried on. The Nazi's had lost in every way. Not just to U.S. bombers and fighters but to the unending spirit to survive, thrive and to flourish. Even Ten years after reading this book for the first(but not the last time) I look forward to reading this story with my own little girl.This story is so touching and leaves a mark on you that never fades from your memory.



5. I read this book in fifth grade. It was one of the best books I have read. Me being a huge WWII fanatic who reads about it all the time. I was said when Uncle Heinrich didn't make it to the train i felt like crying because Ruth loved him and Jeanette. I have read many books like this like Number The Stars, Hitler's White Russians, The Russian Roots of Nazism, The Russian German War, but this book was nothing like those others it was incredible, fascinating, heart thumping, and most of all touching. Sure it was a little slow in the end, but it was still an incredible book.

5 comments about We Just Want to Live Here: A Palestinian Teenager, an Israli Teenager -- an Unlikely Friendship.

1. Ashley Southard
   English Book Review
   April 16, 2004
   The Arab/ Israeli conflict has been discussed in many books, and Americans hear of it every day in the news. But do you really know both sides to the story? We Just Want to Live Here, a story of teenagers Amal Rifa'I (a Palestinian) who is planning on studying special education in an Israeli college, and Odelia Ainbinder (an Israeli) who is part o a socialist/Zionist movement before she gets ready to join the military living in Israel, shows the opinion of both sides of the conflict. Amal and Odelia met one summer while at an exchange program in Switzerland. After, they were asked by journalist Sylke Tempel to begin writing to each other discussing the conflict in which they are living.
   This non-fiction book is presented as a compilation of the letter the girls wrote to each other. In these heart-to-heart letters, Amal and Odelia discuss political, social and ethnic issues. This book was published for people who are passionate about the "bad blood" between the Palestinian and Israeli issues. These letters really dig deep into the soul of the people of Israel, Palestinian and Israeli alike, and readers begin to feel compassion for these girls. One of the only weaknesses of this book was the fact that there was really no plot or suspense to keep a person reading. Many people watch TV shows consistently because of the suspense, and many people like books that are the same way. This book lacks that appeal, and it is easy to become bored with this book if you don't wish to delve into the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

   Unlike most books, these letters truly had no bias. Each teenager is from one side of the conflict, and they discuss the modern issues in such a way that the reader genuinely gains an understanding of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Readers begin to realize the stupidity of the prejudices that people hold and realize that you cannot make judgment about this dispute until you completely understand the emotions of both peoples.
   I would recommend We Just Want to Live Here for readers who are interested in this dispute. People who are passionate about this ongoing war will not become bored with the lack of plot in these letters. The letters really help to achieve true understanding of this everlasting issue.




2. "Boom," a bomb goes off two blocks away from your school, just as you are leaving class. This isn't that rare of occasion for the two teenage co-authors of the book, We Just Want to Live Here. In this book they are often left to decide how they feel about the suicide bombings and other occurrences in their hometown, Jerusalem. Sylke Tempel put the fascinating letters between these very different teenage girls together into this great factual book about living in Jerusalem during the second Intifada.
   Sylke Tempel does a great job putting together the letters in a logical order that helps the reader to understand the conflict in Jerusalem from both opinions. By using a Palestinian girl (Odelia Ainbinder) and an Israeli girl (Amal Rifa'i) you were flushed with both aspects of such topics as the suicide bombings, the army, school and even normal girl talk such as boys. Through both girls' lives, their views of the other side were only composed of what they heard from their friends, family and media making them only see a glance of the big picture. The girls' way of expressing their feelings made you get in the shoes of both sides of the conflict. They didn't leave anything out about their beliefs on what should be done to solve the conflicts between the Palestinians and Israelis. their feelings are even supportive of the other side. For example they agree on such things as how influential their parents were to their lives, yet abruptly disagree on such issues as whether Odelia, the Israeli girl, should join the army after her year off. Sometimes all they would do through their letters was learn more about the other persons culture, which is what happened when they started talking about such things as school and getting married and moving in with boys. This book is very un-biased because it shows how real teenagers on both sides feel about the conflict. Sylke Tempel makes it very clear that she wants people to receive no bias towards either side. She does this by showing both sides of the argument and showing how neither girl is evil. Because of the way Tempel broke up the book, it reads very fast and is easy to understand. The girls' discussion was very interesting and sometimes even shocking to learn how they felt on different issues.
   We Just Want to Live Here, is a great read for people of all ages. It would probably be better for girls to read because it is written by girls and sometimes would get a little into girl talk. Being the letters of real girls, this book would be great to read as a class in history or English. This is because it is very factual and a great un-biased way to learn about the conflict in Jerusalem. Before reading this book I would suggest to have previous knowledge of the conflict to better understand what girls are talking about. Overall this was a great, educational book filled with many different opinions and thoughts. I would definitely recommend this book to someone wanting to expanse his or her knowledge in the Arab-Israeli conflict.



3. In the summer of 2000, a group of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers were invited to Switzerland. Despite many misunderstandings between the Jews and Muslims on the trip, tentative friendships were formed. However, just before the students returned home to Israel, the second Intifada broke out reminding each participant of their differences. Two young women on the trip who did become friends were Palestinian Amal Rifa'i and Israeli Odelia Ainbinder. Two years later, in June of 2002, journalist Sylke Tempel began looking for a young Israeli and a young Palestinian to exchange letters and ideas in order to create a book that would tell the story of Palestine, Israel and the Intifada in their own words. She found the ideal pair in Amal and Odelia. The result is WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE, a series of letters and conversations between Amal and Odelia.
   
   Just 18 years old when they begin corresponding, the women are wise beyond their years and patient with each other's points of view. There is much potential for name-calling, disrespect and worse in such a dialogue, but Amal and Odelia behave with a restraint and open-mindedness often sorely lacking in regards to this difficult and delicate subject. Covering topics such as Jerusalem (where they both live, geographically close but socio-cultural worlds apart), school and the Israeli army, both women are not only quite honest and articulate about their feelings, but are also well versed in their cultural and religious history and tradition. To further illustrate certain points, each invites family members to share her story and thus we read about Odelia's parents and Amal's grandfather in their own words.
   
   Even with such an open dialogue, Amal and Odelia realize there are some things they may never see eye to eye on --- each has a different interpretation of the formation history of the State of Israel, each interprets the plight of the Palestinians in a very different way. Yet they both agree that continued violence is not the answer and hope for strong leadership for the Israelis and the Palestinians. One major problem they both identify is the lack of knowledge about each other's culture, religion and history. Knowledge, they stress, is key to a sustainable peace.
   
   As the book was being written, both Amal and Odelia faced adult life and responsibility --- Amal was engaged to be married and Odelia was preparing for her mandatory service in the Israeli army. Yet the tone of the book still reflected a youthful hopefulness and youthful frustration.
   
   Poignant, brutally honest and sometimes heartbreaking, WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE is written with the idealism of youth and the cynicism of those who grow up amid war and violence. This is a book that puts a human face on the violence and destruction of the Israeli-Palestinian war and invites the reader to question her beliefs and opinions. Amal and Odelia are brave and admirable, willing to open their hearts and minds to each other.
   
   WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE is not about solutions or roadmaps to peace. It is the tale of a friendship and intellectual exchange in spite of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. I highly recommend this book for those who want a glimpse of what life is like for teenagers in Israel.
   
   --- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman



4. It is interesting to see the views of two young women caught up in this conflict. My main complaint about this book is the chronology in the back of the book.
   
   1. Under 1947 Temple writes "The Jewish population in Palestine rises from 24,000 to 630,000 due to several ways of immigration (aliyah; plural, aliyot) between 1882 and 1948. This more than triples Palestine's Jewish population at that time" It seems to me that the Jewish population increases by 26 times, why use triple? I really have no idea what she is referring to.
   
   2. Under 1948 Temple writes "Declaration of the independent state of Israel on May 14 by Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Guerion. On the following day, troops from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia attack Israel. The Jewish underground movements, Lechi and Ezel, launch a wave of attacks against Arab civilians, which culminates in the massacre at Deir Yassin, where 245 inhabitants lost their lives. According to UN estimates, 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of their homes." Deir Yassin occurred on April 9, five weeks before Israel declared independance and Arab armies intervened. Most of the Palestenians who were driven out of their homes were expelled before May 14.
   
   3. 1956 - Not mentioned, England, France and Israel invade Egypt. Retreat under US pressure.
   
   4. 1987 - Temple writes "In opposition to the nationalistic PLO, Israel supports the foundation Islamic factions, which will be the origin of he fundementalist Hamas (Arabic for "enthusiasm/excitement") under its leader Sheikh Achmed Yassin."
   Hamas was formed in the late 1970's and had been supported by Israel from the beginning.
   
   5. 1994 - Temple writes "Hamas commits suicide bombings with the goal of sabotaging the peace process." Hamas committed it's first suicide bombing in response to murder of 29 muslims at a mosque in Hebron by Baruch Goldstein an american born far right settler. Temple leaves out the part about Baruch Goldstein.
   
   There are some other things that I don't think she is very evenhanded or possibly even correct about in the chronology but I don't have time to research everything. The most glaring error is getting the date of Deir Yassin wrong, simple historical research.



5. Forget the negative reviews---this is a wonderful, sweet, realistic and educational view of what it's like to live in Jerusalem, as seen through the eyes of two teenage girls...one Muslim and the other Jewish. I am impressed with the intelligence of these two young women. They don't chat about rock music or Britney Spears or trendy clothing--instead, they describe the love they feel for their city and how they can each do their part to create lasting peace. The girls get into serious political debates and they disagree quite frequently, but they respect each other as human beings and the friendship is strong. It's fascinating to learn what young Israelis think of America--Odelia, for instance, believes it's far more dangerous to live in New York than in Jerusalem! This is a warm and endearing book. I recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary Jerusalem (or all of Israel) and what life is like there. I learned a lot from reading it.

5 comments about God and the Philosophers: The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason (Oxford Paperbacks).

1. Is it rational to believe in God? Do faith and reason go together? Can philosophers believe in God? This collection of autobiographical essays answers these questions in the affirmative. The main collective argument of this book is that it is rational to believe in God. Philosophers need not fear belief in God. Indeed this book shows in contemporary form how philosophers have historically believed in God.

   These essays are personal journeys as to how twenty modern philosophers have handled their religious beliefs in their field of study. There is a diversity of Evangelical, Catholic, Episcopalian, and Jewish philosophers. The essays are of varying degree in quality and content.

   Here are a few highlights: Peter van Inwagen's essay entitled "Quam Dilecta" is probably one of the best in this collection. He argues that in recent times the deck is stacked against religious belief in academic circles. It has been commonly accepted that religion and philosophy do not mix and that they must be compartmentalized. However he proves this to be a false disjunction. They cannot and should not be separated. In fact they should be wed together.

   Brian Leftow's "From Jerusalem to Athens" is probably the second best essay in the collection. He argues that he is a philosopher because he is first a Christian. Christian belief is a help to the intellectual life and it was Christianity, which brought him to philosophy. He shows that historically it has been commonplace for philosophers to base their philosophy on theistic belief. He seeks to return philosophy to its rightful place as being rooted in the Christian religion.

   Given the diversity of contributors it makes for a mixed bag of essays. I believe the worst one (biblically speaking) was that of Marilyn McCord Adams. This significantly highlights the biblical injunction to be careful of hollow and deceptive philosophy (Colossians 2:8). Adams' essay is a negative warning to not acquiesce one's theology for the sake of philosophy. All too often as evidenced in this volume one has to give up key elements of the faith to be seen as respectable in the eyes of the university philosophy department (cf. Garcia giving up justification by faith alone and the doctrine of Scripture alone). For Adams emotion and feeling is often placed over God's divine revelation as disclosed in the Bible. She has faulted to the worldly wisdom, which God has made foolish (1 Corinthians 1:20).

   One will be both encouraged and depressed as one reads through this volume. It is encouraging that many philosophers believe in God. Belief in God has become respectable and it is now seen as rational. Yet it is discouraging in that many are giving up central elements of the faith to make their beliefs respectable in the philosophy department. The God who is being believed in is not always the God of the Bible in his entire splendor and majesty. May we pray for more philosophers who are strongly committed to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. And may God be glorified in our philosophy.




2. This collection of essays is a mixed bag of good and not so good. Several of the authors obviously cling to Christianity because they grew up in it, have had a favourable experience with it and enjoy the sense of community that it brings. But these kinds of reasons could apply to any number of social organizations created by man.
   I agree that one of the better essays is by Peter van Inwagen. I am troubled somewhat by his remark on p.37 "Nowadays I would say that I don't expect that the New Testament always gives an exact account of Jesus' words.......". (This comment was in reference to the Parousia (the second coming of Jesus)). So how exactly are we to know which words attributed to Jesus are authentic? If, on major points like this Sciprture is not demonstrably reliable then why believe any of it?



3. I suppose I expected more from this book. After reading the introduction by editor Thomas Morris, I was expecting what he termed biographical essays "from the heart". Indeed there were several insightful essays from this slant discussing people's life experiences as they mingled reason and faith. Most of this book, however, was extremely disappointing to me. I found many authors drudging on regarding points that strayed very far from the stated "thesis" of the book and many of the essays were rehashings of the other essays in the book.

   I really struggled to find the motivation to finish this book and that is quite a strong statement coming from me.




4. "Most of the philosophers in the history of Western Civilization have believed in God" editor Tom Morris writes in the introduction of this book, and so many of the American academic world's leading professional philosophers come forward to share their exciting journeys of faith and life in this exciting collection. Readers come to realize how many of these writers have not only clung to their faith in a very secular world, but have continued to examine and strengthen it after finding truth and reason in Christian theism. Many of the philosophers briefly describe how they find their positions of faith to be the most reasonable to the other alternatives(I say briefly because I know each one could turn their essay into an entire book). They also strongly examine the weaknesses associated with their beliefs(such as the problem of evil) by carefully examining those weaknesses and giving strong arguments towards those weaknesses. The philosophers also show how religious and spiritual faith is not simply based on reason(like demonstrating a mathematical formula's truth or demonstrating the strongest chemical reaction) but also a great life commitment. Each demonstrates how their faith challenges them to become a better person physically, ethically, spiritually, as well as intellectually. I recommend this book to all who want to better understand how religious faith and spirituality are not only compatible with intellectual endeavors, but also greatly enhance them.



5. This book is *not* a book of apologetics. It is, rather, an insightful look into the personal lives and thoughts of some of the worlds top philosophers who are also Christians. It is very successful in that task. The contributors list is a veritable Who's Who of philosophy:
   
   Thomas Morris
   William P. Alston
   Peter van Inwagen
   Michael J. Murray
   William J. Wainwritght
   Merold Westphal
   C. Stephen Layman
   Jerry Walls
   Robert C. Roberts
   Jeff Jordan
   Marilyn McCord Adams
   Brian Leftow
   George Mavrodes
   Eleonore Stump
   
   This book will challenge the discerning reader from both the rationalistic Christian perspective as well as the skeptic who is reading attentively. Very highly recommended.

No comments about Lectures on the Religion of the Semites.

5 comments about Leap into Darkness: Seven Years on the Run in Wartime Europe.

1. I just finished this book, I coulnt beleive the outcome of it.It was so shocking to hear all of this. I couldn't put it down. Im very interested in the Holocaust, even though im not a surviver, but it is so interesting on how people were back in WWII, it amazes me that people had to go through all of this..I would diffently reccommend this. Thanks to Leo and Michael, to share such a tragic story and a big and unhumian peice of your life, a peice of history..Best Wishes



2. I've read several books about the holocaust,whether their authors were survivors of the death camps, survivors on the run, or even non-Jews who helped others survive by hiding them. This book was an incredible story. His escapes were brave and amazing. I'm always looking for more stories such as this, it is amazing to me, there are so many stories, I want to know them all. If you have any other recommendations, e-mail me at Stacy1212@aol.com. Great book, must read.



3. The part that most struck me was when he wrote "Before the war would end, little Austria would supply nearly half of the staff of all Nazi concentration camps and death camps." and the story he tells of being a boy in Vienna in March 1938 "when Hitler entered the city and found a quarter of a million people rapturously cheering him". He says his cousin Sonja still lives in Vienna "where the citizens now call themselves victims....hoping to keep their secret from the rest of the world". Hitler was an Austrian and so was the head of the Gestapo Kaltenbrunner and many many other Nazi's.



4. Well, the writer is my Grandpa. I am 10 years old so I read it early. My mom helped me out a lot. But thats not exactly a bad thing! Everytime I came to a word I didn't know she would tell me. My mom really could help because my mom was even the one who read it and edited it so she was one of the first, and that really helped because she knew the whole story. I first thought it wasn't such a bad tradgedy of what he did, but after I accually read it, I really changed my mind! If you have not read it, you really got to. Even if you are ten like me, try and you will really like it! Expeccially read it if you like biographies and autobiographies, cause this is an autobiography! Even if you don't like non-fiction, read it anyway! This is so cool that it sounds impossible, and im it sounds impossible it's as fiction as any other book!



5. an incredible story about the human spirit and the will to live against all odds.