No comments about Kibbutz Buchenwald: Survivors and Pioneers.

No comments about Dual Allegiance: An Autobiography (Goodread Biographies).

No comments about A Clash of Heroes: Brandeis, Weizmann, and American Zionism (Studies in Jewish History).

4 comments about Biografía de Ana Frank.

1. This book is wonderful, it was done with the complete cooperation of Anna's surviving relatives, who gave the author letters, photographs and Anna's more personal side. They finally show us Anna's mother and father, and you will find letters and parts of Otto Frank's diary and memoirs, where he sees a complicated relationship between mother and daughter, and the pain he felt that Anna and her mother could have more time together to get to know and understan each other better, he knew that the fights where due to her age. For the first time you get to know Anna Frank, not as a victim, but as a human being, who loved, laughed and cared, but who also fought, cried and felt alone. A must read, Enjoy!



2. While perhaps the title of this book might give you a hint, nothing in the documentation for this book tells you that it is NOT the original, but is a translation into Spanish. Be forewarned. My low-star rating has nothing to do with the quality of the book. I assume the other reviewers were able to read the book in Spanish. But if you aren't able to do this, don't buy this book.



3. Agosto del 2001

   He leído el libro en dos días, me ha cautivado el estilo de la escritora, pero sobre todo los hechos de la vida de Ana. Esta biografia es la primero que leo sobre Ana, ignoraba que hubiera algo como esto ademas del diario. Pienso que la autora ha hecho un excelente trabajo de investigacion sobre los acontecimientos que sucedieron antes, durante y despues en la vida de la familia Frank, durante esos tragicos dias de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. El libro ademas de presentar los hechos de una manera cronologica fundamentados con documentos historicos, tiene, diria yo, un "sabor" familiar, es como si la autora nos estuviera contando algo que le ha sucedido a algun ser querido muy cercano a nosotros (los lectores). Las excelentes fotografias que tiene el libro permite que se conozca a algunos de las personas con las que Ana convivio. Al final del libro se encuentra una parte dedicada a quien pudo haber traicionado a los que se escondian en la "casa de atras". Esta parte me gusto mucho porque es una pregunta que surge al estar leyendo el libro. Es un excelente libro sobre la vida de Ana Frank.




4. this 's a good biography of Anne. it's very interesting book so i can't turn my eyes of it..

No comments about Dreyfus: A Family Affair, 1789-1945.

3 comments about Mischling, Second Degree: My Childhood in Nazi Germany.

1. This book changed my life. I found this book by chance at around age 10, and Koen's story was and remains to me the most vivid, affecting account of WWII I've ever read. Intensely personal and told from a child's point of view, I highly recommend this book; it is a crystalline window into the insanity of Germany under Hitler and of policies that categorize people by their race. I'd very much like to hear from others who've read it.



2. This book tells the story of Ilse Koen itself, who was told by her parents out of trying to protect her, that her name is Kohn (which would be "a good german name" as her father puts it) and not Koen, which would suggest jewish heritage; and indeed, she is "Mischling, second degree". In Nazi Germany there were the Nürnberg laws, that said, that Jews must be expelled "onto 3rd and 4th degree". To protect little Ilse, her parents don't tell her of her jewish heritage and send her to her arish grandmother. She is even goin on "Kinderlandverschickung"(sort of holidays for children away from their parents) with the BdM (Convention of german girls). Though she never is impressed by Nazi-rituals, she is forced to go with the crowd. A really good book for young teenagers.An exemple of naivety and fear of brutal force is given in this book. Refer also to similar book: Hitlerjunge Salomon.



3. I knew Ilse Koehn when she was writing this book. She always spoke with such love for her father, while never explaining why. Now I understand. I've read her book and taught it in middle school; not because we were friends, but because this age group can relate to all the emotions Ilse expresses in so many aspects of an "outsider/survivor" child during World War II. Young adults today must cope with life as it moves on, just like Ilse, who faced a life which often made no sense.
   As an adult she writes her memoir. Did the girl, Ilse, understand? Or does Ilse, the mature woman,understand the events which effected her existance? Does the passge of time give us a clearer vision?
   My students look at Ilse's life and writing this way. Ilse Koehn's book makes them think. Ilse's writing helps many students find understanding.

No comments about The Jewish Sources of the Sermon on the Mount.

5 comments about The Survivor Of The Holocaust.

1. I read this book this past year, my sophmore year in High School. This book told pieces of the hell Mr. Eisner had to go through and how he managed to survive. I was told by my teacher (and several other students in my class) that this was a "hard read" and it would take a little while to finish. I, however, was so entranced by Jack's words that I had to keep on going and finished it in over a course of a day. Not only did I get to read Jack Eisner's book, but I got to meet him in person when, not only did he come to the university (where I attended his first speech), but at my High School, where I again attended his speech and even got to shake this man's hand. To actually get to meet him was something all together and made the book even more wonderful. Soon everyone who lived during that time, who actually fought or survived the horrors of that world, will be gone, but through Jack's book, and other's like his, we will never forget. That is one thing that Jack said, we must never forget. I guarantee anyone can like this book ... it shows you a first hand prospective of how things actually went on in the Ghetto and the camps, although it just barely skims the surface of some of the things that happened.



2. At the end, the author wrote, "Everyone who had a chance to read the manuscript in progress expressed disbelief that all these experiences could have happened to one person and yet he survived." This is how I felt reading this book. His will to live and his resourcefulness were amazing. What guts he had, for example, to plot and to rescue his mother from the Nazi hospital! He came so close to being killed by the Nazis so many times and managed to escape so many times. It's hard to imagine that there really are people in the world with such courage. I didn't want to read another WWII book, but I picked this one up (my wife had bought it)while waiting for my next book to arrive, and once I started it I couldn't put it down. If you can stand to hear the horrible realities, read this book.



3. The Survivor of the Holocaust, by Jack Eisner, is not just a story of camp survival, although the book does deal with Mr. Eisner's time in various camps. More importantly, it is the story of one man's attempt to fight back, to make a difference, during a time when the life of a Jew was worth less than that of an animal. In that, Mr. Eisner succeeded. Although, as one review of this book stated, some of the events may, and I emphasis the word may, have been embellished with time, I find little fault with this based upon the fact that it was written well after the events occurred. Additionally, the subject matter is so horrific that it is only natural that, with time, some of his experiences might have taken on a different light. In my opinion, this in no way detracts from the quality or importance of the story. We owe it to Jack Eisner and all of the others like him to read his story. I recommend this book.
   
   One of the leaders of the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto said " We must fight them (the Germans) as a symbol for posterity to show that even in the face of certain death, with hardly any weapons, a handful of Jews had the guts to stand up to the mighty German Army."



4. I read this first as a child and have recently re-read it. It is as intense as it was when I discovered it at 13. This one IMHO is THE holocaust memoir and I say this as a big fan of Anne Frank's Diary. I wish I could say never again, but Rwanda made it clear that this stage in history is not an aberration. Silence doesn't exist. Revisionism is easier than truth and unless truth is passed on there will be no alternative.



5. What a man! He is a real fighter and hero. At least people can see the truth about the Germans now, and can also admire such a hero whose hand of G-d made him a survivor.
   This book is wonderful, it deserves to be the best book about the Holocaust. Very moving, well written, and a real story.

2 comments about Adolf Eichmann: Engineer of Death (Holocaust Biographies).

1. Although this book is written for the adolescent student, do not let its brevity fool you. Ms. Sachs went to the heart of the matter of the life of Adolf Eichmann, his association with the Nazi Party, and the stamp he placed on history in connection with the unnecessary slaughter of European Jews in the 1930s-1940s. The weight of this book leans towards Eichmann's simple nature, yet shows how ironically this simple man played an important role in a complex scheme of death. My highest commendations for this work in these days of plurality and remembrance.



2. It would, perhaps, be unfair to say there is no value in the book for those who are interested in Eichmann. However, Sachs' book in a very inferior source, in part because it is poorly researched, and sometimes the author seems to have a poor grasp of the meaning of her research materials.
   
   The author's comments in the editorial section above, which completely mischaracterize the arguments made by Hannah Arendt in her book on the Eichmann trial and which also suggest that Sachs holds the ridiculous belief that Arendt had something to do with crafting the arguments used by the Defendants in the Nuremberg trials, should give any potential reader pause.

2 comments about Hidden from the Holocaust: Stories of Resilient Children Who Survived and Thrived.

1. A moving and well-researched testimony to the courage and fortitude of the forgotten children who, although saved from the camps, suffered because they were Jews. The people interviewed tell, in a matter-of-fact way, of their experiences as hidden children and how they have fared since. They often pay tribute to the courage and care of their 'hiding families' with whom many have remained in contact. One survivor, Henry Birnbaum, says that what stays with him is the "funny mixture" of stretches of boredom interspersed with extreme terror.
   
   Dr Bluglass concludes with a sensitive appraisal of the after-effects on the survivors. She suggests that the reason they have all thrived could be that they either came from secure and loving families, or were nurtured by their 'hiding families'. Later they also came to understand more fully why their birth families had had to give them up.
   
   A rewarding and highly recommended read which, perhaps surprisingly in view of the subject, leaves one with a sense of hope.



2. I've read many books by and about Holocaust survivors, and have found that those told "in their own words" to be the most immediate and telling. What differentiates this book from many others is that it adds the singular perspective of how each survivor adjusted to a new world that offered not dire, but significant ordinary challenges.