5 comments about But He Was Good to His Mother : The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters.

1. Prompt delivery of my order. Would recommend this seller. Book as advertised.



2. A good book for casual crime readers who don't need heavy details, but amazingly inaccurate in several areas. Seems to repeat old myths told in other books rather than do research.
   
   ie Joe the Boss's hit team did not include Anastasia, Adonis or even Siegel
   
   or
   
   Dutch Schultz was not shot in the bathroom or even shot by Charlie Workman. The caliber of the bullet found in Dutch matched those used by his men, not those who had shot his men down. The more accurate tale is that he was mistaken;y shot by his own men while trading fire with Lepke's boys. (The bathroom was directly behind the doorway where Workman had to be shooting from)



3. Robert Rockaway provides an engaging portrait of the warm, loving relationships many of the most notorious Jewish mobsters in the history of U.S. crime enjoyed with their girl friends, wives, children, and other family members, especially mothers. The emotions the wicked ways of these boys provoked from their loved ones ranged from devastation and shame to pride, arrogance, and defensiveness. While a lot of this material is old hat, an equal amount is not, and I generally found this book to be light and enjoyable.



4. The title of this book comes from the fact that Jewish gangsters took a very protective attitude towards their mothers, and did everything they could to keep them and other family members in the dark regarding their unsavory behavior. Gangsters may have led immoral lives regarding their so-called profession, but would turn weepy when the subject of their mother came up. Perhaps this was due in part to the fact they knew their mother would be disappointed in them. Unlike those in the mafia the offspring of Jewish gangsters did not intermarry with others so their profession did not extend beyond one generation. I found the book to be well written, and what I especially liked was the number of photos of gangsters I have read about in previous books, but of which photos have been scanty. Gyp the Blood (square name Harry Horowitz), Irving Wexler (Waxey Gordon), Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro, Abe Reles, Harry Strauss (Pittsburgh Phil), and a family photo of the Purple Gang were all included in addition to photos of Dutch Schultz (square name Arthur Flegenheimer), Jack Guzik, Lepke Buchalter, and numerous others. This book is a worthy addition to my gangster library, and you can purloin this book for only $10.00.



5. The author's writing style successfully avoids smooth flow and continuity. He skips around, and maintains superficiality throughout. No interest was generated, and it was hard to keep track of the individuals chronicled in the book.Definitely not a good read. There was no eagerness to find out what was next, rather eagerness to finish. I honestly could not remember one fact from it. Even the photos were not anywhere in the book near where the subjects were discussed.

5 comments about We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries Of Teenagers Who Died In The Holocaust.

1. I thought this book was very good and descriptive in what happened to the teenager's lives and the victims of the Holocaust. It was sad to know how well-off Americans in the U.S. and other fortunate people had it then. When I was reading, it was sad to picture how hard it would be then for not just teenagers but everyone,especially when they talked about how they didn't want to die yet and the shame and humiliation they felt as jews. I liked how Boas described their lives and events so well that I didn't feel I missed out anywhere. I also liked how he would compare the teenagers lives and choices with the others. But I would have liked it more if he would have described more about what the Nazis would do to the victims after they were transported. Otherwhise, I liked this book very much.



2. I decided to actually read this book after taking Boas' History of the Holocaust course and finding out that he was in fact born at the Westerbork transit camp in Holland, so I figured that since he had a connection with it through his family that he would know how to put together a well made book. And I was correct, this book made me cry, I really liked it. He had talked a little about this book in class and at first it kinda seemed boring, but I'm glad that i didn't listen to my gut feeling and actually went and checked it out. I would recommend anyone that wants to read more of a first hand experience to read this, the letters are very heart touch and sad. I am trying to track down the other books he has written so I can get a little more understanding in addition from what I had learned through his course.



3. I recently bought this book and I've been reading it during my lunch break at work and so far I'm very interested and it seems like I can't stop reading it! I will probably take it home with me on the weekend and just finish it. It's sad to know what kind of things happened to little kids like them, and at the same time it's amazing to see how they were dealing with their terrible reality and how mature they were for being just kids during this horrible time in History.
   
   I highly recommend it!



4. "Happy day" that is the last entry in David's diary." This is the last statement of a young boy whos life came to an end during the Holocaust. All we have to renember him by is his passages in his diary. However this is only ne boys story there are still 4 more to be told.
   
   We Are Witnesses tell the story of 5 children who went threw the pain of the holoaust. The stroy is told from there diaries that they had written before there deaths. The diaries include David Rubinowicz, Yitzhak Rudashevski, Moshe Flinker, Eva Heyman, and Anne Frank.
   
   I found this book to be very good book about the Holocaust! However on my opinion I found the book was not what I thought it was. On the front it has the words "Five diaries of teenagers who died in the Holocaust." However when i read the book I found every paragraph they wouuld put about 3 quotes from their diaries. When I picked up this book I thought that it would just be quotes from their diaries. However this book still got the point across that at that point in time even some would have wanted to be dead they have to go through one more day of pain.



5. For any teen studying the Holocaust and reading Diary of Anne Frank, this is a great read with interesting teens.

5 comments about Mentor, Message, and Miracles (A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 2).

1. This book studies John the Baptist, Jesus' message, and Jesus' miracles. Meier goes through every passage and extracts history from them. He manages to go through every miracle story and determine whether the passage is historcal or not. You just can't find such an in-depth study in too many places. For this reason I think anyone interested in the historical Jesus should own this book (and probably the rest of the series).



2. Of the three volumes of John Meier's study of the historical Jesus, this is probably the most difficult for the average reader. Much of it consists of complex discussions of the historicity of various bible passages, considered in extensive and exhaustive detail. It is not an easy read, but Meier's research is vital to understanding the real Jesus. As the subtitle indicates, Meier discusses John the Baptist, the basically eschatological message of the Kingdom of God, and the question of Miracles. On John the Baptist we read of how the embarassment of Jesus' baptism is effaced by the Gospel writers. We learn how Jesus accepted a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, which does not necessarily mean that he personally thought he was a sinner (many such confessions are of a communal nature). We learn about John's fundamental belief in the approaching end of the world. We learn how Mark muddled certain details of John the Baptist's execution, such as the identity of Herodias' first husband, and we find that many of the passages dealing with the Baptist likely go back to the historical Jesus. As for Jesus' message, Meier argues that Jesus did believe in a quickly approaching future kingdom. We can see this from his study of the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, and such passages as Mark 6:10 and Matt 8:11-12. Meier also agrees that in some way Jesus viewed the Kingdom as already present, the first century Galilean mind not sharing the same interest in clarity and non-contradiction. Meier makes two vital points. First off, if John the Baptist believed in the near end of the world, and the early church believed in the near end, then it is likely that Jesus shared this incorrect belief. Second, if Jesus was an experienced teacher and if he "used the symbol of the Kingdom of God in a sense directly counter to the eschatological connotations with which it was often connected, he would have made his own usage clear--all the more so if he wanted to negate any or all eschatological expectations."
   
   Meier then spends the second half of the book discussing Jesus' miracles. As a historian he claims that he cannot judge whether Jesus actually carried them out or not. This may seem like a cop-out, but it is not. Many past biographers of Jesus have wanted to split him from the miracles, but this assumes that Jesus was fundamentally rational and modern. Clearly this is not the case, and it also led to peculiar explanations of how people incorrectly thought a miracle took place. Instead, Meier notes we can examine which miracles go back to the historical Jesus and which do not. Certain kinds of miracles take place more than others, others show the redactional tendencies of the particular Evangelist. As such Meier concludes that Jesus was an exorcist, and was believed to carry out some remarkable healings. There are three accounts in the bible of Jesus raising someone from the dead. Here Meier believes there is a historical core to the events, though he is unsure whether they originally involved an actual resurrection. By contrast, nearly all of the nature miracles are creations of the Early Church. After one strips the allusions to the Eucharist and to Elijah in the Feeding of the 5,000 there may have been a remarkable, if not miraculous, meal in Jesus's life. But once one strips all the allusions and Johannine redaction in the turning of wine into water there is, as Meier clearly shows, nothing left. The walking on water, the stilling of the storm and the miraculous catch of fish are all reshifted resurrection appearances, while the cursing of the fig tree is clearly an exercise in Matthean theology.
   
   What can we say about all this? First, this is a remarkably researched book. There are at least 380 pages of notes in this 1,049 page book. There are exhaustive discussions of linguistic questions, stylistic questions, and redactional ones. Meier is excellent on providing the wider historical context, such as the origins of the Kingdom of God, the Old Testament backgrounds to the walking on the water, and the Hebrew practice of exorcism. Meier is also acute on distinguishing between Jesus' miracles, (which emphasizes Jesus and God's free gift, are symbols of the coming end time, and [with one exception] do not hurt anyone) with contemporary magicians (who coerced deities for often petty purposes, provides no church and engaged in esoteric secrets and mysterious, often nonsensical spells). Many of his discussions, such as the raising of Lazarus, or the Miracle of Cana, are tour de forces. Naturally they are caveats with this book, as there must be in one so learned and complex. It may be true that the miracles of the Greek Apollonious and the Jewish Honi the Circle Drawer are not really contemporary with Jesus. But it is reasonable to assume that there were Greek and Jewish miraculous contemporaries, and had not Christians destroyed exactly this sort of literature once mastering the empire we would find more of them. Meier tends to concentrate on differences of technique in Jesus' healing and exorcisms, while forgetting that while we can trace the fact of exorcism and healing back to Jesus, we are less certain about his techniques. Nevertheless this is an important major work, especially so since it remembers that Jesus was a very different person from the man 21st century Christians of all denominations would like him to be.



3. Every once in a while, public attention turns to the person of Jesus of Nazareth. A few years ago, it was the "Jesus Seminar." Lately, Dan Brown's book THE DA VINCI CODE sparked some interest, particularly among the conspiracy minded. The impression that many people have is that the conventional story about Jesus is wrong, and the more established churches don't want you to know it.
   
   What many people haven't been told is that there is a large body of work in recent years which is supportive of the historical accuracy of the Gospels. One such work is John Meier's series A MARGINAL JEW. Meier is a Catholic priest who teaches at Notre Dame. In 1991 he came out with the first volume. It might not be the first book you want to read on the subject, but it's a work that anyone interested in the historical Jesus should tackle. Volume two and three are out, and a fourth and final volume is promised.
   
   There are a few things to keep in mind when reading this series. First, Meier is writing a book on the historical Jesus. There is minimal theological reflection. Second, it is not an old-fashioned "life of Jesus" which presents a chronological discussion of Jesus' life (Meier probably doesn't have enough confidence in the historicity of the Gospels to write such a work). He arranges his material topically.
   
   Volume 2 is a 1118 page monster which discusses three subjects: (1) John the Baptist; (2) Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God; and (3) Jesus' miracles. This book is well organized and Meier has an introduction which tells you where he is going. For example, he tells you flat out that he disagrees with Crossan and Smith's claim that Jesus was a magician. There are tons of footnotes, which are unfortunately placed at the end of each chapter. The footnotes/endnotes are informative and contain lots of interesting barbs directed at other scholars.
   
   Meier's discussion of miracles is illustrative of his approach. Meier concludes that there is no reason to doubt that Jesus was perceived to be a miracle worker. In addition, through an exhaustive look at other miracle workers and magicians in antiquity, he shows that Jesus was not a magician in any traditional sense. At the same time, when and if any particular miracle occurred as written is an open question. Thus, he thinks it unlikely that the miracle in Mk. 3:1-6 (the man with the withered hand) occurred at all. Yet the curing of Bartimeaus (Mk. 10:46-52) is probably historical at its "core." Even here, he thinks Mark "worked up" the oral tradition. If your view of biblical inspiration swings toward the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, you might be disappointed.
   
   Ben Witherington provides a review of Meier's project up to the second volume in THE JESUS QUEST. Witherington reaches more conservative conclusions while using a similar methodology.



4. It is a very good book. The author has done a magnificent historical research. For us catholics and non catholics gives a new and more accurate picture of our Savior. A better one than the one I had. I recommend the first and second volume to all people no matter what religion they have.



5. This book is valuable for the mind-boggling wealth of historical information it covers in careful detail regarding the historical Jesus. Of course, it is only the first of a series, but anyone interested in what history has to offer on Jesus will benefit greatly from this book. The extensive endnotes for each page make reading tedious. I would have preferred footnotes, though some notes run over one page, so there is probably no real way to avoid this inconvenience. Even where a reader may not agree with Meier's assessment of the data, they are all presented with such detail, and the bibliography is so extensive, that the reader will know where to pursue other avenues easily. Works are cited in German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin, with indications of translated versions in English, where applicable. A great resource.

5 comments about Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein: The Mighty Atom.

1. I simply can't say enough good things about this incredible story. If you love weight-training and strength sports, if you want a snapshot of a nearly forgotten part of early 20th Century American life, if you wish to be inspired, read this. You will not be disappointed.



2. In his prime, Joseph Greenstein was the world's "strongest man" physically and billed as 'The Modern Hercules,' 'The Young Sandow," and 'The Ancient Samson' all in one -- The Mighty Atom, though he never did fly out of a canon. He rose from the ghettos of Poland, in Eastern Europe, to become the most famous of the weightlifter-strongmen ever.
   
   He was a slim 5'4" body builder, weighing in at 145 pounds; the photo shows him as a young man showing off his becepts. In vaudeville at the Apollo Theatre he was billed as Joseph Green. He looked like a freak in bushy hair and Tarzan outfits complete with matching headband and funny looling shoes which strapped up his leg to the knee. That must have been the style in 1909. In his act, he straightened out hourshoes, crushed spikes in his hands, even had strong teeth -- bit through iron bars.
   
   He used Asian techniques of concentration, Jewish mystical writings, and a natural begetarian diet. Who said it akes eating meat to make one strong? He later developed a more balanced body physique. Joseph appeared on Coney Island, the playground of the world, as shown in the movie, 'Inside Daisy Clover.' At Madison Square Garden he put on a martial arts show.
   
   We all have an inner strength with the potential of a brick-wall. It doesn't take meditation to surpass hurdles, but a strong-as-iron determination to prove you're right. When I started out in PTA as a young mother, 5'l", 97 lbs., as a local unit president, I was given the honor and silver platter from the female school principal who called me a "brick-wall." Unlike those who preceded me, I did not acquiese to her rein over fund-raising profits. We paid for necessary items such as a paved area and playgfround at the school but would not finance building repairs -- that was the responsibility of the school board. I learned my speaking ability by appearing before them (and getting my way through friendly persuasion) on occasion, and conducting the PTA Meetings. As Regional Director, I visited and informed units throughout thirteen counties, which included the famous Tullahoma, Tennessee -- near Lynchburg.
   
   Joseph was such a sensation that articles about him appeared in 'The Sun,' 'New York Journal,' 'New York American,' 'New York Telegram,' and 'New York Post,' as well as 'Buffalo Evening Times.' He proved that sometimes little is big and here's great strength in small packages.
   
   Finally acknowledging his Jewish heritage, in 1978, he appeared with his protege, Slim Farman (who towered over him), in a black tunic with a Star of David over the chest. He was an old man, age 85, with white hair, beard, and mustache. He had achieved "the impossible."



3. Ever heard of man bite through tempered iron with his teeth...or hang from an airplane by his hair? Just because you may not have heard of Joseph "Mighty Atom" Greenstein or his accomplishments it does not mean you should ignore this book, quite the opposite in fact. I got this book as a young child in the 1980's and have read it many times. A riveting and inspirational read. Anyone interested in sports, martial arts, nutrition, spirituality or just looking for a self help guide would be wise to read this. A fascinating life with lessons for all of us...not just philosophical but practical too. Joseph Greenstein was not only the strongest man in the world, he was a giant of a character...raising a large family and much money for charity, providing health lectures and products for thousands of poor Americans. If I had just ten books on a desert island this would be one of them.



4. If I could own only two books, one would be my Bible and the other Ed Spielman's remarkable biography of Joe Greenstein, a.k.a. The Mighty Atom.
   
   Here was a man who exalted in life, exuded life and understood life far, far better than most.
   
   Do you have problems in life? Who doesn't? After you read this book you will be able to take to heart the words of the Atom's protege, Slim Farman: "I never had to prove to him that I was somebody. He told me I was."
   
   And the words of Joe Greenstein himself: "There is no such thing as a little man, and nothing is impossible."
   
   Whatever it takes, GET A COPY OF THIS BOOK!



5. When you watch the Olympics, remember that Chill that goes down your spine when you see someone do the impossible? I had that feeling repeatedly reading this book. You follow the Mighty Atom through his childhood, learning valuable life lessons with him, that serve you both well. You picture in your mind's eye what it must take to bend steel in your bare hands, break chains across your chest, and other impossible feats. This tiny man who performed feats of strength into his eighties, through sheer willpower and determination....
   
   I've never read a more inspirational book. I can see why copies are almost impossible to find.

4 comments about Hidden Letters.

1. Hidden Letters is impossible to put down. Philip "Flip" Slier was interned in a Nazi labor camp in the Netherlands, but wrote loving, optimistic letters home--and took many photographs. Then he, and virtually all of his extended family, disappeared into the Holocaust.
   When the letters were discovered in Amsterdam in 1997, a search was made for Flip's closest relative, who turned out to be his first cousin Deborah, whose father had moved his family to South Africa and thus enabled them all to live through the war.
   Deborah and her husband, Ian Shine, spent ten years having the letters translated and researching the places and the people they described. They interviewed many survivors of the Holocaust and the war, and include information about almost all--including their photographs and ultimate fates. Over 300 photographs are included.
   Flip could write and you fall in love with him as you read. When the letters stop, it is devastating.
   This is a compelling, disturbing, and heartbreaking great read.
   Kathleen Baxter, columnist, School Library Journal



2. When you read HIDDEN LETTERS, the book is going to leave a mark. It's going to hurt down deep and leave you thinking about things long after you've finished the book. After receiving the book, I admit to approaching the book warily. The subject matter is brutal, and it's devastating to anyone who's a parent.
   
   First, a little history on the book. The letters that comprise the human narrative within the pages were discovered in Amsterdam in 1997. They were written by an eighteen year old Dutch Jew named Philip "Flip" Slier. He was sent to a Dutch labor camp in 1942. When first sent there, Slier believed he was going to be treated humanely, though restricted. He didn't know the horror that awaited him, or that he would soon be dead.
   
   At the time Slier first went to the work camps, letters shipped regularly between the families and the restricted men. As I read the letters, I was stunned by the naïve manner that Slier exhibited. He honestly thought he was only going to be there for a short time, and that his experiences there would be nothing more than what he would endure during some summer camp.
   
   As a father of five, I know how innocent kids can be. They think they know so much, but they're blind to so many things. They often don't know they're in over their heads until it's much too late.
   
   And that's what happened with Slier.
   
   I felt somewhat guilty while reading his letters, almost voyeuristic into a world of pain and innocence. The letters are inane and even cheerful. At times Slier obviously felt he was on some grand adventure. At other times I could see that he was putting on a front for his parents, acting brave while he was scared to death, or at least mightily confused by what was going on around him.
   
   That human element, and that innocence, is what is going to haunt me about the book. Slier also took a camera with him. He took several pictures and sent them back home to his parents and friends, and those people managed to hang onto them throughout the blackest days of World War II. I saw his face, and I saw how much of a kid he still was. He aged decades in months, and he finally got killed.
   
   That's one side of the story, but the authors added a tremendous amount of history materials to further the reader's understanding of what was going on in this area at this time. More pictures and maps fill the book. On one hand, HIDDEN LETTERS is a short journal of tumultuous times in a young man's life, but on the other hand the book is a great historical record. I love history, and I equate it with the story of people rather than names and dates. But Philip Slier's story truly brings home the fact that history is made up of people more than dates or events.
   
   HIDDEN LETTERS is going to satisfy the armchair historian's perusal of the time period, and will give some sense of people and what was going on to genealogists that have discovered they've got family members that were in this camps at the same time. For either of those groups, I'm sure the book would be a beneficial addition.
   
   The parents saved those letters all those years. I can't imagine what it must have been like to pull them out every so often and read the last words of their lost son.



3. Hidden Letters is a treasure trove of letters and postcards written in 1942 by an 18 year old Dutch Jew named Philip "Flip" Slier, sent almost daily from Flip to his parents from within the forced labor camp that held Flip. Flip was eventually executed in the Nazi death camp Sobibor. Now translated and reprinted, completely unedited and enhanced with annotation from Deborah Slier and her husband Ian Shine, Hidden Letters is a first-person account of life in Nazi-occupied Holland. Black-and-white photographs and interviews with those who knew Flip, as well as with Selma Wijnberg-Engel (the sole Dutch survivor of the October, 1943 uprising in Sobibor) round out this firsthand testimony. A welcome addition to academic and community library Judaic Studies in general, and Holocaust Studies collections in particular.



4. So much has been written about the Holocaust that its difficult to add anything of value, but now we actually do have something that does just that; Deborah Slier & Ian Shine's new book "Hidden Letters".
   Thanks in particular to the extraordinary layout and design, we move naturally and effortlessly between the specifics of Flip's life and letters to the wider context of the Final Solution as it was implemented all over Europe and the entire Soviet Union. The usual numbing statistics come to life....the effect is at once informative and deeply emotional.

4 comments about The Diary of Mary Berg: Growing Up in the Warsaw Ghetto.

1. Throughout the period of the Holocaust, numerous diaries were written by the Jewish victims and survivors, documenting this horrific period in human history. Among the more famous diaries are The Diary of Anne Frank, and more recently, The Diary of Petr Ginz. What is amazing about most of these diaries is the young voice narrating the horrors of the period, and describing with intimate detail, the lost hopes and dreams of a young generation doomed to suffer and in many instances perish for being considered 'undesirable' as a Jew. The Diary of Mary Berg adds to this portrait of young lives diminished, and potential lost, only Mary Berg survives and her diaries are a living testament to her unwavering spirit to survive and document the stark realities of war, in particular the siege of Warsaw by the Nazis, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the ghetto's liquidation. Luckily for Mary Berg and her family, their privileged positions enabled them to seek a path to freedom but though they escaped the horrific deaths designated for the Jews by the Nazis, Mary Berg has certainly made a valuable contribution to the annals of Holocaust history by her poignant documentation of a time of despair.



2. The Diary of Mary Berg is a must read for any serious student of the Holocaust. Her account is unique in that this child experienced the day to day traumas and horrors of the Nazis for over three years as she fought for survival in the streets of Warsaw.
   
   I feel that this is the finest narrative ever written about the Warsaw Ghetto! Readers will be mesmerized, traumatized, and enlightened as they experience the reality of how this young lady survived six decades ago.
   
   Bruce M. Caplan



3. The following review is based on the original (1945) edition.
   
   In recent years, certain authors (e. g., Michael Steinlauf, Jan T. Gross) have attempted to make some kind of deep moral issue out of the fact that Poles looted Jews and acquired post-Jewish properties. But such acts were common in wartime, and certainly not limited to any nationality. When Mary Berg and her fellow Jews were on the move during the German-Soviet conquest of Poland, they came across a bullet-ridden house containing a dead Polish peasant. They looted him, as she describes (October 10, 1939): "The kettle which we `inherited' from this murdered peasant became our faithful companion on the long road to Warsaw." (p. 14)
   
   Those readers familiar with chroniclers of the Warsaw ghetto (notably Ringelblum and Czerniakow) may find Berg's entries rather brief. She seems to have a left-wing bias, judging by her frequent positive references to "Polish revolutionaries", etc. (p. 146, 210, 229), to the virtual exclusion of non-leftist Poles who helped Jews. One exception is the following: "Only the nuns who are in this group protect them and condemn the anti-Semitic remarks of certain women. The nuns take care of the children without discriminating between the Jews and the Gentiles. They display true sisterly love and Christian charity; everyone respects them." (p. 196)
   
   One aspect of the anti-Christian spirit among certain modern academics has been the implicit equation of the Nazi-built ghettos for Jews with earlier Christian ones. In his preface, Holocaust-survivor Shneiderman soundly repudiates any such insinuation: "The term `ghetto' itself is a Nazi lie, for there can be no comparison between the Warsaw ghetto and others created by the Nazis in Poland, and the medieval ghettos, whose walls occasionally served as protection to the Jews who lived within them. From the beginning, the modern ghettos served the enemy as deathtraps." (p. 7)
   
   In several entries in her diary, Berg mentions the sufferings of Poles (e. g., p. 198, pp. 210-211) at the hands of the Germans. And, in common with many Polish authors, Berg refers to those Poles who would harm or betray Jews as hoodlums (p. 25), and hooligans (p. 111, 235). As for their Jewish counterparts, she contrasts Jewish criminals with those Jews who became informers as a result of being broken by Gestapo tortures: "However, there are a few underworld characters who are really dangerous because they take their services for the Gestapo seriously, just as they used to commit crimes in dead earnest." (p. 111).
   
   Berg touches on the actions of the Polish Blue police (Policja Granatowa). During a German-sponsored execution of Jews, members of the Polish police refused to obey the order to shoot the Jews, and several of them wept (p. 154). The deportations of Warsaw's Jews to Treblinka, starting late July 1942, took place as follows, without the participation of the Polish Blue police: "The Lithuanians and Ukrainians displayed great zeal in their murderous work. They are tall young beasts of seventeen to twenty who were especially trained for their job by German instructors." (p. 169). Berg met a Polish prison guard who had tears in his eyes when he described the manner in which the Jews were being herded to the death trains (pp. 170-171). Ukrainian and Baltic collaborators were used by the Germans against Jews in many other contexts throughout German-occupied Poland (p. 175, 183-184, 228, 230, 233).
   
   Mary Berg was the daughter of an American citizen. She and other non-European Jews were released by the Nazis, finally arriving in Spain in March 1944 (p. 251). It is obvious that, contrary to Holocaust-uniqueness arguments, the Nazis were not determined, as either a matter of obsession or a matter of policy, to kill every single possible Jew within their grasp.



4. Very well done, insightful and terrible and sad. Gives you the feeling as if you were there and walked in the footsteps of those who had to go through this and bears a torch of light to chase the darkness of ignorance away so that hopefully this will never happen again. Touching classic.

1 comments about The Triumphant Spirit: Portraits & Stories of Holocaust Survivors Their Messages of Hope & Compassion.

1. The photos of the survivors are piercing. The stories are unbelievable. Each survivor's story begins with their "normal" life in prewar Europe. We learn how they survived the war and death and slave camps in which most of their families perished. After liberation these people were able to create meaningful lives, create families, and make the world a better place. Though I have studied the Holocaust in depth I was shocked to learn the names of dozens more concentration camps. This book gives hope and strength to anyone who is oppressed on any level.

4 comments about Never the Last Journey.

1. Zandman's historical part of this book is great. It gives you a great perspective of his life during the Holocust. More background would have been great. Got the feeling that his business associates have been less than desirable chaps.



2. As a stock analyst, I've seen many CEO's and heard many success stories. This is a heartwarming story of dedication and triumph unlike that of any other business executive. Despite spending his youth in hiding from Nazis, Dr. Zandman manages to get a PhD., move to America and found a small engineering company that ends up being one of the world's largest suppliers of electronics components.



3. An ageless and inspiring story of determination, survival, and ultimately triumph. Zandman's story brings home minute details about being Jewish during this horrific period of time--right down to the mindset of most Jewish families in Poland. This book clearly illustrates how subtle, calculating, and conniving Hitler was as he, not all at once, but gradually moved the Jews from their homes, to the ghetto and finally the death camps.
   After I read this, the first time, I wanted nothing more than to meet Felix Zandman personally. Even the title inspired me to always push forward and to never give up.



4. For many years my mother's family was presumed completely obliterated by the Holocaust until I found Dr. Zandman and his book. I was finally able to put fates with the faces of the people I knew only through aging photographs.
   
   This is a book of horrors and of triumph over adversity. That Dr. Zandman was able to survive what he did and still go on to become the fine international businessman that he did is nothing short of miraculous. Where others would have just ceased to go on he found the courage and the strength to live his life to it's fullest.
   
   The personal stories that he tells of his Great Aunt Sonya and his Grandfather Nochum are absolutely heartwrenching and leave you wondering simply how so many people could hate so much.

5 comments about The Search for Major Plagge: The Nazi Who Saved Jews, Expanded Edition.

1. There is so much evil when Governments attack their own people as has happened throughout history. The Nazi Government in Germany was especially evil as it attacked many millions of its own people and neighboring peoples. The Nazi Government which was, as is always the case in evil governments, run by a relatively few number of people with awesome power, was on a murderous rampage in Europe. A very few courageous people stood up in opposition. One of these people is Major Plagge. It is thrilling to read of his courage, bravery and success. Everyone should read this book. Hopefully, then more persons could stand up against evil governments before its too late. Why is it that of all the species on the Earth that Man is the most evil? It is because of the accumulation of power in the hands of a few people. That is always a recipe for disaster.



2. a superb and engrossing investigation of a nazi who tried to protect jewish people from certain death by setting up a factory not unlike oscar schindler. the son of a survivor who always told the story of the mysterious major plagge who saved many tried to find this man and his motives. spellbinding and heartening unlike so many other holocaust stories.



3. The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, located in Jerusalem is the largest holocause museum in the world. As you would expect it describes the terrible inhumanity the Germans imposed upon the jews and leaves you with a feeling of hoplessness. But in the museum there is one shining glory, the wall whereupon is inscribed the names of those considered to be 'Righteous among the Nations.' This term is used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. There are people of all nationalities listed on the wall. Among the names are some 380 germans. Among these is the name Karl Plagge.
   
   A low level officer in the Wehrmacht he commanded a military vehicle repair unit in Vilna, now Vilnius, Lithuania and he saved the lives of at least 250 jews, including the author's mother.
   
   This is the story of Major Plagge, who as usual for heros would admit to no special courage.



4. This is a remarkable book both for its deeply moving story and for its underlying message of how a day-to-day battle of moral choices can be waged with the strength of conviction. It begins with an existential question most people never have to ask and ends with the satisfying feeling of a debt repaid as completely as life can allow. I recommend this book to anyone.



5. One third of this book is standard heroic stuff. A non-Jew in a position of some authority takes steps to create a haven for Jews and -- in the midst of annihilation -- saves a lot of them. You have to find your way to this by navigating the first third of the book, which tells a different story: how to find someone using multiple information sources and documentation, both scattered and (some of it) sequestered. The last third of the book is given over to appendices and afterwords, original documents that only become compelling provided the heroism of the man has taken hold with the reader.
   
   Karl Plagge was a courageous individual in a time and place when individual courage was in short supply. His example, of a person who saw terrible things happening and took the initiative to stop them from happening within his purview to the extent he could, gives a glimmer of hope in the midst of the overwhelming despair of the Holocaust. That he had been a National Socialist very early on in its history is his initial credential as an unlikely hero, but the unfurling of his identity reveals this to be ultimately of little consequence in defining him. Yet Plagge was circumspect to a fault. Were it not for the documentation of his de-Nazification trial, there would be very little to show him revealing himself. One hopes it was not an overwhelming sense of guilt over what he could not do that made the man seem to place so little importance on what he did do (which did and does matter).
   
   Plagge's story does not have the razor's edge of Wallenberg's. Michael Good is not primarily a writer. But all in all this is a compelling new chapter in the story of the Holocaust. Vilna was of as much consequence as Warsaw for the Jews, and its story is not as well known today. And written from the viewpoint of one who only lives thanks to Karl Plagge, this is a book worth reading.

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