5 comments about Schindler's Legacy: True Stories of the List Survivors.

1. I was really moved by this. It was almost as riveting as another book I read recently called Hitler's Silent Victims. I recomend this book highly.



2. I'm stressing this to all, that this book is one of the greatest books I've ever read. It's very intense and real. Because of the way these Holocaust survivors explain their experiences at the concentration camps, it makes you feel as if you could've been there. The way that these survivors have achieved great goals in there lives after the Holocaust, is amazing. I recommend this book for everyone to read to get a better understanding of the Holocaust. This book is truely amazing.



3. Oskar Schindler, one remarkable man who outwitted Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to save more Jews from the gas chambers than most of the heroic rescuers during WWII.

   Oskar Schindler was one of only a handful who surfaced from the chaos, and generations will remember him for what he did ...

   When asked, Schindler told that his metamorphosis during the war was sparked by the shocking immensity of the Final Solution. In his own words: "I hated the brutality, the sadism, and the insanity of Nazism. I just couldn't stand by and see people destroyed. I did what I could, what I had to do, what my conscience told me I must do. That's all there is to it. Really, nothing more."

   Oskar Schindler died in Frankfurt on the 9th of October, 1974, at an age of 66. From 1939 to the day he died he was such in love with his Jewish people, that he wanted to be buried in Jerusalem. His friend, a Schindler-Jew, Poldek Pfefferberg asked him shortly before he died, why he wanted to be buried here. He answered :"My children are here ....."




4. One of the most popular films of 1993 was Steven Spielburg�s Schindler�s List, the story of
   one man�s fight against the Nazi killing machine that we know today as the Holocaust. As the
   film closed, the audience saw many of the survivors and their families as they gathered at
   Oskar Schindler�s grave to pay homage to this �Righteous Gentile.�

   Like many others in the audience, I wondered what had happened to those men and women
   after the war and the experiences that had not made the movie. Now I know. In Schindler�s
   Legacy, Elinor Brecher has shared the fascinating�and horrible�stories of over 40 of those
   who eventually came to live in America.

   They tell, for example, of the almost random nature of their survival. Several tell of times
   when the German guards lined up their work detail and shot every fifth person. Many were
   away from home on some kind of errand when the Gestapo came and took away the rest of
   their family. We read of Celena Karp who was selected by the notorious Josef Menegle for the
   line heading to the gas chambers. For some reason, he decided to remove some from the
   doomed line. When Celena reached him the second time, she begged him, �Let me go,� and
   for some inexplicable reason, he did!

   In these accounts, we learn again of the horror of the concentration camps. Remember the boy
   who survived several searches by hiding in the filth of the latrine? This was no product of the
   writer�s imagination; Roman Ferber tells his own story in his own words. Others relate the
   beatings they survived, the rides in unheated and unventilated cattle cars, of the friends they
   carried to the ovens. That they survived is nothing less than a miracle.

   These aren�t just the stories of the camps, however. We learn more about the people and the
   lives they lived before the war�the young couple who married only days before their arrest,
   the woman who had to give her new-born son to a Catholic family in order to survive herself,
   and the men and women who watched in horror as their parents and their brothers and sister
   were dragged away or shot before their eyes.

   After these experiences, what kinds of people did they turn out to be? Some have never
   forgiven the German people for what happened, while others have miraculously put the past
   behind them. And some are so traumatized that they have never been able to watch the film
   based on their experiences.

   This is a book that needs to be read!




5. This book of course takes off where the movie left off. It tracks down and interviews a select group of the survivors on Shindler's famous list. Many of whom of course refused to be interviewed, others would consent to do so only anonymously, and still others only after intense prodding. All led interesting, but as one would expect, unusually tormented lives. Most were successful; were in the twilight of their lives; and somehow had managed to put the experience behind them, that is as much as that could be done - meaning most of them buried the experiences deep in their subconscious, not to be disturbed except in their dreams or under extreme stress or duress.
   
   Alex Rosen's story resonated the most with me and was the most interesting of the lot. Alex is my age, and was the youngest among the survivors, and was the one depicted in the movie as the young Jewish ghetto denizen. Age-wise I can empathize with him and imagine, vicariously, what it must have been like to go through that experience at his age. His story is interesting for several other reasons as well: First he is the one in this book who tried to make sense out of the holocaust experience as an existential, if not as a theological problem -- not at all unlike the way that Elie Wiesel and Victor Frankl did in their books, but Alex takes an entirely different approach. He believes there are knowable answers too the questions many Jews posed in the aftermath of the holocaust experience: Why me? Why the Jews? And why was it so horrible? His belief, that he can find the answers to these questions is expressed best on page 23:
   
   "If we take the premise that there is a God, then everything that happens is just, because it's His game not mine. There has to be a legitimate reason by His way of looking at it, not by mine. There has to be a legitimate explanation - that we can understand through reason - why it happened the way it happened, why all those people died and I am still alive. But I don't know those answers right now. I can't tell you. It's knowable; it's not one of the mysteries of life. It's an answer that will eventually dawn on me."
   
   Second, his story is interesting because he eventually divorced his Jewish wife and married a black one, with which together they raised three children from split families, doing so in Queens New York. His primary family, of Jewish holocaust survivors, incredibly, and incongruously, never quite forgave him for committing this violation of the America's racist (and apparently Jewish) protocol? But finally, he gives an account of his experience that adds a poignant depth and meaning that again parallels that given by Frankl in his book, one that makes an outsider almost understand what the holocaust was like.
   
   As he puts it on page 26:
   
   "When the war ended, the trauma set in, because you are now among a different species of human being. You think: "So if this is life now, what the hell was that? What the hell was that all about? It's difficult for people to understand, up until that time, I was perfectly well-adjusted in all that misery. I never had a sleepless night [in the camps]. Yes, I was beaten. Yes, there was trouble. Yes, I was scared. But this was life, and you were scared when you lived. It was dangerous. It was hard. You saw ugliness. You saw women beat up. You saw people shot, killed, hanged. You saw dead bodies carried in wheelbarrows. You saw horrible things. But this was normal life."
   
   The subtext of course is that: When there appear to be no easy way out, human beings simply adjust; they adapt and find ways to live with even the worse kinds of dehumanization. They do so simply because they have been socialized to do so; and simply because it then becomes a normalized way of life for them.
   
   In this one poignant statement, Alex reveals the secret of, and the template for, repetition of the holocaust: According to this statement, it means simply that we don't really need the Nazis and their concentration camps for the holocaust to recur. It can occur almost anywhere and in any society, and at any time. It is simply a process of colonizing the mind of those targeted through tyranny, and back it up with force, and an ideology of racism or other forms of intolerance, and the world of humanity simply shuts down altogether, period.
   
   Five Stars.

No comments about The King of Children: A Biography of Janusz Korczak.

4 comments about Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans (Personalities of the New Testament).

1. Herod has long suffered from the taint of infanticide and his associations with the birth of Christ, as portrayed in the Bible. Peter Richardson's book dispells the myths that have grown up around Herod, and make him a living, breath ing, interesting character in the period of Roman rule of Palestine, and the int ertestamental period of religious history. Herod the builder, Herod the supporte r of the Jewish diaspora and the Olympian games, Herod the master politician - e ach of these aspects of his character are brought vividly to life, and make clea r his very important position in the pre-Christian life of Palestine. This book provides important insights into the life of Herod, his skills as architect and administrator, and uncanny ability to read the political situation and shift all egiance in order to remain in power. An excellent book well worth the effort to read.



2. The introduction and the first two chapters captured my attention, the book begins with Herod's death and comments on the internal (tragic) family matters. The author displays his impressive knowledge of archeology, ancient and biblical history to present to us a believable portrait of Herod.



3. In Peter Richardson's new book, 'Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans', we are given a much fuller account of the king who has graduated to being an archtype, almost mythical character who is the embodiment of evil.
   
   'Herod the Great, as he is usually called, was much like Henry VIII, Catherine the Great, of Peter the Great: talented, vigourous, lusty, skillful, charismatic, attractive, decisive, influential--but a disaster in his personal life. Like them, Herod changed his nation's history.'
   
   In a biographical study an author need not like the subject, but it helps if there is something to admire. Herod's personality is not attractive; had I been a contemporary I should not have wanted to spend much time with him.
   
   This having been said, Richardson does find much of interest and intrigue in the character and the deeds of Herod the Great.
   
   Herod was king of the Jews by virtue of his assistance to the Romans who were, during the 50-year period preceding the birth of Jesus and the beginning of the common/Christian era, consolidating power throughout much of the eastern Mediterranean lands. Herod married many times for increasing political and social purposes (a trend that would continue in the Herodian line -- John the Baptist was beheaded primarily for pointing out the marriage difficulties with a later Herod).
   
   Herod the Great, founder of the line that would last and be an influence in Roman and Christian development for some two hundred years, died in 4 BCE, in Jericho, not long after the events that would have created the first Christian martyrs -- the slaying of the newborns of Bethlehem. The timing of his death in Jericho makes it appear to be divine justice, but independent verification of the Biblical story has never been found.
   
   Richardson approaches the historical subject in a somewhat backwards fashion, examining the details of the death of Herod and the aftermath his will and the will of Rome in shaping his legacy to their ends. Using close sources such as Josephus, Richardson then proceeds to examine earlier, less well-documented periods in Herod's life, including his early service to Rome and his attempts at consolidation of power at different points. Shortly before key events that would bring him the favour of the Romans, Herod himself was on trial in Jerusalem for his possible usurpation of power that was not rightfully his -- this bravado, however, found favour with the Romans who followed his career with interest ever after.
   
   Richardson also explores Herod's influence in the building up of Jerusalem into a great city as well as outside projects (major fortresses, palaces, religious and cultural buildings, commercial construction and infrastructure), as well as his support of and rivalry with various religious factions in Jerusalem and surrounding Judea. Herod's relationship with the Temple and priestly elite had ramifications throughout the religious fabric of Judaism of the time, which in various factions held differing beliefs about the appropriate constitution of the priestly officials and the practices these should perform. Herod incurred the disfavour of Sadducees, Pharisees, Esssenes, Herodians, Brigands, and others at different points in turn.
   
   In the final chapters, Richardson turns to examine the role of Herod and his descendants in Christianity. He examines in detail the likelihood of Herod ordering the death of the newborns (or even knowing of the birth of a potential rival king). He examines also the role of Herod Antipas in the death of John and Jesus. Josephus confirms John the Baptist's death at the hands of Antipas, though recounts somewhat differently from gospel accounts. The gospels relate two independent traditions regarding the relationship of Jesus and Herod Antipas.
   
   In all, this is a fascinating history that brings up great detail and context with which to read the gospel stories, the Roman history in the Middle East, and the Dead Sea Scrolls in a new context.



4. Any scholarship dealing with the Herods has to begin with a proper understanding of the genealogy, otherwise, the historical record in this text cannot account for subsequent history. This book is inaccurate as to why and how the united kingdom of Palestine subsequently got divided into tetrarchies (tetra, of course, meaning four). From the get go, there is an inaccurate, incomplete time line which dates the birth of only three of Herod the Great's sons which includes the eldest, Antipater, and the youngest, Philip. Archelaus (5th in the line of succession) is also included. While there is mention of Alexander, Aristobulus, and Herod Antipas (2nd, 3rd & 6th) their birth dates are not given. However, Herod Philip, the 4th eldest, has no mention at all in the text while the vast majority of modern scholars on the subject of the Herods includes him in the genealogy & history of Herod the Great. To understand how and why the country was divided after Herod the Great's death, one has to understand there were four and not three surviving sons in the line of succession. Herod's first will had designated his eldest son, Antipater, as heir of a united Palestine. But when he died, Herod's second will (submitted long before Herod's death) called for the kingdom to be broken up between his remaining four surviving sons, i.e. Herod Philip, Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip. The younger Philip is often confused with his older brother because the latter never served as a ruler having abdicated upon the death of his father. Thus, the second will, was never implemented as designed. The Romans compensated by consolidating Herod Philip's intended tetrarchy into his brother Archelaus' tetrarchy thus making Archelaus an "ethnarch" over the combined territories. Subsequent history shows that Herod Philip was the divorced first husband of Herodias (daughter of his brother Aristobulus, & subsequent wife of his brother Antipas) and father of the notorious Salome of the John the Baptist story. Eventually, Salome, like her mother, married a paternal uncle (legal under Herodian rule), i.e. Philip the Tetrarch. But if Herod Philip and Philip the Tetrarch had been the same person, the marriage would have ended up being a completely incestuous, illegal, marriage between father and daughter; which would be the result of this text having failed to accurately account for the family history of Herod the Great.

1 comments about Covenant of Care: Newark Beth Israel And the Jewish Hospital in America.

1. Commissioned to mark the centennial of a remarkable health care institution, this tale traces its birth, growth and development, maturity, and rebirth into a charitable health care foundation, as the hospital itself, under new ownership, continues to serve the community as a leading tertiary center providing cutting-edge quality care.
   
   Originally established to serve the early Jewish community, Newark Beth Israel has witnessed a profound ethnic and cultural transformation, as the neighborhood in which it is located has seen the exodus of its Jewish nucleus and the multicultural influx of African, African-American, Latino, European, and Asian populations, each of which challenges the institution to provide culturally sensitive and economically accessible medical care.
   
   The character of "The Beth," as it is known, is reflected in the stories of individuals whose names, while perhaps unfamiliar to those unacquainted with its history, are instantly recognized by anyone who has ever labored within its walls.
   
   The authors, one a historian and the other a civil servant, describe an institution where care is as important as cure. Here, the reader can appreciate how a philosophy of humanism, and sincere dedication, can drive a successful health care enterprise faced with the vicissitudes of a frequently uncertain health care environment.

5 comments about Michelangelo in Ravensbruck: One Woman's War Against the Nazis.

1. Let's clear the air first.
   
   It is a shame that Amazon has decided to highlight Susie Lindfield's rather unfortunate review of "Michelangelo in Ravensbruck" from the Washington Post's Book World. While Ms Lindfield's credentials would appear suitable to the task, her product (the review) certainly leaves one wondering by what tortured lens she viewed Karolina Lanckoronska's book.
   
   If you have read the Lindfield review, consider then this passage from the second paragraph of the book's prologue: "My memoir is meant to be a report -- and only a report -- of what I witnessed during the Second World War. I know that others have lived through a great deal more than myself. I was never in Auschwitz or Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, I also know that every first-hand account contributes fresh detail to the picture of those years."
   
   If only Lindfield demonstrated an understanding of those few words.
   
   Those are the words of an historian -- because that is what Lanckoronska was. This book clearly demonstrates the historian's perspective, and the understanding that individual narrative has great value to researchers, those passionate about history and learning, and perhaps even the merely curious.
   
   The puzzling thing about the Lindfield review is that it seems she would be more satisfied if this was a work of fiction that she could complain about for not fitting into her concept of history. The problem is that the events in this "story" happened -- and to the storyteller, not Ms Lindfield. To that extent, Ms Lindfield shows herself to be in a mild state of denial. Additionally, her review shows me no understanding of the importance of teasing out individualized threads of experienced history, and then placing them in context within that complex fabric of history -- not macerated into a homogenized "pour" of history.
   
   I strongly recommend that you read John Carey's review from the Sunday Times (of London), published 12 FEB 06, or on the web at:
   
   [...]
   
   (If that link doesn't work, go to the Timesonline site and search for "Lanckoronska".) Carey's review has the advantage of actually telling you more about the book than about the reviewer.
   
   The book itself? You certainly won't find flowery passages and gripping drama. But not so fast. Lanckoronska is a historian -- an art historian by education who later turned her talents to Polish art and culture. So perhaps her prose is a little dry. You can almost imagine a woman, speaking aloud from notes, going through this part of her life for you step by step. But as you become accustomed to her style, events emerge that surprise. Something as innocuous as a car breakdown is delivered in the same tone as a later scene were she realizes that she is witnessing fellow Poles being herded into lorries and heading for the execution grounds in the woods. More than once I had to stop reading just to let those scenes sink in.
   
   This book is valuable because it snatches our attention away from the homogenized pour of World War Two and Nazi history that we have been spoon fed all these years. It understands the enormity and incomprehensibility of the Holocaust, while taking you into the places that Western European and North American histories are only just beginning to touch -- over 60 years after the fall of Hitler's Berlin.
   
   At the back of the book are endnotes for each chapter (which, in future editions, I wish they would convert to footnotes) by the author or the editors. Fascinating too are the appendices which include the names of the Lwow professors that were murdered, and short biographies of major characters in this book. Just within those short biographies is a chilling reminder of the overt criminality of the Nazi regime, and all those that chose to follow it.
   
   For students of recent Polish history, this is a must-have volume. And for anyone who would like another perspective on what happened in Poland, the Ukraine, and Germany between 1939 and 1945 -- especially to provide richer context for understanding the depths to which humanity seemed to plunge during that period -- I highly recommend "Michelangelo in Ravensbruck".
   
   And let's make this very clear: A better understanding of this period of time from Karolina Lanckoronska's perspective in no way (at least for a moderately intelligent reader) diminishes the totality of those horrible years.



2. This well written book is a cliff-hanger, a tear jerker and the most frightening lesson in the behaviour of supposedly civilized races.
   It should be mandatory reading for all schools and universities in the free world. The bestial atrocities detailed in its pages need to be shown in the light of day so that public conscience ensures that they never be repeated.
   The author's incredible faith and determination shine through, as does the spirit of the Polish people.
   This might be the most comprehensive and detailed report ever written by a survivor.



3. Having read numerous accounts of the Holocaust, primarily from the Jewish point of view, I felt this book was a valuable addition to World War Two & even Holocaust literature, even though it is from a Gentile's point of view. It details the wartime [World War Two] experiences of a Polish aristocrat, Karolina Lanckoronska who was actively involved in resistance activities against the Nazis. Quite a bit of the book is devoted to detailing her resistance activities. These eventually get her labelled an undesirable and she gets sent off to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Her indefatigable spirit is evident in her lively outlook despite the horrors and bleakness around her. Her account of life in Ravensbruck is immensely valuable to enhancing our understanding of Nazi atrocities...female prisoners being subjected to horrific medical experiments, the infamous selections that make day to day living unberable for no one knew when death would come knocking, the rampant diseases that besieged the camp, all these horrors are vividly described in Countess Lanckoronska's account. Despite the worst living conditions imaginable, she was able to bring some measure of hope and light by teaching art etc. Her courage in standing up to the Nazis is inspiring and her account is a valuable addition to anyone interested in World War Two history & Nazi atrocities.



4. In 1939 the author was a wealthy landowner and professor of art history, and also witness to the Soviet army's march into Poland as the Nazis staged their invasion from the west. She joined the resistance and was captured and sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp - there to teach art history to other women who believed they would soon die. Her account discusses the mass murder of Poles and the ability to survive the most inhumane conditions, and should serve as an inspiring, outstanding addition to Holocaust literature for any collection seeking expanded views from eyewitness survivors.



5. This is a missing link in WW2 history taught in the US.WW2 wasn't just about Jews. They suffered a lot and everybody knows it but nobody have any idea that during that war 25% of Polish nation was killed by Germans, Russians and Ukrainians.

4 comments about The Rabin Memoirs, Expanded Edition with Recent Speeches, New Photographs, and an Afterword.

1. This book is a good history of the life of Yitzak Rabin.You
   are provided excellent coverage of the great war of independance
   and his role in it as a member of the Hagannah.This book also describes the leadership role as a general in the six day war
   and it's impact on the Middle East.Rabin's service as Prime
   Minister of Israel is also described in this book.You are given detail of the Israeli rescue mission of the prisoners at the
   airport in Entebbe.You will also cover the time that Rabin was the ambassador to America in Washington.Also covered in this book is the defeat of the Labor Party at the hands of the Likud.
   Rabin's role as a peacemaker is also given coverage in this book.
   This is a very good biography of Yitzak Rabin as well as an adequate history of Israel. Read this book,you will enjoy it.



2. Yitzak Rabin was a great leader. This man wanted to lead Israel to a time of peace. This book gives one a great deal of information about this amazing leader, the country he loved so dearly, and the effort he and his family made to improve life in their country. Too bad a madman had to take his life. Rabin's story is amazing from beginning to the tragic end.

   See ya next review!
   www.therunninggirl.com




3. Yitzhak Rabin is a truly tragic figure in the history of the Jewish people. Here was a man, while having many good qualities had deep, even fatal character flaws that allowed him both to play a major role in bringing about Israel's great victory in the Six-Day War of June 1967 and yet, at the same time, bringing about his own destruction while leaving his country in a perilous
   state as a result of his disastrous Oslo agreement of 1993.
   Unfortunately, like almost all the autobiographies of Israel's famous leaders, this book is self serving and does not really give one a good idea of what really happened.
   For example, Rabin completely skips over Israel's War of Independence in 1948 when he had the important position of commander of the Har'el Brigade which played an important role in the battles for Jerusalem. The reason is that he showed for the first time during the war his inability to function under pressure and it is believed that he fled the battlefield at a critical juncture, but it was decided to hush up the matter. Rabin was a member of the "Dor HaPalmach", i.e. the generation of the Palmach (pre-state elite military force). These people fought hard and contributed much but this gave them a feeling of priviledge which led them in later years to behave arrogantly and for those who entered politics to show contempt for Israel's democratic system-Ariel Sharon's dictatorial behavior being the latest example (although Sharon was not in the Palmach, but he did joint the military elite in the 1950's).
   Rabin played a major role in preparing the Israeli Army for its lightening victory in 1967, but once again, he suffered a nervous collapse before the war, and did not (as I understand it) play an important role in its execution.
   Rabin, who was thrust basically unqualified into the Prime Minister's office in 1974, mainly for the reason that he was out of Israel during the Yom Kippur war, was unprepared for the job. He was the first of a long line of military men to become Prime Minister, and he showed all the flaws of this group, arrogance, contempt for democracy, and corruption. These men have led Israel into a dead-end situation, because many people blindly think that "generals are good leaders" whereas the reality is that they are the worst leaders, since their whole career they give orders and have no patience with the give and take of politics.
   Rabin, in the book spews out harsh criticism of his long-term
   rival Shimon Peres, but in his second term (1992-1995) which is not covered in his book, he allowed this dangerous man to lead him around by the nose, forcing the Oslo Agreements on him against his better judgement, again due to his weak personality.
   All of this ended in the tragedy of his assassination as the SHABAK (Israeli internal security agency) which was supposed to be under Rabin's personal supervision, went on a rampage using provacoteurs to discredit the Labor Party's rivals, locating a potential assassin and then giving him free access to Rabin at the fateful gathering on November 4, 1995. (For those of you who are skeptical, please note the official Shamgar Commission inquiry into the assassination noted that the assassin's closest companion in the months before the murder was a SHABAK provacoteur). A very tragic ending for a complex, talented, but flawed man.



4. Unfortunately the Rabin memoirs suffers the same ills as many other memoirs in that the author uses his pen to whitewash his own history and that of some of his friends. This is, as it always is, a tragic fact, because history would be so much better served had Rabin written a truly honest account. The problem with this book is that the areas were Rabin leaves out details and distorts some facts colors this entire work, so that the reader has to question everything that is in the book.
   
   What I don't understand is why Rabin (and other historical figures as well) whitewashes areas of history that are known or will inevitably become known. Like when Rabin calls Ben-Gurion's decision to step down from his governmental positions as inexplicable when the facts of why he did so were known even at that time. He also leaves out the fact that Nasser had offered Israel concessions over the Straits of Tiran before the Six Day War thereby rendering one of his main arguments for Israel's having to got to war null and void. He also says nothing at all of the negotiations between Israel (and its proxies) and Egypt (and some of its proxies) that were going on in secret during his term as prime minister. At the time of his writing these memoirs much of this might have been censored out, but we have no evidence that was the case. The lack of discussion of these and other topics shows himself, his friends and Israel in a much more lenient light while casting a shadow over Israel's enemies. One cannot but think this was the purpose.
   
   With that said, I think anyone interested in Israel and the Middle East needs to read this book along with many other self-serving memoirs, biographies and histories. Even with the flaws this book gives the reader an invaluable insight into one of the leading figures of the Israeli state. You get to see the inner workings of the man, and get a chance to see his philosophies in action. It is a glimpse into his mind, and this glimpse offers the reader many insights.
   
   Yoram Peri's afterword is essential and a very welcome addition to this book. It provides the book with a greater context, and a fine analysis of the work and the man as well. The addition of the speeches is also a welcome contribution that adds more context, and gives the reader a better understanding of Rabin's later life.
   
   All and all Rabin is a fascinating character. He was a self made man during a harsh time in Israeli history. His life is an extraordinary journey tragically cut short. This book goes a long way in helping readers understand this important figure, and for that reason alone this book should be read.

5 comments about The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York.

1. Though well researched and well written, the author accepts rumour as facts, and thus published reports of personal misconduct which are totally false. It does not do justice to the tragic story of the collapse of the fortunes of a family that was world reknowed for their kindness and generosity. For those that were acquainted with the true facts, and recognize the Reichmans as the great men that they truly are, this book is a travesty.



2. For those interested in real estate development, I recommend skipping through the first half of the book and starting at page 256. From there on it is fascinating reading on the possibilities of development for those with seemingly infinite capital on hand. Paul Reichmann's passion, drive and high tolerance for risk makes for better reading than most novels.



3. As the Reichmanns anticipate another rush to the top of the heap we shall watch with amazed eyes as this family woos our imagination, yet again! As renowned as the Reichmanns have been there are still followers of scrappy success stories that do not know much about what this family, with brother and son Paul at the helm, contributed to New York City's skyline. The World Financial Center was a creation of their delicately named Olympia & York. Read this from beginning to end so that you can grasp the rise and fall and now, again, rise of this amazing family. As is usually indicative of most business minds through time, the children are not as capable as the original "originators" themselves.



4. The book discusses in great detail the Reichmann family's role both in Jewish culture over the last couple hundred years and in the real estate developement business over the last 40 or so years.

   The part I liked the best was the descriptions of 18th and 19th century Jewish life in the "oberland"(sp?) of Hungary. A lost culture, thanks not only to the Nazis but also to Jewish Emancipation.

   In a way, it is inspirational, as it shows how one family managed to integrate a healthy, traditional religious expression with philanthropy and business acumen. It also shows that you cannot understand what makes that family "tick" without understanding the rich culture and religion of orthodox jewishness.

   The greatest strength of this book, in my opinion, is that it is a _history_ of the family and its business, religious, philanthropic, and cultural dealings. It isnt the hagiography that so many business biographies in the popular press tend to be.




5. The Reichmanns
   
   The book, "The Reichmanns; Family, Faith, Fortune and The Empire of Olympia & York" by Anthony Bianco is a 668 page mind boggling tale of a family dynasty that came from nowhere and rose to one of the most wealthy families in the world in one generation. The book explains how through Paul Reichmann's insatiable drive and willingness to parlay the profit from each successful project into a much larger endeavor, their wealth exploded to over $10 billion at the peak, just before risking everything on Canary Warf on London's East End.
   
   At times it's a bit of a fight to get through the sections that are not related to business and real estate, but those sections give you a good idea about the family's morals and values and bring you closer to understanding their thinking.
   
   A memorable section is when they braved the NYC real estate slump of 1976 - 1997 and purchased eight skyscrapers from the Uris Building Corporation for $46 million down. Within a decade the package would have a value of over $3 billion.
   
   The book is packed with similar anecdotes that both inspire and encourage someone wanting to build a real estate fortune of their own.
   
   By Kevin Kingston author of, "A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate"

5 comments about Castles Burning: A Childs Life in War.

1. This is one of the most moving accounts of that time that I have ever read. I admire the courage of the writer to recount it, I admire the fierceness of that little girl, so many years ago. Its haunting beauty stays with me.



2. Her memory and recall of detail, conversations, and feelings make her an excellent writer of a compelling story. I wonder if she wrote of her life after reaching Cuba.



3. Magda Denes was five years old, in 1939, when her editor father abruptly abandoned his family, transferring all his assets to the United States.
   The family was left with nothing.
   Persecuted and then hunted, Magda was determined not to give way to despair (as she was taken around to different places of hiding and had to hide under floorboards, in an oven, and in a cellar) . She lost her brother Ivan, who was a rescuer for the Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair. The Zionists rescued many Jews from the Nazis, and were the backbone of Jewish resistance to Nazism.
   What results is a colourful classic of the sruggle for life in dangerous and frightening days of death, written with wry humour and biting wit.
   You will grow to understand, sympathize with and love Magda as you follow her story.
   Today influential voices are calling for an end to the State of Israel (which was in many cases built by holocaust survivors), which would certainly lead to a second holocaust aginst the Jews living there.
   It is up to us to prevent a second holocaust from occuring.
   To prevent a situation where Jewish children will be murdered and hunted, by fully supporting Israel in her struggle to survive and fighting anti-Israel prejudice.



4. This book is a Hungarian version of Ann Frank's Diary. It shows the world of a persecuted young Jewish girl through her own eyes. But it's also much more of an adventure story - and less introspective - than Ann Frank's Diary - and the heroine survived. It artfully portrays the family tensions - which, aside the extraordinary circumstances, were in a sense ordinary: yet they are beautifully and vividly portrayed. The author was obviously a character of great steel inside. Having myself lived many years in Hungary, the places, names etc. were all familiar which made it doubly interesting. A must for anyone seriously interested in Hungary.



5. This book shall remain in my library permanently. Do not mistake this as simply an "Anne Frank" copycat; it is not! Nor is this just another Nazi story. What make this book so incredible is her comments about life and loneliness. Interestingly, there is also laugh-aloud humor sprinkled throughout. The end of the book, unlike Wiesel et al., leaves one feeling upbeat. It is a remarkable, true account, written by a successful NYC psychiatrist on her deathbed due to breast cancer and published posthumously. THIS BOOK SHOULD NOT BE MISSED!

No comments about Encounter on the Narrow Ridge: A Life of Martin Buber.

5 comments about Into the Tunnel: The Brief Life of Marion Samuel, 1931-1943.

1. Marion Samuel was eleven years old when she arrived at Auschwitz in March of 1943, she was gassed to death the same day and her body burned in the crematorium. He ashes were thrown into a pit with hundreds of others and then covered over with soil. Their is no marker over where she died.
   
   But who was this child and what was her crime that she should be treated so. She came from a lower middle class family from West Pomerania, near the Baltic Sea where the German-Polish border is today. At the age of six she was a witness to Kristallnacht and forbidden to go to the German Public School she had attended for the last three years. He family lost their business and both her parent's became "unskilled" factory workers. Marion was able to go to a "Jewish" school for two more years, before those were shut down. For the last years of her life she lived in a one room ground floor apartment off an alley. Since her parent's were away each day, she had to fill her time as best she could.
   
   How did she view the world she lived in? Did she wonder why she and her parents were being treated the way they were? Did she have any understanding that she was being punished for a random act of birth? At least we know she was on the same train as her father (who lasted sixty one days in the camp) when she was "evacuated". Thankfully, the horrors at the end for this little girl were tempered by the comfort of a parent.
   
   Hopefully, the people that ordered her death, and carried it out, suffered for what they did.



2. This is a book could've been written by Sophie Scholl, from the White Rose Movement, from heaven-almighty.
   
   I cannot bequeath the tragic nature of how I came to understand this "statistic" but in all due seriousness, why not a statistical analysis of the nearly 2 million dead or wounded, you have to remember, that Iraq and Aftanistan, although it maims, scars and is a horrifying Nazi conquest, particularly Iraq, the Holy Roman Empire lives on, just as the slaughter continues, for all Buddhist protesters in Tibet, and anyone with half a brain, can figure this out: this book is a euphemism for the hatred that sparks wars and all sorts of pogroms, including that of being disabled, very similar to being Jewish, in Nazi Germany.
   
   I highly hated Hitler, until he dies, briefly, very briefly with enough time I have to commute across the internet to show my mother this beautiful book, but I hate him present-tense, as I have no money, to buy it for her.



3. this was a very moving book. I kept thinking during the book. how could anybody murder 1.5 million children and where were the alleged good people. why did not our country do a great deal more to save the jews of europe. the USA could have saved every jew in germany, austria and czechoslovakia if the state dept. had not been run by anti-semetic officials.



4. One of the abiding insights that comes through in Goetz Ally's Into the Tunnel is just how efficient bureaucracies can be at transforming vibrantly alive human beings into impersonal statistics on official forms. In their extermination program, the Nazis, with an eerie fidelity to record-keeping, felt the need to document every detail of the lives they were destroying. That's why Aly is able to trace the unhappy fate of the beautiful little girl, Marion Samuel, who is the protagonist of this unhappy tale.
   
   Such exercises are important; they help to keep memory alive. But Aly's book is more of a model of historical research than a sustained biography that captures who Marion Samuel was. This is as it must be. Nazi documentation records dates when the Samuel family loses its business, moves from one locale to another, and is rounded up for deportation to Auschwitz, but little else. There are few photographs left, and family memories on both Cilly's (Marion's mother) and Ernst's (her father) side have dimmed (or were outright obliterated by the Holocaust). So what we have in this book is a lot of data that leaves us with the sinking awareness that the 12-year old Marion simply disappeared in a wide ocean of bureaucratic files and forms even before she was murdered and incinerated at Auschwitz.
   
   Still, we get glimpses of her, and those glimpses are all the more poignant for being so incomplete. One of her schoolmates recalls that in 1938, a full five years before her murder, an 8-year old Marion was already feeling the burden of the Nazi horror. She remembers (p. 82) that at one point a near-hysterical Marion blurted out her fear that Jews were disappearing into an ominous tunnel. We also know that at the final roundup, Marion was separated for three full days from her parents, and sent to a detention warehouse full of equally parentless children. Marion's mother, Cilly, was sent on to Auschwitz and quite likely was immediately murdered. Marion and her father Ernst were reunited in the same transport that took them both to Auschwitz. One can only imagine the forlornness Marion experienced before she was reunited with her father for their final journey into the tunnel. Both were murdered a week later.
   
   It's good that Aly's work allows us to know something of a child, unspeakably murdered before she barely had a chance to live, who otherwise would've totally disappeared.



5. I'll read this book over and over, I am sure - three times already in a day and a half. The first time I tried to focus on the historical scholarship and impeccable method, but was distracted by thoughts of "But why? Why? It doesn't make sense. They were Germans too."
   
   Again I read it, and was arrested this time by the mechanistic system set up by the Nazis in what was really quite a short time. Every Jew's (and every other citizen's) address was on a card somewhere - every detail of their life was a part of a huge network by means of which all people of a certain category could be swept up with little or no warning with chilling efficiency, and sent away. Then their property was listed, valued, distributed to 'more deserving' citizens, and the state itself recovered every last drop of value from those it had discarded - down to retrieving their security deposits from the gas and electricity companies to be paid into general revenue. Those companies even printed for their own use forms for particularising the amount of the deposit, any unrecovered bills, and any remainder to be sent to the State.
   
   Then, at the third attempt little Marion and her family took all my attention, despite my efforts to resist them, and I wept. This book is quite accessible to any general reader, and Marion Samuel, thanks to the efforts of Gotz Aly, could take her place beside Anne Frank in the lists of books for young folk to read, for slightly different reasons. Anne Frank shows us her own growth and maturity, as well as the effect on others of the horror outside their hiding place. Marion's story is not in her won words, but it shows starkly the power a state apparatus can gather to itself and use to crush parts of its population it takes a dislike to. Would that there had been more of the kind of German described in "Into the tunnel" when a young girl was told forcefully by her father that the sight of Jews being deported was something that struck home at all other Germans, because it could be Catholics like their family next.