5 comments about Trapped in Hitler's Hell.

1. This book shows the what it was like to be in Germany at the time of the Nazi occupation. I have met Anita Dittman and she is an incredible lady with an incredible story.



2. Trapped In Hitler's Hell by Anita Dittman is the epic and personal recollection of the hardships and difficult times during the second world war in Nazi Germany. Dittman righteously describes the anguish she suffered throughout her captivity and solitude. Trapped In Hitler's Hell is an inspirational tale of one young woman's only certainty being that the God above her would protect her, and is highly recommended for all Christian and Judaic practitioners and students, as well as students of history during World War II, as this book is as informative as it is encouraging.



3. Anita Dittman's story is a vivid testimony to the sovereignty and faithfulness of Christ in the life of a little German-Jewish girl who finds in her Savior both courage and strength to meet each day in the midst of painful persecution and the terror of war. As Anita grows up, abandoned by her father and rejected by her non-Jewish teachers and schoolmates, her spirit grows more lovely with each passing year as she learns that Jesus will never leave her nor forsake her.
   
   This story is not gloomy or depressing in any way. It is full of faith, hope, and glorious glimpses of the power and the love of God. I could hardly put it down.
   
   There is a compelling immediacy to Miss Dittman's story. I felt almost as if I knew her. My faith in the Lord has been challenged and renewed as I've followed her through her trials and triumphs in the pages of this book.
   
   There is a warning here also, with a striking parallel to the present. Just as many of the churches in Nazi Germany fell quickly to the seductive message of the Third Reich, so many of our churches of today are falling quickly for the seductions of the Emergent Church's apostate theology and the allure of occult eastern mysticism through so-called "christian" contemplative spirituality.
   
   As many have described Hitler as a "type" of Anti-christ, so the apostate German church may be said to pre-figure the apostate worldwide "christian" church which the Bible warns will arise in the last days. Is that what we are seeing unfold?
   
   If you want to be uplifted, forewarned, and encouraged during these "perilous times," read Trapped In Hitler's Hell.
   
   [I'd like to thank Miss Dittman for writing this book. I will never be quite the same. :)]



4. This is an excellent book told from the first-hand account of a holocaust survivor. The account is very well written and edited and you won't be able to put it down.
   
   How Anita Dittman survived is simply a miracle and one can see God's hand in sustaining her existence and planning the extraordinary sequence of events that delivered her from her Nazi captors. God's love for the Jewish people and allowing her to survive to tell her story is a witness for all of us that Jewish people have a remarkable future desiny to play in the prophetic timeline leading up to the return of Jesus Christ.
   
   I have heard Anita Dittman and Jan Markell present this story in lecture format. Talk about having a lump in your throat for an hour.
   
   The sad part of this story is that Anti-Semitism since World Warr II has not really gone away. It's always there and there are disturbing signs all around the world that it could return even worse than the holocaust. We now have world leaders such as Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Palestian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas openly deny the Holocaust and the world's media and United Nations don't call them on the carpet for it.
   
   The Book of Zechariah Chapters 12-14, Jeremiah Ch. 30:7, Revelaton Ch. 12 and many other biblical texts indicate that Israel will go through even worse trial and tribulation immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ. If those times are worse than what Anita Dittman and her mother experienced, the world truly needs Jesus Christ to return to save the Jewish people from complete annihilation.



5. When I first read "Trapped in Hitler's Hell," it was called "Angels In the Camp." From the miraculous acts that God preformed for this faith filled German-Jewish girl, there certainly were angels watching over Anita Dittman. For example, while in the hospital the Nazi nurse who attended Anita refused to provide her with food. Knowing Anita was Jewsih, the nurse was trying to starve her to death. A Chritian friend in the next bed shared half of the one potato she received for food each day with Anita. They hid under the covers and ate their potato. The nurse was certainly surprised when not only did Anita not die, but actually gained weight and was soon well enough to go back to work. The book is filled with faith building stories such as this one.
   
   Recently I had the priviledge of hearing Anita speak. Her book had really spsoken to my heart. I remebered many of the stories of her experiences during WWII and quoted them every so often. What an inspring lady she is. She concluded her testimony with a saying I shall always remember. Anita told us, "Safety isn't found in the absence of danger, but in the presence of God."
   
   As one reviewer summed it up, there are important lessons we need to learn from Anita's exxperiences. She said, "Just as many of the churches of Nazi Germany fell quickly to the seductive message of the Third Reich, so many of our churches today are falling quickly for the seductions of the Emergent Church's apostate theology and the allure of occult eastern mysticism though so-called "Christian" comtemplative spirituality." Before it's to late, we need to get our lives right with the Savior. We need to let Him show us any sin and pray that He would lead us out of any erroneous doctrine and into His truth.

1 comments about When Memory Comes (George L. Mosse Series in Modern European Cultural and Intellectual History).

1. April 2008 - I read this book when it was first published. A very beautifully written and translated memoire of a Jewish boy raised as a Catholic in order to save him from the Nazi death camps.

No comments about Doorway to Freedom: The Story of David Kaufmann.

5 comments about The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-eight Days Of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

1. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising has long fascinated me. It has long stood as a symbol of what hope can do "when all hope is lost." In all my years of reading holocaust literature, no other single event has embraced the totality of the Jewish struggle from denial to capitulation to indignation, from the depths of which rose the courage to actually fight back! In many ways, it echoes the struggle that continues today.
   
   Dan Kurzman regails this saga in unbelievable depth, citing the most impecable sources, the survivors! His narrative breaks down each individual day and succeeds in putting the reader into each and every "sub-set" of the saga throughout the ghetto and within the nazi regime out to destroy them.
   
   I have read many different accounts of this parcel of history, and, to date, I have not yet found a more extensive account of the events of those 28 days! From top to bottom, front to back, this is one of the greatest books I have ever read! I actually happened upon writing this review as I was purchasing it for the second time, as my first copy was not returned to me.
   
   This emotional roller coaster will leave you breathless...I left it with bittersweet feelings of joy and pain, triumph and tragedy, resolve and fear. For I, too, live in a fascist nation, and fear the violation of my rights may become extreme. However, reflection on these 28 days of heroes among ordinary men gives me the strength to believe I could be a hero too!
   
   The power lies within each of us! Read and learn...see ya in November!



2. I found this to be a great book about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It was well written, so I found it easy to get through the book.
   I have read many books about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and one of the things I really liked about this one, was that the author writes about both the two Jewish fighting organizations. Since all the leaders of ZZW died before the war was over, there were few people left to tell their story and there a therefore very little about its members in most books. (Marian Apfelbaum has written a book about ZZW, where he tries to put the record straight. His book is called 'Retour sur le Ghetto de Varsovie')
   Dan Kurzman has interviewed two ZZW fighters and some others that knew them. All in all, Dan Kurzman has spoken to many witnesses and he has read many documents and books about the topic. He has also made use of German sources.
   Yes, it is very obvious who he prefers, but when you are dealing with a story like this, who else than the Jewish fighters would you side with?



3. Dan Kurzman is one of the best authors I have read on many subjects. The Bravest Battle is the only work that clearly outlines the historical struggle of the Warsaw Ghetto. The book clearly shows this struggle was NOT a revolution, and NOT a fight for freedom. The fight was to send a message to the world that Jews will fight for their dignity. Kurzman spent much time with the few survivors of the battle. He obtained first-hand accounts from the participants. If you enjoy this you will also enjoy his book Gensis 1948. This book will cure the amnesia that plagues the world in recent times about why Israel exists.



4. In this volume Dan Kurzman produces a comprehensive step-by-step, detailed, stirring, engaging and heartrending account of the Warsaw Ghetto
   Uprisings.
   When the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on April 19, 1943, more than 300 000 ghetto inhabitants had already perished in the gas chambers of Treblinka.
   As the author describes the 28 day battle of the ZOB and Betarist ZZW ended 2 000 years of Jewish submission to brutal persecution, pogroms and finally genocide, an iron will to survive that five years later would find expression in the reborn State of Israel.
   65 years after the valour of the doomed fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto echoed across Warsaw, the determination of the Jews to fight back against their murderers, against those who would destroy them, echoes in the Middle East.
   Kurzman provides a day by day account of the 28 day struggle for survival.
   
   The book focuses on the sadistic SS-Gruppenführer Jurgen Stroop, who led the attack of the Nazi forces on the Warsaw Ghetto, and on Mordechai Anielewicz, a leader of the Zionist-socialist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair and and Commander in Chief of the Jewish fighting Organization (ZOB).
   Other heroes of the uprising included Captain Henryk Iwanski, the Polish Home Officer who gave all to help the Jews, and lost a son during the fighting.
   He supported the ¯ydowski Zwi¹zek Wojskowy (¯ZW), the Jewish Military Union, led by such great men as Pawel Frankel and David Appelbaum.
   The book details how the ZOB and ZZW fought valiantly to avenge those who had been murdered, and their many surprise attacks on the Nazi forces.
   
   We also learn how the British and American governments refused to help the besieged Jews of the Ghetto in any way.
   ' Breckinridge Long , the US assistant secretary of state in charge of refugee issues wrote in his diary...reflecting on American Jewish leaders who were trying to pressure their governments to save the Jews: "One danger in it all is that their activities may lend color to the charges of Hitler that this war is being fought on account of and at the instigation and direction of the Jewish leaders who were trying to pressure their governments to save the Jews".
   A chilling statement that finds expression today in the anti-Jewish slogan of the violently anti-Israel "Anti War Movement" : "No War for Israel!"
   Also of the reluctance of the USA and NATO forces to stop Iran's plans to build nuclear weapons for the express purposes of the genocide of Israel's Jews.
   This inaction simply in order to avoid the wrath of world Moslems and the International Left.
   
   Stories of heroism abound such as that of the twelve year old Jewish girl who died shielding her injured ten year old brother from the fires of the burning ghetto. No account of the heroism of the uprising could be complete without the harrowing details of the horrific Nazi atrocities. These include the SS, on the orders of Stroop, taking Jewish infants by the legs and smashing their heads against the wall, or machine gunning masses of Jewish children.
   Even the suffering and cruel death of children could not move the hearts that were hardened by hate.
   
   Photographs in the volume include a heartbreaking photo of Jewish children crying for food in the ghetto, as they starved to death, the humiliation and defeat on the face of a young Jewish woman being stripped by Nazi soldiers ,Jewish men, women and children being rounded up the Nazis, and the piles of Jewish corpses.
   
   Moist of those Jews who survived the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, including some of the key resistance leaders, moved to Israel, were their descendants still live today.
   Let that be a reminder to those sick and evil people who try to equate the Israeli Jews with the Nazis.
   The 16 year old ZW fighter Jurek Plonski, immigrated to Israel, where at the time of the writing of this book, he lived on a kibbutz. His son was killed in the Yom Kippur War.
   Other surviving fighters founded the Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot (Ghetto Fighters Kibbutz) in Western Galilee.



5. Unfortunately, because of their difficult Polish names, the main characters did not stick in my mind. I cannot remember who was who and who did what. Having said that, the young poeople who started the rebellion were brave and tough. How commendable for dying fighting, rather than just letting the Nazis lead them to the slaughter! Also, I was disgusted by the absence of help from the Polish underground and from the Allies. The Jews fought and died alone, with minimal help from the outside. I find the anti-Semitism of the Polish people to be cruel, barbarous and un-Christian: to dislike the Jews is one thing, but to turn them over to the Ghestapo and SS is another! Damn them!!!

4 comments about Responsibility and Judgment.

1. Responsibility And Judgment is a collection of previously unpublished writings from the last decade of the life of editor and World War II survivor Hannah Arendt (1906-1975). Chapters wrestle with complex moral issues and philosophical questions both in general and in relation to specific events such as judicial trials of World War II criminals and the repercussions that America's failed war effort in Vietnam had on the nation's policies and psyche. Written in clear, no-nonsense terms, Responsibility And Judgment is as accessible to lay readers as it is to philosophers, and offers its insights free from the constraints of political ideology. Highly recommended.



2. Given that none of the editorial reviews on this page contain a table of contents, I decided it may be wise to copy it here:
   
   Introduction by Jerome Kohn
   A Note on the Text
   Prologue
   I. RESPONSIBILITY
   Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship
   Some Questions of Moral Philosophy
   Collective Responsibility
   Thinking and Moral Considerations
   II. JUDGMENT
   Reflections on Little Rock
   The Deputy: Guilt by Silence?
   Auschwitz on Trial
   Home to Roost
   
   The first part deals with somewhat abstract questions, whereas the second is an application of Hannah Arendt's moral and more generally philosophical considerations to real-world situations. The fundamental text contained in this volume is "Some Questions of Moral Philosophy", which is based on four lectures Arendt gave in 1965. In it, Arendt deals with Socrates, Immanuel Kant, Paul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo, and Friedrich Nietzsche while discussing thinking, willing and judging. Also of note is Arendt's examination of Dr. Franz Lucas's case (described in "Auschwitz on Trial"). In a nutshell, this is a very interesting, though somewhat mixed and slightly repetitive, collection of essays, speeches, and lectures by a significant Selbstdenker.
   
   Alexandros Gezerlis



3. Hannah Arendt has always been one of my favourite writers. This volume collecting her works does not disappoint.
   
   However, do not expect the same incisive and indepth look into the pressing ethical issues here. This is not the fault of Hannah Arendt. This is afterall a collection of bits and pieces of her works, put together not necessarily in a coherent way.
   
   Nonetheless, this book is worth a read, particularly as it condenses and crystalises some of the thoughts contained in her other, longer, and more difficult to read books. Next to her "Men in Dark Times", I would recommend this book as a good place for those unfamiliar with Hannah Arendt to begin.
   
   However, do ignore the introduction by Jerome Kohn, which is rather a rather incoherent, bitter, and ranting little piece of work, attributing to Hannah Arendt thoughts and opinions that might or might not have been hers. It is better for the reader to judge for himself or herself as to what Hannah Arendt meant to say, and not left a lesser mind to colour the reader's perceptions.



4. A necessary companion to 'Eichmann in Jerusalem.' I concur to an extent with the reviewer below regarding Jerome Kohn's introduction. One should definitely start with the first chapter, "Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship," before reading Kohn's piece, as it clarifies some of the confusing aspects of Kohn's argument.

1 comments about History and Hate.

1. At 124 pages consisting of 8 essays be various experts, I found this to be a fascinating, well-written, hugely educational experience. As a general reader, I found it a natural next step to a general book such as "Jews, God, and History" by Max I. Dimont. (Dimont's book had an excellent chapter on the history of anti-semitism but is was somewhat simplistic compared to the more in depth look given in "History and Hate"). "History and Hate" is readable by general readers who have at some time in the past read books such as "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", or perhaps a book of history by Josephus and a book such as "The History of the World" by J. M. Roberts. I.e., it helps to have a general knowledge of world history to make the experience of reading "History of Hate" meaningful. I recommend "History of Hate" as an excellent book for a general reader who wants to see more of the "big picture" of anti-semitism throughout the world. Some of the essay titles are, "Anti-Semitism in the Ancient World", "Medieval Anti-Semitism", "Anti-Semitism and the Muslim World", and "American Anti-Semitism". I did not find a single "dud" and enjoyed all 8 of the essays. By contrast, I am disappointed in the book, "A ScapeGoad in the New Wilderness: The Origins and Rise of Anti-Semitism in American" by Frederic Jaher. This is a dishonest book because an unsuspecting reader ordering it sight-unseen assumes it covers history up to the present. In fact, it stops at around the year 1870. On the other side of the spectrum, I am unhappy with the book "Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews" by Lindemann because at 561 dense pages it is simply too long to hold the interest of a general reader. A general reader doesn't have the time for books of such a huge length, especially as to me it seems to be somewhat padded with overly flowery sentences. The bottom line is that I was able to read "History of Hate" in two days, felt I got my money's worth, was much the wiser for reading it, and was well entertained.

5 comments about Operation Eichmann: The Truth about the Pursuit, Capture and Trial.

1. This is a first-hand account of the search for, capture and trial of one of the most prominent Nazi war criminals. Adolf Eichmann played a key role in transporting millions of Jews to the extermination camps. After he vanished at the end of the war, Zvi Aharoni, an experienced Mossad operative, led the search for him.

   Eichmann, along with at least 300 other leading Nazis escaped from Austria to Italy and then to Argentina via the ýconvent routeý, assisted by the Roman Catholic Church and the Red Cross. However, after Aharoni located and identified Eichmann, the Israeli Government made no attempt to get him extradited from Argentina. It ordered Aharoni to kidnap Eichmann and smuggle him to Israel. The kidnapping, in May 1960, broke Argentinaýs laws, as Israelýs Prime Minister David Ben Gurion later admitted. The United Nations General Assembly passed a Resolution condemning the abduction as a violation of Argentinaýs sovereignty.

   The Israeli Government put Eichmann on trial in 1961. He famously claimed that he was only obeying orders, but was found guilty of instigating the killing of millions of Jews. He was executed on 1 June 1962.

   The whole enterprise showed the Israeli Governmentýs cavalier attitude to other countriesý sovereignty. Its technical success was used to warrant later repeated attacks on other nationsý sovereignty. These aggressions damaged the countries attacked: they also degraded Israel itself. Aharoni laments that after he retired ýthe rules changed and the ideals of his past no longer applied; with the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israel had become a different country.ý (A key indicator of this change was that, appallingly, confessions obtained by force became admissible evidence in court.) But he cannot see that his careerýs most triumphant moment - the forcible abduction of Eichmann - contributed to this moral degradation.




2. This account of the life of Nazi Adolf Eichmann from his role in persecuting the Jews under Adolf Hitler's infamous Third Reich until his capture in May of 1960 and his ultimate death by hanging is told by Zvi Aharoni, the man who was a key player in the plot to kidnap Eichmann and bring him to trial. Vivid details that had to be attended to both prior to and after the capture of the Nazi criminal are provided to appreciate the difficulty in carrying out this complicated undertaking. Eichmann had a number of sons, the last of which, Richardo, was a generation younger than his brothers who really has no recollection of his father. He states he feels nothing towards his father, and can't find words to describe his terrible deeds during the war. During a visit to the site of the Wannsee-Konferenz which showed a photo of Adolf, Ricardo explained the role of his children's grandfather to them. The two children sadly said they "could not love a grandpa like him." I guess we all serve as an example to others, even if it is in a negative way. Anyone interested in Hitler's shady characters will enjoy seeing justice served in this book.



3. Very interesting book. A story I was about which I was always curious.



4. The claims in this book and by the literary critics above are such complete, watered-down, political CRAP intended to sell another book on the subject. It is all third-hand, and poor at that. Read the TRUE and ACCURATE account by the Israeli Spy, recently declassified WHO ACTUALLY CAUGHT ADOLF EICHMANN. His famous book is called "EICHMANN IN MY HANDS". Before this book, he had to write under an alias, Peter Z Mann. His action novels reflect his life and are must-reads: "ULTIMATUM PU 94" and "CARLOS MUST DIE". (Also recommend the underground book written in 1961 immediately after Eichmann's capture "THE PLOT TO SAVE EICHMANN".



5. If you want an overview of the capture of Eichmann this book will give it to you, but don't expect a gripping story. This is unglamorous espionage. Israel receives very specific information of Eichmann living in Argentina but ignores it twice. When they finally decide to pursue him it turns out that Eichmann had given up running. He and his family were living thinly concealed lives in squalor.
   
   The author's style is slow and plodding as if he was trying to stretch the story to fill the 180 pages. For example, we learn a bit too much about the difficulties of renting cars in Buenos Aires in 1960. But the book is worth the read if you don't know the story.

1 comments about Il Duce's Other Woman.

1. Two words aptly describe this work - "boring" and "slanted." The authors have chosen to write a biography of a relatively obscure person from history, Margherita Sarfatti who was a prominent art critic in Italy during the 20's and 30's and who also happened to be one of Benito Mussolini's many mistresses. All other biographies of Italy's Il Duce barely devote a sentence or two to Sarfatti but this one paints her as the mastermind behind Mussolini's creation of fascism and his rise to power. Unfortunately, the documentation provided to support this thesis is virtually nonexistant. Mussolini is portrayed as a pure brute with no mind of his own, hell-bent on the aquistion of power and the elimination of civil liberties. No mention is made of the score of public works that Italian fascism enacted and that resulted in the substantial increase of pre-war Italian standard of living. Instead, an inordinate and excessive amount of pages are devoted to Sarfatti's relationship to the futurist painters of early 20th century Italy. What is not apparent is the reason for selecting Sarfatti as the protagonist of this book. Perhaps the authors find irony in her Jewish ancestry and Mussolini's later anti-semitic laws once the Axis with Germany was formed. I wound recommend this book only for those interested in the history of 20th century Italian artists. Those interested in an accurate and objective account of the socio-political factors leading up to and involving Fascist Italy are advised to look elsewhere.

5 comments about Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 1884-1966.

1. Shapiro has produced an extremely interesting biography of a tormented rabbinic scholar who was fated to live through some of the most terrible decades of Jewish history. Shapriro leans heavily on the side of "modern orthodoxy" in his evaluation of Rabbi Weinberg and perhaps could have given more weight to his correspondence and interaction with East European (later American and Israeli) gedolim. The self-imposed isolation in post-war Switzerland is not fully explained and could have stood a more in-depth pyschological analysis. However a brave attempt at a very difficult subject.



2. To many the life and works of Rav Weinberg were merely obscure shallos u teshuvos. Any controversy regarding his views was brushed off with a wave of the hand. The seridei eish had been misappropriated and assimilated into the haredi protoplasm...
   Commonly heard "he was forced to go to college" "it was a horaas shah".... Thankfully, a full exposition of his explosive ideas is now available. The reality of the great man, this whole person, is open and exposed. Let us all strive to learn from the overwhelming truth and the intelluctual engagement of this revivified Weinberg.



3. Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg 1884-1966 was one of the Torah giants of this century. He was the preeminent European posek(Halachic decisor) in the post- war period. This biography tells his own personal life story but also provides an insight into the struggles of various streams within the Orthodox world for position and predominance during his lifetime. A product of the world of the Yeshivot and of the Mussar movement he also was educated as a scholar at the University of Giessen. There he was taken under the wing of a great Gentile scholar of Judaism Paul Kahle. There too he taught a class in Torah to non- Jewish students .His immense learning won him the respect of scholars throughout the world of Jewish learning. Shapiro makes it clear that Weinberg was an advocate of what he himself exemplied the combination of Torah learning and higher secular studies. And that Weinberg was troubled in his last days at the thought of a Jewish world of learning so narrowly focused as to lose its capacity to have influence in the real world. He believed for instance that certain kinds of secular knowledge would be necessary to make the state of Israel viable and independent. Shapiro does not provide a deep psychological analysis of Weinberg's character but does tell the basic biographical story including that of his unfortunate marriage. He indicates that Weinberg lived his life in great loneliness,especially in his last post- war years in Montreux where he headed a small Yeshiva.
   This is in a way an unusual biography of a Torah giant as it not a hagiography, but provides a solid historical accounting. It is again especially instructive in the picture it gives of the Orthodox Jewish world, its divisions and conflicts.
   Weinberg is presented as a human figure capable of error(As in his initial support of the Nazis when they first came to power. An opinion he rapidly changed) but also as a great Torah scholar dedicated to the ideal of Jewish learning and the preservation and enhancing of the Torah world.



4. I went to a modern Orthodox shul when I lived in Washington, and I now go to a shul in Jacksonville that is somewhat more "yeshivish" (i.e. not Hasidic, but less liberal than my prior congregation) in orientation; this intellectual biography of R. Weinberg gives me a better idea of the intellectual roots of both wings of Orthodoxy. Both modern Orthodoxy and Yeshiva orthodoxy have their roots in 18th and 19th century Europe. In Germany, relatively modern thinkers such as Samson Raphael Hirsch and David Hoffman favored a synthesis of Orthodoxy and modern culture, embracing art and literature to the extent compatible with halacha. These ideological ancestors of modern Orthodoxy argued that Judaism could (in the author's words) be a "decisive spiritual force for humanity" and "provide answers to the problems of morality and social justice which confront modern society." By contrast, in Eastern Europe, rabbinic scholars based in yeshivot (educational institutions devoted to Torah study, comparable I suppose to rabbinic seminaries today) tended to favor isolating Jews from the secular world, and focusing purely on Torah study as opposed to secular learning. So now when I go to shul and hear a rabbi telling us to "love the world" or to be suspicious of the "nations of the world", I hear the voices of rabbinic intellectuals who died a century or two ago.
   
   Some more specific things I learned:
   
   *The level of hostility between some yeshivot and Zionism. In the Slobodka yeshiva where Weinberg studied, forty students sought to form a Zionist group. The administration forced them to disband by not just threatening to expell them from the yeshiva, but also to revoke rabbinic ordinations of students who had already received them.
   
   *The troubled relationship between German Orthodox and East European Orthodox Jews. Early in the 20th century, German Jews tended to see East Europeans as primitives - partially for irrational reasons (East Europeans were poorer, and Germans viewed Yiddish, the common East European Jewish language, as a mere corruption of German) but partially for good reasons as well. East Europeans often left Jewish education outside the yeshivot to untrained lay teachers, while rabbis focused their attentions solely on the best and the brightest. And until after World War I, East European Jews commonly made no effort to educate girls, causing girls to gravitate towards secularism. But in the last years before Hitler, a countertrend emerged. Germany's loss of World War I and postwar turmoil made German culture seem less appealing, and the "Torah only focus" and mysticism of East European Jewry seemed more appealing to some German Orthodox Jews.
   
   *The intellectual origin of intra-Orthodox disputes about woman's issues, many of which were addressed in Weinberg's writings. For example, Weinberg argued in favor of bat mitzvahs, but other Orthodox decisors were more skeptical. The halachic issues were as follows: there is a halachic rule that Jews should not imitate gentile practices, or by implication the practices of non-Orthodox Jews. Medieval authorities are split over how broadly this rule should be interpreted; some favor a broad interpretation (which would bar bat mitzvah ceremonies, on the ground that such ceremonies were originated by non-Orthodox Jews). Others interpret this principle narrowly, arguing that gentile practices may be permitted if adopted for a good reason (a view favored by Weinberg). In addition, there is a policy dispute over whether bat mitzvah ceremonies in fact cement girls' ties to Judaism.
   
   Generally, the modern trend seems to be in favor of liberalization in this area, despite the oft-touted "move to the Right" among Orthodox Jews. My shul in Jacksonville has bat mitzvah ceremonies, and a woman's right to vote and hold office (which was opposed 80 years ago by such leading authorities as Abraham Kook and the Chofetz Chaim) is no longer controversial, except in certain narrow areas such as intra-synagogue governance.



5. A welcome addition as opposed to the countless hagiographa out there, yet still biased. To call Weinberg "modern orthodox" is almost laughable-a worldly Orthodox Scholar, yes, but not modern orthodox as the term is widely understood.

5 comments about An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Berlin (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiographies).

1. Beck gives us a glimpse of a gay man's coming of age in Nazi Berlin. It is not only erotic but holds up a light by which all aspects of love should be measured. Once again, the Gay Spirit has triumphed over bigotry, intolerance, and in this case even the holocaust.



2. Gad Beck brought to life not only the cruelty to the jews but also the cruelty of the gay and lesbian people of the Nazi Era. I had to do a research paper for a Holocaust in Literature class I took my junior year in high school...and I was entralled the whole time I read this book. It shocked me, it horrified me...and I loved it.



3. Here is a memoire of life in Berlin during the Nazi regime from the perspective of a gay Jew. Gad Beck was an organizer and friend to many who lived illegally during that period, finding shelter and food and providing friendship and support. That he was openly gay was not important during that period - there were more important thiongs to worry about.
   
   I found this book at the bookstore of National Haulocost Museum in Washington DC on a recent visit. It fits in perfectly with that museum, in that it fleshes out the life in hiding. If you have an interest in the struggle for human rights and length to which people will go to survive, this is an excellent read.
   
   One fact that is underemphasized in the book is Beck's youth during this period. By the end of the war he was in his younger 20s. Yet he had accomplished so much and had the strength of one much older. Bravo!



4. Beck, Gad. "An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Germany, University of Wisconsin Press, 1999.
   
   Triumph of Will
   
   Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
   
   We all have a great deal of trouble understanding the Holocaust and what it did to so many people. We have been slowly getting the stories of the Nazi persecution if gays and if one was both gay and Jewish, he had real troubles. Gad Beck was a man like that but he survived and was able to tell his story as he does so eloquently in "An Underground Life". Even though his book begins slowly, it picks up pace quickly and as you read your mouth falls open to see stories about man's inhumanity to man. When the Nazis began their reign of terror he was living underground and was sought by the Gestapo. Beck was an organizer and helped many who lived illegally by finding them shelter and food as well as providing a listening ear and support in any way that he could. The fact that he was gay was secondary to the fact that he was Jewish.
   In this memoir Beck brings to life both the cruelty to the Jews but the cruelty to the gays as well. This is a shocking and horrifying account as he writes about a gay man's coming of age in Nazi Germany. It is an erotic tale but also shows how love should be considered. This was probably the first time in the modern age that the gay spirit managed to triumph over intolerance and bigotry--even against the greatest crime ever against humanity.
   The fact that Beck survived in itself is miraculous but even more amazing is that he was able to write about what he endured. When Robert Plant published "The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War against Homosexuals" in 1986, the door was opened to a new aspect of the Holocaust. Several personal accounts followed, but few have been published that talk about the Nazi treatment of gays ad I imagine that this is because so few survived and those that did could not think about what they had endured. This makes this book that much more valuable.
   Beck's own story is unique in that he was born of a mixed marriage in 1923 to a Jewish father and a Christian mother thereby not Jewish according to strict Orthodox law. Nonetheless, the Nazis did not care--if he had a drop of Jewish blood, as far as they were concerned, he was Jewish. As the Nazi party rose to power and began their housing relocation plan, forced labor and transport to death camps, Beck organized a resistance movement to hide others and to smuggle food and drugs to them, He even once wore a Nazi uniform to rescue a doomed gay man from the camps. He does not in any way disguise his sexuality and he gives details of his own sexual liaisons. He gives us an amazing picture of the horror of Nazi rule. He was one of the fortunate gay men whom his parents loved and accepted his sexuality and was very lucky that the Christian side of his family felt the same. In 1933, when Hitler came to power, he was forced to attend a Jewish school to reinforce his identity and to be visible to the ruling party and he immersed himself in Judaism and embraced the idea of the Zionist movement. He also embraced a great many men and he hides nothing about his sex life (except for actual sexual descriptions) as well as writes openly about his secret political activities. He rose in power in the Zionist movement and became a central character in working to establish a Jewish homeland. He survived the Nazis by living illegally in Berlin. Because of that he was able to write this wonderful memoir.
   This is a book that holds you from the beginning to the end, so much so that you want a sequel. He embraced his gayness at the same time that he embraced his Jewish--at a time when it meant death to be either. There are stories of betrayals and back stabbings and secret meetings and the memoir reads like a combination thriller/spy novel. That he survived s incredible and even more incredible is that he endured all that he did.



5. Here's the story: gay Jew (really a half-Jew under Nazi racial law) survives Holocaust in Berlin, despite spending lots of time risking his life by helping ferry other Jews to safety in Switzerland. I didn't find this book as enthralling as I had hoped; either the writing style or the translation left something to be desired. In particular, the last half of the book read like a laundry list of lovers and rescued friends. (Unlike another reviewer, I actually liked the pre-Holocaust half of the book better).
   
   Having said that, I still learned something from this book; I got a real sense of the differences between "full Jews" and persons of mixed blood. Full Jews typically got deported to concentration camps, no ifs, ands or buts. But if the experience of Beck and his family is any guide, half-Jews stood a pretty good chance of survival if they kept their noses clean. Because Beck's mother was born Christian (though she converted to Judaism) his parents were never deported (despite numerous close calls), and Beck got in trouble with the Gestapo only because of his rescue activities.
   
   Another interesting fact: throughout the book, Beck mentions various hunchbacks he ran into. What is it about early 20th-century Germany that produced so many hunchbacks?