1 comments about A Childhood under Hitler and Stalin: Memoirs of a "Certified Jew".

1. This is a superb translation by Penny Milbouer of an important book for today. Wieck's harrowing account of his life under both Nazi and Soviet domination illuminates a dark tale that reaches far beyond the immediate stories told of WWII to the years of Stalin's occupation of the Eastern reaches of Prussia.

   Thoughtful, beautiful, terrible, a book well worth reading despite enduring horrors.

5 comments about A Long Way Home: The Story of a Jewish Youth, 1939-1949.

1. A heart rending odessey of a young lad and his family grasping
   for safety from the Nazi horde. A tribulous tale through Siberia also compels your interest. The story ends with the Golans reunited in the transition of Israel. A unique experience with the reader a part of it.



2. Very few people have any idea of the horrors visited on the people of Poland, Jews as well as non-Jews in 1939. This one man had the wisdom to chronicle the events as they happened and helps relate the fears and uncertainty that his family faced during their journey into the seeming abyss of history. Fortunately for us he survived the journey and recorded the story not just for us but for all people who believe in the firm resolve of the individual.



3. Dear Mr. Golan, I'm sending you this note of admiration and appreciation via Jo Braxton, a mutual friend. While I was visiting in Tulsa recently, she put her copy of your book in my hands, knowing my avid interest in history, and also being aware that some aspects of my family's background and history echo yours. I'm not Jewish, but that's wholly irrelevant. Every family and every individual who survived the horrors of World War II in Europe has a tale, at once similar and unique, to tell. My family comes from Bulgaria, and we were fortunate to get to the United States just a few months before Hitler invaded Poland. Among our family, predominantly, were physicians, lawyers, teachers, and clergy. Those the Germans didn't execute during the war were executed by the Communists who seized control of Bulgaria when the war ended. None have been heard from since. Both the Germans and the Communists had the same motives for eliminating local intelligentsia wherever they invaded and ravaged. I simply want to tell you how much I enjoyed reading your book. It is gripping, fascinating, and very well written. How you and others survived such a traumatizing ordeal is a wonder and a tribute to the unquenchable desire of human beings to be free and to live in dignity and respect toward each other. But, sadly, to judge by the history of the Middle East since 1945, and even more so by current events there, nobody seems to learn by mistakes. It seems to me that, some 2000 years later, we're just repeating the vain, fruitless political experiences of the ancient Romans in trying to impose our notion of order and stability in that perpetually troubled region, and with the same disastrous results. No foreign power can impose a military solution there to what remains an insoluble political, ethnic, religious, and cultural dilemma. I'm nobody in particular, just a retired professor of English, French, and German, an old horse out to pasture, and I'm not a professional book reviewer--but, I know a well-written and unforgettable tale when I read one. What an extraordinary odyssey life is for all of us! Thanks for writing your book. I think it crucially important that eyewitness testimony from all who endured and survived the horrors of World War II be recorded and preserved. Only if we keep that unspeakable tragedy in mind may we perhaps avoid further episodes of such bestial barbarism. Reading your book, I'm gratified that at least some are able to endure, survive, and triumph over such devastating experiences, but I'm also left wondering: Is there hope that the human race will ever grow up, become truly civilized, and accept its responsibility for the well-being of all creatures on earth, so we can get along cooperatively and harmoniously? I do wonder, and though I hope, part of me is skeptical, and I wish it were not. Best wishes, Mike Trapp(...)



4. I am a 12 yr old boy, who is an avid reader, especially of people who have done extraordinary things in their lives. I read this book by Mr Golan and was so inspired by him that he has become to me my very first and probably forever role model. I have never looked for "human" role models for various reasons, but Mr. Golan changed all that for me!! What a great man, what a life he has lead. I really never knew what it was like to never know what it was like to live by the notion to "NEVER GIVE UP'" and thanks to him I now know. If one day in my life I should ever have to face a life challenge and I should (G-d forbid) want to just give up I will remember Mr. Golan and all he went through to overcome. I will remember him and draw my strength from him and his life and hopefully I will stand tall and be as courageous as he was. Hopefully I will do as well as he did. Thank you Mr. Golan for your inspiration, may G-d continue to give you strength all the days of your life.
   Chaver Paul Harrison



5. This is a well written book that is easy to read and easy to understand. It's the story of one youth's hope, determination, escape and survival during one of the world's darkest times, WW-II. Bob Golan seemed to be always just a step ahead of those who would do him harm. It was especially interesting to me since, as a young man, my father and I would listen to all the "war news" that came on the radio and the book brought back plenty of old memories of accounts of hardships, suffering,and atrocities endured by the Jewish people as reported by the commentators.
   
   Once you have started to read this book it will hold your attention until you've finished.
   
   Clint Jordan Ottawa, Kansas

1 comments about Telling the Tale : A Tribute to Elie Wiesel on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday - Essays, Reflections, and Poems.

1. Elie Wiesel wrote the book which more than any other perhaps, brought home to mankind the horror of the 'Shoah' His work 'Night' was one of the eternal classics of witnessing.
   This commemorative volume opens with an interview by its editor Harry Cargas with Wiesel. Wiesel as always speaks in a fascinating and moving way. He talks about his being primarily a teacher and writer, and explains how he after surviving the 'Shoah' chose that path instead of one in business. He tells the story of how he after the War wandered in New York hungry most of the time even though he was employed by an Israeli newspaper as a reporter.
   Wiesel speaks of how he has to be his own Rebbe, and how he spends much time thinking of those teachers and friends who were lost in the Shoah.
   He is the person of remembrance, and he speaks of how with the years the memories have not grown less or diminished but rather intensified.
   The volume also contains a number of moving writings by Wiesel including a concluding piece on his relation to Jerusalem.
   Among those who provide essays in tribute are one of the great Jewish thinkers of the century, Emil Fackenheim, and the Christian theologian and friend of the Jewish people, Franklin Littell.
   Wiesel truly deserves to be honored as the courageous witness of the Shoah, and its evil. He also deserves to be honored as a moral voice for Mankind who has repeatedly spoken out against Man's inhumanity to Man.

1 comments about Kristallnacht.

1. In light of the dearth of still living eyewitnesses to both Kristallnacht and the Shoah in general, this is a warm very personal account of one woman's and one family's experience, struggles, and ultimately success in finding the American dream.

5 comments about A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry.

1. Varian Fry was an American hero, risking his life to save others, unrecognized during his lifetime, but, fortunately, with Isenberg's new biography, now about to become a well-known figure. Called the artists' Schindler, Fry saved about 1,500 artists, writers, teachers, labor leaders, activists, and others from Hitler -- Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, and Hannah Arendt among the group. A Hero of Our Own tells Fry's story in a lively, compelling style. One can't wait to turn the page to find out what happens in Nazi-ridden, Vichy-controlled Marseille 1940. Who will be saved? Who will be turned over to the Gestapo? Why did Fry risk his life? This book answers all these questions in a fascinating story that is well worth reading -- as Fry is well worth remembering and honoring.



2. For someone like myself, who enjoys a really exciting story, preferably about a real person,one need go no further than to read "A Hero of Our Own" by Sheila Isenberg. Varian Frye, a not-so-ordinary American, feels impelled to leave his comfortable life as a writer and editor and go to France as a member of the Emergency Rescue Committe (ERC) and risk his life to save as many refugees (mostly Jews) as he can from the Nazis. Frye is the only American to be honored at Yad Vashem (Israel's Holocaust Memorial) because of his work in saving thousands of Jews. If I didn't know it was a true story, I'd think it was fiction because his adventures read like a fast-paced thriller, a veritable realization of the classic "film noir" of the forties. In fact, I feelthe book cries out to be made into a movie which I would be happy to see. Of course some of the book's revealed facts about our own State Department trying to keep refugee Jews from entering the United States when they knew it mean certain death was quite shocking and disturbing. However, all in all, I'd recommend the book to anyone who enjoys reading a fast-paced book about real heros and history.



3. I read Sheila Isenberg's marvelous book, A Hero Of Our Own, in one sitting. What made it compelling was the author's logical, step-by-step approach to the stunning chaos of her hero's dilemma.
   Varian Fry's defining year in Marseilles came alive line by line, stroke by inspiring stroke in clear logical matter of fact tones. The work is poignant and powerful, mythic documentary proof of a bona fide hero and his heroic friends confronting the petty viciousness of evil with clear-eyed will.

   A beautiful important book. This is History as it ought to be written. Should be required reading in high schools and colleges round the globe.




4. this story, of a true 'hero,' makes a compelling read. how amazing that fry managed to save so many important artists of the last century and was little known until isenberg's book. a good read while learning an important bit of our history. i will definitely recommend this to my book club.



5. This is a must book for book clubs and reading groups! Isenberg's writing is engaging as she tells of Varian Fry's dramatic actions that saved so many people from harm. But, more thrillingly, through skillful use of private documents, she shows her readers how a man who showed little previous signs of special distinction, not content to stay a bystander, was willing to put himself at risk to help strangers whose lives were in danger. The book will spark discussions, not only of the holocaust, but of our continuing search to lead ethical lives today in the face of widespread violence, famine and continuing human rights abuses.

2 comments about Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness.

1. Among the American intellectual community, Abraham Joshua Heschel is probably the best known Jewish spiritual leader. of the 20th century. This resulting from his activist stance on the issue of Civil Rights in the early 1960's and his active and vocal opposition to the Vietnam War a bit later. Yet as time goes by ,few Americans,Jewish and gentiles alike are aware of Heschel, the scholar, Heschel the particularistic Jewish activist, and Heschel, the spiritual seeker. This biography throws light on the youth and education of this prophetic figure. We learn about Heschel's Chasidic background, his "royal" lineage, his sojurn in Vilna among secular Jews, his education and activities in Germany as well as his foray into the world of Yiddish poetry, and his scholarly publications.The book is well researched and finely written, with many illustrations. I only feel that those parts dealing with Heschel the Chasidic Jew and Yiddish poet lack some authenticity. The authors seem to go overboard to stress Heschel's ritual observance in Vilna and Berlin, such as strict adherence to the Kosher code ,to the laws of Shaatnez and the like.Its ironic that at the same time that a number of books and articles have recently appeared about the Lubavitcher rebbe's stay in Berlin, subtly questioning his Jewish committment,this book about a future leader of the Conservative Jewish movement maintains Heschel's strict ritual observance in Berlin.All in all this volume is a fascinating portrayal of the life of an East European Jew seeking new horizons and an education in the West, yet never forgetting his roots. It is an important contribution to the study of European Jewish life and thought in the 20th century.



2. The power of Heschel's influence on the philosophy of Jewish America cannot possibly be underestimated. Dr. Kaplan's valient attempt to analyze and research the life os this great thinker is to be commended. His descriptions of the piety of the man he calls a Prophet, may be distasteful to some of his more liberal admirers, but remains the unadulterated proud truth. For the great liberal thinker and activist never swayed from his religous beleifs. Though considered a leader in the Conservative movement, he remained an Orthodox Jew. Though Kaplan's descriptions of Heschel's father, who was a Chassidic Grand Rabbi and miracle worker are lacking understanding in Spirituality and therefore rather inacurate, which is troublesome to his more knowledgeble Chassidic readers, I eagerly await Volume II, on Heschel's years in America.

No comments about In Their Own Image: New York Jews in Jazz Age Popular Culture.

3 comments about How Dark the Heavens: 1400 Days in the Grip of Nazi Terror.

1. Perhaps you, like I, at times wonder of what stuff you are made. In a truly horrible situation, would you do what it right at all cost? Would you have the inner fortitude to persistently march forward, to place your life at risk for the good of others? Often, and sadly, I suspect I would not; but, my ego hopes I would. Lithuania might be an unfamiliar name to you. But, this true story invites you to join the author in his nightmarish run from the Nazis during World War II. You'll know what it is like to be suddenly wrenched from your home, country and family by the pursuit of others out to exterminate you, simply because you happen to be in the way. In his flight, the author chooses paths of moral and physical courage, in order to preserve meaning for his life. Would I have joined him? Or would I have given up? What about you? Here's a chance to "test your stuff," at least in the safe pages of a good read.



2. How Dark the Heavens is a valuable resource of historical information on the Holocaust, and an authentic recollection by a survivor. It is unique, in that this book pulls the reader into the story as would a novel.



3. the author writes in a "detached" style.I guess that is the only way he could recount these horrible experiences inposed upon him by subhumans. It is a superb diary.

5 comments about An Eye for an Eye: The Untold Story of Jewish Revenge Against Germans in 1945.

1. Great book...what I want to know is why can't the facist-loser whiners writing reviews on this site realize that anti-German atrocities were a direct result of GERMAN-PERPETRATED ATROCITIES? Do they think this happened in some kind of vacuum?Place responsibility where responsibility lies. One caused the other. Also, German atrocities were perpetrated by Germans wearing the uniform of Germany, these Jews who worked the Soviets weren't representing the Jewish people...they were only representing their individual grudges (i.e. seeing their whole family murdered). The Commies knew to use individual Jews because they knew Holocaust survivors would make great anti-Germans--duh!



2. Horrifying account of atrocities committed against German civilians by Jews in the aftermath of World War II. Long-suppressed story -- by a fearless Jewish author and noted journalist -- of how Jews of the Polish Communist "Office of State Security" killed and brutally mistreated many tens of thousands of German men, women and children in concentration camps and prisons in conquered German territories. This story was featured on a "60 Minutes" broadcast segment. Antony Polonsky, Prof. of E. European Jewish History at Brandeis University, comments on An Eye for An Eye: "... Extremely gripping and compelling account of the appalling events which accompanied the end of the war and the expulsion of the Germans ... impossible to put down ... a major contribution to our understanding



3. Jews have said that God chose them to be the "light to the nations." Thus, they must act in an exemplary manner as God's emissaries. Their actual behavior, however, suggests that most Jews do not take this role to heart. In fact, by and large, when Jews have proclaimed themselves as "lights," they have forced their pronouncements onto peoples other than themselves. The Christian concept of mercy plays an important role in the western judicial system. By contrast, the modern day Jewish concept of justice is "targeted assassination" and get-them-before-they-get-us. The title of John Sack's book neatly summarizes the Jewish concept of justice: "An Eye for an Eye." Towards the end of World War II, German civilians and military alike caught in "liberated" areas of Poland were rounded up into concentration camps. Many believed that they would gain their freedom after the surrender. They were sadly mistaken, for millions of German, the hell continued for several long years after the surrender. Sack describes the Polish hell, which was run by Jews under the auspices of the Office of State Security. It is not entirely clear if there was an official policy to specifically hire Jews as camp commandants, interrogators and police, but the numbers Sack cites speak for themselves - the overwhelming majority of Office employees were Jews. The official Polish attitude towards Germans was to exact revenge, which was significantly magnified in the Jewish-run death camps. It may be difficult for the average person, versed in turn-the-other-cheek style justice to comprehend the behavior of the Jews towards their former captor. However, Jewish thinking is clearly illustrated in the beginning of chapter nine, in an exchange between a Jewish commandant and his prisoner, a German Catholic priest, which can be summarized as "there is a set of rules for us (Jews) and there is a separate set of rules for goyim (non-Jews)." It is the feeling of racial separateness and solidarity, among both religious and non-religious Jews, that define Jewish behavior towards the non-Jewish world. If one remembers this concept when reading "An Eye for an Eye," then the atrocious behaviors exhibited by the Jews make perfect sense. If, however, one clings to the democratic-egalitarian concepts of justice, then nothing in the book -- the torture, the purposeful negligence of prisoner welfare, the executions -- will make sense. Understanding the Jewish sense of uniqueness will explain their actions in the modern non-Jewish world as well.



4. I found "An Eye for an Eye" well researched & highly credible. Unfortunately, humans are imperfect. They are capable of horrific evil. Every nation, ethnic group, religious group etc. has its victims & its villains...without exception.
   
   Anyone who is familiar with Soviet History, should be aware of the Ukrainian Famine Genocide of 1932-1933. Stalin's right hand henchman & architect of this genocide was Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich. The bolsheviks eliminated up to 10 million innocent men, women & children, yet, one of the most evil tyrants of the 20th century, Kaganovich, remains unknown.
   
   In 1929, when the Soviet "concentration camps" became "corrective labor camps", the names most associated with establishing a regime of torture, murder & exploitation of slave labor are Henrikh Yagoda, Stanislaw Messing, Lazar Kogan, Matvei Berman, Iakov Rappaport & Naftaly Frenkel.
   Read Anne Applebaum's "Gulag" and Donald Rayfields "Stalin and his Hangmen - The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him".
   
   Solomon Milshtein, Lavrenti Beria's railways boss, arranged transportation (by rail & by truck) for all the Polish officers, civil servants & intelligentsia who were executed in the Katyn forest...over 20,000. The bolsheviks blamed it on the Nazis. A Nazi in his position & with his "deeds" would have been prosecuted. There was no Nueremberg for Milshtein, Kaganovich, Mendel Khatayevich, Lev Aronovich Shvartsman, Boris Rodos, Aleksandr Langfang and thousands like them.
   
   People who live in glass houses should not lob "collective guilt" stones at Germans, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Ukrainians...



5. I am Jewish, and we do not blame Germans for the holocaust. We blame the leadership of Protestantism and the Catholic church since the killers were all baptized Christians. Blaming all Germans is as racist as Hitler blaming all Jews. As for those Jewish guards, I am sure most were void of any Jewish education since Lenin ended all formal religous education in 1918. But with idiot Nazi's calling you a Jew because of your last name, and all the ugly controversy, we forget that Stalin caused 'the holocaust and forced migration' of the Germans, just as he did of the Ukrainians!

No comments about The Sword of Moses, an Ancient Book of Magic: From an Unique Manuscript.