No comments about Six from Leipzig.

1 comments about From That Place and Time: A Memoir, 1938-1947.

1. As a counterpoint to her more comprehensive scholarly work on the holocaust, this book provides several personal vignettes of that period in history. Beginning in New York City the account covers making arrangements for the trip, the author's stay in Vilna, a center of Jewish culture in Poland including elements of daily life, cultural, and political events, her narrow escape from Poland as the Nazi invasion progresses, and the finally agonizing wait in New York as news of the insuing catastrophy arrives in bits and pieces. This book provides insight into what it was like to live through that period in history, and may help those close to them to understand people who actually lived through it.

5 comments about A Special Fate: Chiune Sugihara : Hero of the Holocaust (Special Fate: Chiune Sugihara: a Hero of the Holocaust).

1. This is a beautiful book. I had to check the total number of pages after the first 10 pages, because I knew I would want to read the whole book in one sitting. "Hands reaching... for visas for life." Some people had never seen a Japanese person before. We hear the ice on rivers breaking up with loud cracking, we taste the Lithuanian pancakes with cheese filling and jam, we experience the shock of watching an American movie to then walk out into the light and see Russian tanks rolling down the street. The writer carries us gently through a lot of history, pain and beauty. I thought this would be a depressing book about the Holocaust, I was very wrong.



2. Alison Gold has documented with elegance the selfless humanity of Sempo Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat of the World War II era. Against the orders of his superiors, Mr. Sugihara wrote 6,000 visas in an effort to spare the lives of Polish and Lithuanian Jews. Through Alison Gold's brilliantly crafted accounts, we learn of the horrors and atrocities of the Holocaust, of the mixed fates of several families who were granted visas, and of the injustices to which the Sugihara family was subjected as a result of Sempo's courageous response to human torment. In several places throughout this magnificent book, Ms. Gold introduces Japanese phrases that do much to enrich our understanding of cultural concepts at the core of the Sugihara's way of thinking and living. We learn of the considerable influence that Mrs. Sugihara had on her husband's decisions. While this book was written for a young adult audience, most adults would find its content engrossing.



3. Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara is one of the little known heroes of the Holocaust. This is rather unfortunate, as Mr. Sugihara was probably responsible for the saving of more Jews than any other individual! While serving as Japanese Vice Consul in Lithuania in 1940, Mr. Sugihara, against the express orders of his government, issued some 6,000 visas to people (individuals and families) desperately seeking to avoid the Nazi death machine. This book is the story of Chiune Sugihara, from youth to honored old age, and also the story of two young Jews, one whose parent took the visa and ran, and one whose parent waited too long.

   This is a great and exciting story! I got this book for my twelve-year-old daughter, but found that I liked it just as much as she did. I really enjoyed this story of one man standing up and doing what was right, in spite of the costs. If you are looking for an uplifting story, one that teaches an invaluable lesson, then I highly recommend that you get this book!




4. Chiune Sugihara's story needed to be told. In a dark period of Japanese history, one man listened to his conscience, discussed the consequences with his wife and children, and chose to do the right thing. In the early days of WWII, Sugihara, a diplomat to Lithuania, issued thousands of life-saving visas to the Jews of Europe against the direct orders of his superiors. After the Russians took over Lithuania, Sugihara was forced to close the Japanese Embassy, but he continued writing visas until the last possible moment.

   The rest of Sugihara's story is anti-climactic, dealing with his diplomatic career throughout the war. After the war, the Soviets sent the Sugihara family to a Siberian detention camp. When they were finally repatriated, Sugihara was immediately dismissed from government service for disobeying orders. He spent many years in obscurity before finally being found by some of the grateful Jews that he had saved. Near the end of his life, he received some well-deserved acknowledgement by both the Japanese and Israeli government including being recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations."

   Alison Leslie Gold, who has written several other non-fiction books of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, tells the story of three families. Besides Sugihara's story, Gold describes the experience of a Jewish family from Poland and another from Lithuania who received Sugihara visas. Gold focuses on Solly and Masha, children from those families. She interviewed them as well as Sugihara's widow, Yukiko, for first hand accounts of the heroic and tragic events described in this book. Masha's family used their visa to travel to Japan and survived the war. Tragically, Solly's family repeatedly delayed using their visa until it was too late to use it resulting in many family members' deaths at the hands of the Nazis. Solly found it quite ironic that a Japanese man tried to offer his family assistance at the beginning of the war and the first American face that he saw when he was liberated at the end of the war was a Japanese American soldier.

   The photographs in the book help readers understand that this is a true story that happened to real people. There are photographs of all three families and additional photos from the time period. The photos are separated from the narrative in two clumps. Though this distracts from their impact, they are still powerful.

   This is an easy to read introductory book on the incidents in Lithuania. However, I found information on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum web site that was not included in the book. In the web site's section on Sugihara, I learned about the interesting larger story involving the Dutch council, Jan Zwartendijk and his involvement in helping the Lithuanian Jews. I also learned that Yukiko was Sugihara's second wife.

   Gold is non-judgmental towards Japan's involvement in WWII and of Sugihara's father's involvement in occupied Korea. However, she seems to lose some of that impartiality when she adds comments on Sugihara's conversion to Russian Orthadoxism. She adds the comment that he did not forget his Buddhism and Shinto religions from his youth (10). I wonder how she knows that detail of his conversion.

   The research that went into A Special Fate could have been better documented. Gold's sources are summed up in an author's note at the beginning of the book and an author's acknowledgement at the end. The book does not include a bibliography for further reading or works consulted.

   It is estimated that Sugihara wrote 6,000 visas. Now there is a group numbering over 40,000 descendants known as "Sugihara Survivors." Even in later life, Sugihara remained a humble man and once said, "I didn't do anything special....I made my own decisions....I followed my own conscience and listened to it" (175). Yukiko also should be commended, because had she dissuaded her husband, he might not have written the visas that saved so many lives. Karen Woodworth-Roman, MS Library Science




5. A Special Fate is the story of Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese consulate to Lithuania who, against the wishes of his superiors, hand wrote about six thousand transit visas to Jews fleeing the invading Nazi forces. His bravery saved many lives, but cost him not only his political career but also his youngest son's life. The author also weaves the story of two Jewish children who received visas from Sugihara into the main narrative.
   
   The book is very engaging, not at all like the dry lists of dates that typically pass for history. I usually don't find history books enjoyable, but I enjoyed this one and learned a lot, not only about how Sugihara's visas saved so many people, but also a bit about Japanese culture.
   
   The story moves quickly enough to keep younger readers from getting bored, but not so fast that the details are lost. Most older children will be able to read the book and understand what is going on as long as they have a basic knowledge of W.W.II history.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone learning about W.W.II, and even though it is supposedly a children's book, I would recommend it to adults too.

1 comments about Great Jews In Entertainment.

1. Any of the "great Jewish" books by Darryl Lyman are swell. Big coffee table books with great black and white photos and interesting bios of Jewish folks in the entertainment business. I'm Jewish and I did not know Harrison Ford was a yidloch [a Jewish boychick]! Note-this is the same coffee table book, essentially as Lyman's tome called Great Jews in showbusiness [or some such title, I know cause I bought both! One was done in 1999 and one 2005. The 2005 book has a few new additions but is virtually the same. Such a deal!

No comments about On Long Winter Nights: Memoirs of a Jewish Family in a Galician Township, 1870-1900 (Harvard Center for Jewish Studies).

3 comments about False Papers: Deception and Survival in the Holocaust.

1. Many books have been written about the holocaust both by impartial observers and intimate survivors. False Papers: Deception and Survival in the Holocaust by Robert Melson will stand out among them because it is more than observation and personal reflection-it is a psychological study of a young man's search for identity and meaning in a world that keeps changing the rules.

   False Papers tells the story of the Melson (Mendelsohn) family's escape from the Nazi ovens by posing as Polish royalty, a feat they are able to accomplish because Nina Melson, the author's mother, was able to buy false papers. What is unique about their life during the war was that they not only lived openly among the Gestapo, but also became quite friendly with their neighbors. The story of their deception and survival as told through the eyes of Nina, Willy (the author's father) and Bobi (the author's reflections through his own youthful memory) is compelling enough to keep the reader involved in the book. This is only one dimension of the book-an incredibly true adventure story.

   Bt there is another important dimension to the book that cannot, and must not, be overlooked: the search on the part of the author-first as young Bobi and later as American Bob-for his true identity in a world that is constantly changing for him. First he knows himself as Count Boguslaw Zamojski the Catholic; after the war as Bobi Melson the Jew until he is enrolled in Le Rosey, an exclusive Swiss prep school, when he must again become Catholic; next to America where he settles in New York as a young Jewish immigrant; then against his deepest wishes he is dragged to Japan where his father has set up a sewing machine factory. Each time young Melson must learn to survive and question "Who am I this time?". Fortunately, he is clever enough to pick up environmental clues to guide his behavior and survival, but the reader feels his sense of pain as he struggles to find his true self.

   What makes this a deeply probing psychological exploration of one's search for identity is Melson's ability to step back from the action to view his family dynamics-his father's struggle with his compulsive need for adoration, his mother's deepening depression and her inappropriate use of the young Bobi as her personal confidant, and the parent's obsession with appearances.

   It is in the Epilogue that everything comes together. We are told about the deaths of Willy and Nina, how Bobi becomes Robert the MIT PhD, and how Robert finally realizes who he is. The reader feels at peace at the end of the journey.

   Of all the writers on the holocaust, his writing style is closest to that of Primo Levi. However, there is a difference: Levi always keeps the cool distance of a scientist in his descriptions of behavior and events while Melson uses warm, personal description of the behavioral scientist that he is. It is a must reading for those who want to know more about the holocaust, family dynamics or a young man's search for self. No matter what your reason is, False Papers: Deception and Survival in the Holocaust is a book you will read, reread, and pass on to others.




2. This book gripped me from start to finish. Melson draws you in to this suspenseful story using the voices of his mother and father to narrate this unbelievable tale of a young couple, baby in tow, outwitting the Nazis and surviving the holocaust while posing as a Count and Countess! I can't believe it's true. A must for anyone interested in WWII, or in a great love story for that matter...



3. This book gripped me from start to finish. Melson draws you in to this suspenseful story using the voices of his mother and father to narrate this unbelievable tale of a young couple, baby in tow, outwitting the Nazis and surviving the holocaust while posing as a Count and Countess! I can't believe it's true. A must for anyone interested in WWII, or in a great love story for that matter...

1 comments about Doors to Madame Marie.

1. This book had a profound effect on me. I don't totally agree with the first review on this page. Possibly the reviewer should read the book again since he/she seemed to miss the pivotal message woven throughout this book like a fine golden thread in a tapestry.

   The solid footing the author stood on was to keep your heart swept out of insiduous practices like racial and ethnic intolerances that lead to atrocities such as the Holocaust. "Dust doesn't announce itself." she says as she likens our hearts to the apartment house of the next century. Be courteous to one another, follow the Golden Rule, and put this book on your list of books to read. You won't be sorry you did.

2 comments about Once My Name Was Sara.

1. I was deeply moved by this life story of Betty Grebenschikoff. She moves through her life rather quickly in 180 pages, from girlhood in Germany to being a grandmother in New Jersey. Her story is told simply, but extremely well with it's details of daily life and the family's travels while fleeing Germany. Throughout the book, you find yourself counting your own blessings in life. The handful of family photos at the end are a bonus.



2. This is lovely book that gives a personal account of Betty Grebenschikoff and her experiences as a child fleeing Germany during World War II. A good book to read especially in our present day to give understanding to the plight of Jewish families around the world. The author also does book signings and lectures around the country. I have heard her speak and that made the book have even more valuable to me.

3 comments about Return to Auschwitz: The Remarkable Story of a Girl Who Survived the Holocaust.

1. I loved this book. It told the real life story of a girl who survived against great odds in one of the most deadly concentration camps. It was wonderful.



2. I read this book many times for over a year. It is a wonderful book about a girl that survived one of the most infamous concentration camps during the Holocaust, it shows courage, strength, and the will to live.



3. This is an incredible story and told with such honesty. She doesn't try to paint a pretty picture, even of suffering, she just tells you what happened to her and her mother and her friends as best she can. What a remarkable woman!

No comments about Every Person's Guide to Jewish Philosophy and Philosophers.