2 comments about Dance of the Panther: A Memoir.

1. This book is a touching, but serious memoir of the authors life growing up in Nazi Germany. The detailed description of her mother is realistic, as she is filled with both strong supportive and loving characteristics, but also had a deep dark history and was at times, a very difficult person to be with. I would highly recommend this book.



2. I started reading this book just a few days ago and have'nt even finished reading it. After reading just a few pages I became thoroughly engrossed. It is exellent! I want to get extra copies to pass on to family members who will enjoy it also. I could'nt wait to finish this book before writing a review because I am so enthusiastic about it. The book is about a mother who was Jewish and converted to Catholicism in the late 1930's and her two daughters and the struggles they faced to survive in Germany during WW2. The book details everyday life and the upheavals experienced by the author and is a great read and is highly recommended.

5 comments about The Cap: The Price of a Life.

1. This is one of the best autobiographies ever written, and I have read many. Images from this book will stay in my mind forever, and puts all other troubles and accomplishments into prospective. Frister's eyewitness account proves that there can never be vindication enough for the victims of the Nazi regime.



2. This is not Etty Hillesum. This is not Victor Klemperer. This is not Primo Levi.

   I can believe that the author saw his mother killed before his eyes. I can believe that he watched his father die in a camp. I can believe that he survived the camps. After that, I just don't know.

   There are too many heroics for one teenage boy. There are too many miraculous escapes for one survivor. There are too many stories which sound vaguely familiar from elsewhere.

   The book appears to be a life's story which has foundation in fact but which has also liberally incorporated material from the general holocaust history.

   After 90 pages I gave up in exasperation. There seemed to be too many stretchers in the details. They tainted the credibility of the whole.

   A few weeks later I picked up the book again. I started making allowances. After all, if the author wanted to include in his account real outrages which were suffered by others, the outrages did nonetheless occur. I doubt none of them.

   But then near the end of the book I quit again in pluperfect exasperation. The author's story of how he broke back INTO the camp again after an inauspicious breakout lacks plausability completely. He says that he "trampolined" himself back over the fence from the tarpaulin top of an adjacent German truck. This is pure poppycock. The tarpaulins on army trucks are loose, flappy affairs. They are NOT taut, springy, trampoline devices. Not even a true trampoline, if it had been there, would have achieved what the author proposes. Magical realism does not belong in holocaust memoirs.




3. I want to say that I really loved this book. The author takes us on one of the best adventure stories of human life that I have read in quite some time. Even though the central theme is his holocost survival he does not dwell on the subject too long, or I should say just long enough. His real adventure begins when he gets out. Learning to survive in the camps gave him the ability to achieve and become successful in life.

   I hope Hollywood picks this one up. I'd love to see it on the screen.




4. This is a fascinating work of fiction undoubtedly based on a great deal of real-life experience, or if you prefer, it is an autobiographical work with a few fantastic anecdotes included.

   Like all holocaust survivor tales, it includes numerous near misses and miraculous lucky breaks. People who survived ghetto life, concentration camps and death marches to write about their experiences were the exceptions, and invariably their stories include such amazing incidents.

   However, a few incidents read like pure wishful fantasy. I do not believe for example that Roman Frister actually snatched his girlfriend as she emerged from her marriage ceremony and drove her off for a three-day tryst in the mountains, before returning her to her groom...

   Ultimately the fact that his narrative seeks to define its own reality is what makes the book very interesting. The book is about what defines the self, what memory means, what is real, and what, if anything, really matters. The book reminds me in this way of Robert Musil's "Man Without Qualities."




5. I will skip the personal details discussed by other reviewers, and focus on matters of historical significance. With one obvious exception, Frister shows an excellent grasp of factual events. He makes the unbelievable statement that the NSZ "did not kill Germans at all" (p. 263), only killed Jews, and then repeats the Communist-propaganda canard that the Brygada Swietokrzyska (Holy Cross Brigade) had fought on the German side.
   
   Even as late as 1941, Frister's mother didn't believe that the invading Germans intended to harm the Jews (p. 180). This adds to similar testimonies, and undercuts the argument that the massive Jewish-Soviet collaboration had been motivated by a desire to be protected from the Nazis.
   
   Unlike those who, from their safe perches, moralize to Poles about their need to have been more willing to risk their lives on behalf of Jews, Frister does not: "And what right did I have to condemn them? Why should they risk themselves and their families for a Jewish boy they didn't know? Would I have behaved any differently? I knew the answer to that, too. I wouldn't have lifted a finger. Everyone was equally intimidated." (p. 192)
   
   Frister writes: "Jozef Kruczek had prepared a perfect hideout for us. Beneath a bale of hay tossed with deliberate carelessness on the floor of the barn was a hidden trapdoor that descended to a cellar as big as a cottage. Before we came this had served as an abattoir. The screeching of the slaughtered pigs remained within its walls--a big help in avoiding German confiscations and getting the meat to the black market." (p. 97). Ironic to Polonophobes (e. g., Jan T. Gross), who accuse Poles of being willing to incur the German-imposed death penalty by illegally slaughtering animals, but seldom by hiding Jews, we see the same Polish secretiveness in both activities! (Besides, slaughtering an animal was a quick one-time act. Hiding a Jew was a continuous risk.)
   
   Unlike most Holocaust materials, Frister's work presents a balanced view of Polish and Jewish misdeeds. He mentions Poles looting Jews (p. 120) as well as regular Pole-on-Pole thievery (p. 100). The Judenrat, besides collaborating with the Germans in the roundups of Jews to their deaths (e. g., p. 92, 105, 120), also stole from poor Jews (p. 120). Jewish informers played an instrumental role in the uncovering of hidden Jews (e. g., p. 105, 112, 120, 190-191). Twice Frister escaped death despite being denounced to the Germans by Jewish informers (p. 112, 190-191), the latter of whom he found to be very clever and diligent in their undercover work. How many other fugitive Jews were betrayed, not by ethnic Poles as automatically assumed, but by Jewish Gestapo agents and informers?
   
   We were told, in the wake of the Auschwitz Carmelite convent controversy, that Jews find Christian symbols offensive because they remind them of past persecutions by Christians. Frister mentions a Jew, Henryk Leiderman, who had no problem with rosaries when it came to selling them to Polish peasants (p. 36).
   
   Frister spent some years in postwar Poland before emigrating to Israel. He is candid about the fact that he, and other Jews, got privileged positions in the Soviet-imposed Communist regime (p. 34, 169).

No comments about Anna's Shtetl (Judaic Studies Series).

5 comments about We Just Want to Live Here: A Palestinian Teenager, an Israli Teenager -- an Unlikely Friendship.

1. Ashley Southard
   English Book Review
   April 16, 2004
   The Arab/ Israeli conflict has been discussed in many books, and Americans hear of it every day in the news. But do you really know both sides to the story? We Just Want to Live Here, a story of teenagers Amal Rifa'I (a Palestinian) who is planning on studying special education in an Israeli college, and Odelia Ainbinder (an Israeli) who is part o a socialist/Zionist movement before she gets ready to join the military living in Israel, shows the opinion of both sides of the conflict. Amal and Odelia met one summer while at an exchange program in Switzerland. After, they were asked by journalist Sylke Tempel to begin writing to each other discussing the conflict in which they are living.
   This non-fiction book is presented as a compilation of the letter the girls wrote to each other. In these heart-to-heart letters, Amal and Odelia discuss political, social and ethnic issues. This book was published for people who are passionate about the "bad blood" between the Palestinian and Israeli issues. These letters really dig deep into the soul of the people of Israel, Palestinian and Israeli alike, and readers begin to feel compassion for these girls. One of the only weaknesses of this book was the fact that there was really no plot or suspense to keep a person reading. Many people watch TV shows consistently because of the suspense, and many people like books that are the same way. This book lacks that appeal, and it is easy to become bored with this book if you don't wish to delve into the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

   Unlike most books, these letters truly had no bias. Each teenager is from one side of the conflict, and they discuss the modern issues in such a way that the reader genuinely gains an understanding of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Readers begin to realize the stupidity of the prejudices that people hold and realize that you cannot make judgment about this dispute until you completely understand the emotions of both peoples.
   I would recommend We Just Want to Live Here for readers who are interested in this dispute. People who are passionate about this ongoing war will not become bored with the lack of plot in these letters. The letters really help to achieve true understanding of this everlasting issue.




2. "Boom," a bomb goes off two blocks away from your school, just as you are leaving class. This isn't that rare of occasion for the two teenage co-authors of the book, We Just Want to Live Here. In this book they are often left to decide how they feel about the suicide bombings and other occurrences in their hometown, Jerusalem. Sylke Tempel put the fascinating letters between these very different teenage girls together into this great factual book about living in Jerusalem during the second Intifada.
   Sylke Tempel does a great job putting together the letters in a logical order that helps the reader to understand the conflict in Jerusalem from both opinions. By using a Palestinian girl (Odelia Ainbinder) and an Israeli girl (Amal Rifa'i) you were flushed with both aspects of such topics as the suicide bombings, the army, school and even normal girl talk such as boys. Through both girls' lives, their views of the other side were only composed of what they heard from their friends, family and media making them only see a glance of the big picture. The girls' way of expressing their feelings made you get in the shoes of both sides of the conflict. They didn't leave anything out about their beliefs on what should be done to solve the conflicts between the Palestinians and Israelis. their feelings are even supportive of the other side. For example they agree on such things as how influential their parents were to their lives, yet abruptly disagree on such issues as whether Odelia, the Israeli girl, should join the army after her year off. Sometimes all they would do through their letters was learn more about the other persons culture, which is what happened when they started talking about such things as school and getting married and moving in with boys. This book is very un-biased because it shows how real teenagers on both sides feel about the conflict. Sylke Tempel makes it very clear that she wants people to receive no bias towards either side. She does this by showing both sides of the argument and showing how neither girl is evil. Because of the way Tempel broke up the book, it reads very fast and is easy to understand. The girls' discussion was very interesting and sometimes even shocking to learn how they felt on different issues.
   We Just Want to Live Here, is a great read for people of all ages. It would probably be better for girls to read because it is written by girls and sometimes would get a little into girl talk. Being the letters of real girls, this book would be great to read as a class in history or English. This is because it is very factual and a great un-biased way to learn about the conflict in Jerusalem. Before reading this book I would suggest to have previous knowledge of the conflict to better understand what girls are talking about. Overall this was a great, educational book filled with many different opinions and thoughts. I would definitely recommend this book to someone wanting to expanse his or her knowledge in the Arab-Israeli conflict.



3. In the summer of 2000, a group of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers were invited to Switzerland. Despite many misunderstandings between the Jews and Muslims on the trip, tentative friendships were formed. However, just before the students returned home to Israel, the second Intifada broke out reminding each participant of their differences. Two young women on the trip who did become friends were Palestinian Amal Rifa'i and Israeli Odelia Ainbinder. Two years later, in June of 2002, journalist Sylke Tempel began looking for a young Israeli and a young Palestinian to exchange letters and ideas in order to create a book that would tell the story of Palestine, Israel and the Intifada in their own words. She found the ideal pair in Amal and Odelia. The result is WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE, a series of letters and conversations between Amal and Odelia.
   
   Just 18 years old when they begin corresponding, the women are wise beyond their years and patient with each other's points of view. There is much potential for name-calling, disrespect and worse in such a dialogue, but Amal and Odelia behave with a restraint and open-mindedness often sorely lacking in regards to this difficult and delicate subject. Covering topics such as Jerusalem (where they both live, geographically close but socio-cultural worlds apart), school and the Israeli army, both women are not only quite honest and articulate about their feelings, but are also well versed in their cultural and religious history and tradition. To further illustrate certain points, each invites family members to share her story and thus we read about Odelia's parents and Amal's grandfather in their own words.
   
   Even with such an open dialogue, Amal and Odelia realize there are some things they may never see eye to eye on --- each has a different interpretation of the formation history of the State of Israel, each interprets the plight of the Palestinians in a very different way. Yet they both agree that continued violence is not the answer and hope for strong leadership for the Israelis and the Palestinians. One major problem they both identify is the lack of knowledge about each other's culture, religion and history. Knowledge, they stress, is key to a sustainable peace.
   
   As the book was being written, both Amal and Odelia faced adult life and responsibility --- Amal was engaged to be married and Odelia was preparing for her mandatory service in the Israeli army. Yet the tone of the book still reflected a youthful hopefulness and youthful frustration.
   
   Poignant, brutally honest and sometimes heartbreaking, WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE is written with the idealism of youth and the cynicism of those who grow up amid war and violence. This is a book that puts a human face on the violence and destruction of the Israeli-Palestinian war and invites the reader to question her beliefs and opinions. Amal and Odelia are brave and admirable, willing to open their hearts and minds to each other.
   
   WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE is not about solutions or roadmaps to peace. It is the tale of a friendship and intellectual exchange in spite of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. I highly recommend this book for those who want a glimpse of what life is like for teenagers in Israel.
   
   --- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman



4. It is interesting to see the views of two young women caught up in this conflict. My main complaint about this book is the chronology in the back of the book.
   
   1. Under 1947 Temple writes "The Jewish population in Palestine rises from 24,000 to 630,000 due to several ways of immigration (aliyah; plural, aliyot) between 1882 and 1948. This more than triples Palestine's Jewish population at that time" It seems to me that the Jewish population increases by 26 times, why use triple? I really have no idea what she is referring to.
   
   2. Under 1948 Temple writes "Declaration of the independent state of Israel on May 14 by Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Guerion. On the following day, troops from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia attack Israel. The Jewish underground movements, Lechi and Ezel, launch a wave of attacks against Arab civilians, which culminates in the massacre at Deir Yassin, where 245 inhabitants lost their lives. According to UN estimates, 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of their homes." Deir Yassin occurred on April 9, five weeks before Israel declared independance and Arab armies intervened. Most of the Palestenians who were driven out of their homes were expelled before May 14.
   
   3. 1956 - Not mentioned, England, France and Israel invade Egypt. Retreat under US pressure.
   
   4. 1987 - Temple writes "In opposition to the nationalistic PLO, Israel supports the foundation Islamic factions, which will be the origin of he fundementalist Hamas (Arabic for "enthusiasm/excitement") under its leader Sheikh Achmed Yassin."
   Hamas was formed in the late 1970's and had been supported by Israel from the beginning.
   
   5. 1994 - Temple writes "Hamas commits suicide bombings with the goal of sabotaging the peace process." Hamas committed it's first suicide bombing in response to murder of 29 muslims at a mosque in Hebron by Baruch Goldstein an american born far right settler. Temple leaves out the part about Baruch Goldstein.
   
   There are some other things that I don't think she is very evenhanded or possibly even correct about in the chronology but I don't have time to research everything. The most glaring error is getting the date of Deir Yassin wrong, simple historical research.



5. Forget the negative reviews---this is a wonderful, sweet, realistic and educational view of what it's like to live in Jerusalem, as seen through the eyes of two teenage girls...one Muslim and the other Jewish. I am impressed with the intelligence of these two young women. They don't chat about rock music or Britney Spears or trendy clothing--instead, they describe the love they feel for their city and how they can each do their part to create lasting peace. The girls get into serious political debates and they disagree quite frequently, but they respect each other as human beings and the friendship is strong. It's fascinating to learn what young Israelis think of America--Odelia, for instance, believes it's far more dangerous to live in New York than in Jerusalem! This is a warm and endearing book. I recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary Jerusalem (or all of Israel) and what life is like there. I learned a lot from reading it.

No comments about The Koran.

1 comments about Remarkable Jewish Women: Rebels, Rabbis, and Other Women from Biblical Times to the Present.

1. I found this book to be very well written. Obviously a lot of thorough research went into this book. I think it would make a great gift for young Jewish women today. It's inspiring to see how these people have overcome many obstacles to become truly remarkable women! I highly recommend it.

No comments about Encyclopedia of Jewish American Artists.

2 comments about On the Shores of Darkness: The Memoir of Esther Kemeny.

1. My brother and I were the people she dedicated the book to. I know she wrote it especially to reach out to the younger generation, to teach us the truth about an era during which most of the survivors are no longer alive to tell their tale. I've read this book many times and, though my opinion may be biased, I am incredibly proud of her for re-living these horific moments in her life for the benifit of us all.



2. I grew up in the small Ohio town Mrs. Kemeny spoke of and knew her family. I found the book profoundly moving. I have the utmost respect for Mrs. kemeny and all the hardships she and her family endured. It was good to know that she and Judy have found happiness in San Francisco.

2 comments about People in Auschwitz.

1. This is a scholarly but very readable account of what the Auschwitz experience was like. The author performed thorough research and interviews with numerous former prisoners and staff to get a close-up look at the different sections of the camp, including Canada and the inmate infirmary, different aspects of camp life, such as resistance and sexuality, and the experiences and interactions of different classes of prisoners and the SS. Despite the book's serious and scholarly tone, it has a humane and personal feel to it, probably because the author himself was an inmate and so many interviews were quoted from in the book. It also describes the construction, evolution and liberation of the camp. This book is a must read for anyone studying Auschwitz.



2. I have a library of 150 books on the Holocaust, and am pleased to have added this one to my collection. One of my interests is the kind of personalities that comprised the whole concentration camp (Auschwitz in this case) experience and environment.

No comments about Sentenced to Remember: My Legacy of Life in Pre-1939 Poland and Sixty-Eight Months of Nazi Occupation.