Contains Many Shocking Personal Accounts Of Kristallnacht
340232
A very shocking and forthright account of the Kristallnacht pogroms which were a precursor to more serious persecution and ultimately the holocaust or shoa.  The justification for the pogroms was the murder of a Nazi functionary, Vom Rath.

Many of the people here knew it was orchestrated when the events happened given the fact that the police, and firemen stood by and did nothing while synagogues burned or Jewish stores and homes were destroyed.  Ironically the only reason why a few synagogues were spared is because they were too close to Aryan homes and as such the fire at the synagogue may catch the houses on fire.  Also there was very little disturbance aside from the crowds of SA smashing up homes and dragging older Jewish people out.  While reading this I couldn't help but think how hard it is to stop people from exposing conspiracies or how hard it is to stop people talking about clandestine events.  It seems that people are more perceptive than others typically give them credit for.

Many of the accounts mention that many of the former friends of Jewish people became Nazi sympathizers after Kristallnacht and the general apathy which sometimes became virulent anti-semitism after the riots in otherwise good Christian people.  It seemed as if many people in the community blamed the jews for the riot having swallowed what they heard from the press hook, line, and sinker.

Gentiles joining the Nazis could have very well have been done out of fear, lest the SA turn on other Christian denominations who were not Catholic as the majority of SA and SS were at the beginning.

Many of the things mentioned in oral histories are typically not found in other history books and because of that I would suggest giving this a read.
1751917
This is a  moving and inspirational book.  Elisabeth Leseur poured out her most secret thoughts in these diaries.  At the time, her husband was an ardent atheist, who had been deeply influenced by the likes of Renan and Strauss, who published books attacking Christianity and the bible.

Elisabeth's life was marked by great suffering.  She had an internal abscess, which nearly killed her, when she had only been married for a month.  And for someone who loved so deeply, it was a bitter blow when she and her husband were unable to have children.  Later she developed cancer of the breast.

Yet throughout it all, she wrote words such as "This, my beloved husband, is the testament of my soul" (p 142) and "Let us love.  Let our souls and our lives be a perpetual song of love for God first of all and for all human beings who suffer, love, and mourn" (p 150).

It was these secret diaries which converted her atheist husband, after her death, into a Catholic priest.
2441628
I read this book about a year ago.  Its power is undeniable.  It vividly shares the thoughts, feelings and observations of people around the world as this tragedy unfolds.  For the most part, the individual selections are short -- copies of e-mails, short descriptions written by survivors in and near the WTC and those in Manhattan that day and during the days following.  In this way, it also makes it a difficult book to engage with for those of us old enough to remember where we were and how we felt as one of the glories of Western Civilization -- both the buildings and the concept of world trade -- came crashing down due to backwards religious beliefs. I found myself gripped in the sadness, anger and fear I felt -- even living in Chicago -- that day and had to put the book aside several times.  It does, however, point out many ways that human beings show their truest and best natures in the face of tragedy and I believe this book will be of even more valuable to those who were too young to remember 9/11/01 or who wore born afterwards.  It puts a human face on "ground zero" that cannot help make all but the most hard hearted empathize and sympathize with those most directly harmed by this terrible act of hatred.
4363319
This is an extraordinary personal account of one person's childhood and youth in a political cult. On page after page Ms. Conner reports her constant exposure and experiences with political extremism and its effects on her life. I was particularly moved by her story about wanting to go see the movie, "Black Beauty" and her uncle's condemnation of it as a Communist movie made by a Jewish Communist director.  A young girl who simply wanted to see a children's movie was the victim of a relative's opinion of a movie he had never seen.
3152700
Hitler's Prisoners offers great insights into the horrors of the Nazi regime's "other victims." Caught in Hitler's unthinkable plan to rule over Europe, seven German cell mates tell their stories of how a once ordinary life can become a twisted nightmare in an inescapable Nazi Prison. It is definately a war story of another kind. I highly recommend this book.
3828988
DISCLAIMER: I received this book as an early review copy.

Elizabeth Mahlou's autobiography and tale of coming to believe in God has a lot going for it.

Her candid descriptions of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of relatives gripped this reader in a flood of sympathy and horror. Mahlou's great reserve of optimism and compassion as child and adult seems initially boastful. But in light of her life of childhood trauma, physically and mentally challenged children of her own, her commendable hunt for intellectual success, and a cycle of poverty that she constantly fights to escape, readers will find themselves rooting for Mahlou more than most any other autobiographical subject in English letters. The story of her hurts and triumphs, unlike those of writers reeling from the obscene horrors of the Holocaust, horrific genocidal wars, or horrendous serial killing drama, is scary in its possibility. Parents who don't know how not to hit their kids? Medical and educational leaders who blindly try to force or refuse treatment to her children? These are realities for many, and her strength will be succor to those fighting against establishment figures.

But Mahlou's chief reason for writing this very personal tale is not to offer succor, but to tell the story of how an atheist came to believe in God. As a very intelligent, very compassionate nonbeliever-turned-Christian, Mahlou is a captivating example of religion's pull even for those who aren't writhing in self-pity, aren't blind to all but childish reasons for religious belief, and aren't obediently following their parents' and parents' parents belief systems.

This is a tale of belief hard-fought-against, wisely considered, and spiritually experienced.
2815398
This book contains the first hand accounts of many of the people involved in the work camps of Belene and Lovech. Belene is an island located on the Danube where one of the first work camps began. It still functions as a prison today. Lovech was started when 160 men went on hunger strike in Belene. Many of the prisoners were tortured and beaten to death. After death, their bodies were fed to pigs.
The horrific first hand accounts contained in this work documents not only the victims but also their families and the directors and guards at the camp (almost all of which are still deny their involvement and none of which have been brought to justice)
What is most disturbing is not so much that something similiar to the  Nazi camps occured in Bulgaria but the fact that noone has had to pay for what they did. This book serves notice to the world that not only did atrocities such as this occur after WWII but that they are still occcuring in Vietnam and other places and will continue to occur as long as we allow it.
The only real deficiency in this book is that it doesn't have any accounts from any gypsies or Turks who undoubtly recieved worse treatment at the hands of the Bulgarian communist party.  Also many of the accounts were right after the fall of communism. Having personally talked with some former inmates of Belene and Lovech I cannot help to think that many were still scared to speak out and that many equally horrible events remain uncovered. As one inmate put it "Even now there are very few people willing to talk about their experiences in the campss.  They're still afraid! I am too. Yes I'm afraid, but my sons are now grown up and can fend for themselves. So why should I be afraid? Because the gun is still loaded in the hands of old men who won't hesitate to fire.  Thus it was and still is in Bulgaria.
3513909
An excellent and detailed history of the Jewish journey from the Holocaust to the Holy land. I wept when I read the accounts of Jewish suffering. I was angry when I read how the west turned their backs on Israel. I got angry when I read about how the Jews felt toward  Christianity. And, I was so proud of the American pilots who gave themselves to help the Jews fight for an independent state in Palestine. My emotions went up and down reading the truths that may never be told in modern secular history. I read about how the providence of God came to the aid of a people who by and large rejected their Messiah, Jesus. It is a large book of 850 pages, but I couldn't put it down until I had read it in its entirety.
2760745
If you've not read much about the Holocaust, the twist in Lev Raphael's latest book, The German Money, is pretty strange. Hard to believe. Fantastical even. But if you're a Holocaust survivor, or the child of one, or happen to know much about the Holocaust and its aftermath in terms of the physical and psychological toll it took on its victims, this tale easy to believe.
Raphael, a child of survivors, writes an emotionally-charged, raw and honest story with a shocking ending, but one that clearly ties up the question of why and how the mother died, and neatly ties up other parts of the story, too. It's an ending worth waiting for. Not that you'll skip ahead, mind you, you'll be much too busy turning the pages to find out what comes next.
No doubt those familiar with Raphael's other work will compare The German Money with Winter Eyes. Having not read Winter Eyes prior to reading The German Money, I picked up my wife's copy of that book and read it. Powerful writing there, too. And while they tackle somewhat the same subject, each book carves out its own niche quite nicely.
If you take the children of Holocaust survivors from Winter Eyes and mix in Raphael's mastery of mystery in the Nick Hoffman series, you get The German Money -- a gripping, well-drawn story that shows the emotional impact the Holocaust has on the children of the survivors, too.
Raphael's gift for turns of phrase that sketch out dramatic characters and scenes is in full flower here, wrapped up in a package that I could barely put down while waiting for a delayed flight at Detroit's Metro Airport. I'm no fan of Northworst, as he and many Michigan residents know Northwest Airlines, but that five-hour delay gave me plenty of time to read. The German Money kept me so engaged and turning pages that I didn't notice the time go by.
3522242
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Angel-Hunter/dp/1595072160/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Angel Hunter</a>
This is an excellent account of the soulless wretches that established the Third Reich. The spine chilling events and political maneuvering that took place within the borders of the Fatherland beginning with the Treaty of Versailles cannot be digested in one reading;  they are, in a phrase, too terrible to believe on the first pass. If you are looking for a firsthand account from a journalist who lived in the midst of this madness as it gripped Eastern Europe, this book is for you. If you ever doubted the inhuman suffering inflicted on the world by Nazism, or thought maybe the Holocaust was a Jewish lie, READ THIS BOOK! But be ready for a disturbing revelation that can only be reached by reading this work: the evil doers, in any generation, believe in their hearts, they are right. My God... how frightening.
2685815
This is my first time reading Elie Wiesel. Such ugliness he describes in such beautiful prose!

Mr. Wiesel describes the journey of his family from their home in Transylvania in train cars to Birkenau, where he saw his mother and sisters for the last time. He and his father remained together at Birkenau, then in Auschwitz and Buna; they survived the selections, the forced labor, the diseases and lack of food. When the Russians got close, the SS evacuated the camp and the starving inmates were forced to run through the snow. Mr. Wiesel describes the hundreds, perhaps thousands, who died of the cold and lack of any food or water.  They are then herded into a train, in roofless cattle cars. For days they are given no food whatsoever; he says that of the 100 that were loaded into his car, only 12 survived to reach Buchenwald.  Soon after their arrival, his father becomes ill and within a few days, he is taken to the crematorium. Out of his family of 5, only Elie Wiesel survived.

Notable quotes:

Preface: "To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."

"I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people." (Words of another Jewish inmate of the camps)

"I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears." (After his father's death)

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. . . "
4479353
While reading Surviving 'Uncle Hitler': Journey of a German Girl, I had to keep reminding myself of whom I was reading. The story put me in mind of All Quiet on the Western Front. When Dorothea speaks of "the enemy," she's talking about the Allied countries fighting Germany. That's because she was a German girl during WWII. It gives one a different perspective when one isn't German. As a German citizen, she and others weren't exempt from the horrors of war.

Her story begins with a short history of Hitler rise to power and a description of her life and various family members. The book is written almost chronologically, but she sometimes backtracks to memories of better times when there was fresh food to eat, a warm place to sleep, and family outings.

Probably the most nightmarish segment of her memoir is the descriptions of, as refugees, their escape from Germany. Bombs were destroying the cities, and they retreated from the oncoming Russian army. Most of Europe was somehow affected by air strikes, and she describes the hardships of traveling hundreds of miles through cold mountainous regions on their way to Czechoslovakia.

Dorothea blends her story of fear and pain with mentions of her faith that God got them through the hard times. She believes that many of the hardships and disappointmentslike her father's disqualification from being able to emigrate to Americawere actually blessings in disguise. Separation from her father as he served in the German Army was one of the difficulties; they never knew where he was or if he was alive. But they kept moving. I find it appropriate the word "Surviving" is in the title after reading descriptions of the various refugee camps they stayed in.

The author is indeed blessed to have a small cache of photos which she shares, probably because her mother was so diligent in holding fast to the "big black handbag" which held their official papers. The photos lend a lot to the story and help us to see the family as "not" the enemy. They were unknowing victims of Hitler's tyranny as much as anyone.

Dorothea's writing isn't eloquent or lyrical, although some passages and specific sentences made me stop and take notice. For example:

"In retrospect, I am astounded at how tough I was, how tough all the children were to survive those terrible times. Of course, if we children hadn't been so resilient, generations would have been wiped out, and I wouldn't be here telling my story."

Her empathy for other children and her ability to see both evil and goodness give her a leg up in telling a story unique to its genre. Again, it's in the vein of All Quiet on the Western Front, but a true story by someone who was there saying, "war is wrong, devastating, and leaves scars that can last a lifetime."

In the end, Dorothea Wollin Null is a witness to her faith in God and leaves us with hope for eternity.
3932400
There are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors every year, and as more people deny that this huge catastrophe ever took place, it becomes more important for us to have personal accounts like this one.

What makes this book so appealing, however, is the immediacy of the author's recollections: the textures, odors, sounds of life during the years of Nazi occupation and mass murder of Jews in Eastern Europe. The book is heartbreaking in places, but also very human and moving.
1277957
Author Fried purports to tell the story of how a large and wealthy conservative congregation on the Philadelphia Main Line went through the process of replacing its retiring rabbi.  It's actually quite some time before he gets into the essence of the story, and I found myself thinking, when is he going to get to the search?  But he gets there and leaves no stone unturned.  It is a truly ugly story and it made me feel grateful that I didn't belong to that congregation.
  My own congregation recently went through a search for a new rabbi when ours left for a promotion after 14 years with us.  This book is more than just the search for a new rabbi.  It is a look at the inner workings of the conservative movement and the politics involved when this congregation decided to play hardball with the movement powers that be.  I will not detail the end of the story (which, unfortunately is not in the book), but I will tell you it is not a pretty story, but I could not put the book down.  Anyone who cares about this sort of thing should find the book endlessly fascinating as I did.
2607468
Hett's very interesting account of the life of Hans Litten focuses on Litten's prosecution of Adolf Hitler and other members of the Nazi party in the years before they came to full power. The aftermath of Hitler's retaliation against Litten is sobering, and as horrifying as any of the multitude of atrocities committed under the direction of the Nazis. To his credit, Hett notes that Litten was no angel, that his egotism and relentlessness in pursuit of his ideals (which could even turn off those closest to him) were both his greatest strengths and weaknesses.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is the lengthy (translated) transcription of Litten's cross-examination of Hitler. Fascinating.
4675321
I was spellbound by this book! Helga Schneiders honesty and courage for writing about her painful past is quite admirable.

Her mother was a frightening figure full of hate and had a complete lack of compassion.  She abandons her children to become a concentration camp guard and even fifty years later still has no regrets. It must be horribly painful to have such a  amoral parent, but in the context of a horrible war one can imagine how difficult it must have been.

I do not see this as Holocust literature as some have said, but more about a daughter trying to understand how she could have been given birth by such an evil person. I think it is an important piece of work. Thank you Helga Schneider it really made an impact on me.
1818981
Although short, and written for a younger audience, grades 9-12, this is an urgently needed book for anyone of any age wanting to comprehend the horror of the Holocaust. How do you rate a book that alternately made you cry in sorrow, boil in anger and righteous indignation, ashamed to be part of any group that either participated in or ignored the cries for help, but also sometimes made you shout for joy at the tenacity and elegance of human spirit of those who were persecuted that enabled them to survive? The only answer to the question comes by gritting your teeth, and recognizing the urgency of letting everyone know what really happened, mainly in Germany and surrounding countries, but also, unbelievably, all over the world.

"We Remember..." is filled with pictures of survivors and Holocaust atrocities. Thankfully, they are all black and white pictures. Color would have rendered them even more obscene than the events they pictured were. (I use the word `obscene' here not to indicate vulgarity, but rather the intensely evil nature of the events themselves, as in "abhorrent to morality or virtue".)

David A. Adler does a masterful job of gathering the first hand eye-witness testimonies of those who actually were there, most either as children, or young adults. The story is appalling: the indifference of world leaders to the events themselves, and to the plight of those onboard a ship trying to escape for their lives. One ship with 769 Romanian survivors was turned away at every port, and finally sunk by a Soviet submarine (p. 45).

He tells of Hitler's attempted takeover of the government in 1920 and his meteoric rise to power; of  Neville Chamberlain's attempt at a policy of appeasement of Germany, and its failures; how many of the German people welcomed him with open arms; how a few non-Jews, but only a few at first, had the courage to resist the government mandated persecution; and, he does so in a manner that is both riveting and engaging. As I read, I jotted down words that came to mind: shocking, distressing, outrageous, inhuman, ungodly and unchristian were some of them.

The one thing that impressed me as Adler told his story is that not only did the world refuse to believe that the Nazis were doing this terrible thing, but that the events were so horrible, and so indescribably unbelievable that many of the Jews themselves didn't believe the warnings and stories at first. As they went to the death chambers, they did so thinking the best of the situation, and hoping for the best outcome.

One young reader reviewed this book in 2000 using the word "fun" to describe his experience. I attribute that description simply to his age and lack of understanding of the use of the word "fun".  Let me assure anyone who reads this, they will NOT have fun reading it. If they are human, they will find themselves cursing (not literally) anyone that could even imagine doing such things to another human being. They will weep. And, their righteous indignation will well up inside themselves with a determination to either tell others about this unbelievable but true story, or be sure others know. And that is why David A. Adler took the time to make us all sick at our stomachs.

Read it. Please. Pray that it never happens again. Five monstrous stars for a cautionary story told very, very well.