The Book and the Sword: A Life of Learning in the Shadow of Destruction by David Weiss Halivni 1996

"Halivni's book is surprisingly rich and resonant . . ." from a review by Jonathan Kirsch in the Los Angeles Times 10/16/1996

David Weiss HaLivni has written a memoir in order to tell the story of his life from a religious and spiritual perspective. Until he and his family were deported to Auschwitz when he was a teenager, he spent his early years from about the age of five with his grandparents in Sighet, Romania where his Hassidic maternal grandfather was his mentor. The author was precocious indeed, and although he insists his capacity to memorize was not unusual, as a very young learner he memorized large tracts of the Talmud. He was his grandfather’s pride and joy, his family’s pride and joy, as well as the community’s.

He relates later that his extensive Talmud learning helped him in the various Concentration camps he was assigned to. He impressed fellow inmates with how much he had learned and their reverence for learning stirred a number of them to help him survive. This included at least one Jewish kapo.

When HaLivni was liberated, he first went back to Sighet where he found out that his family had all perished. He then spent some time with a family friend in Budapest, then moved to a Displaced Person’s camp in Germany. From there he was sent to New York with other orphaned children and stayed in places where he refused to eat the food until others could prove it was kosher. It was at this point that Jewish American religious scholars encountered his vast learning.

HaLivni, who went on to teach at the Jewish Theological Seminary and then Columbia University, writes about charting his own course. Yeshiva scholars advised him against going to a secular college, wanting him to devote all his time to Talmud, but  HaLivni was interested in the secular world as well as the religious, so he attended yeshiva and Brooklyn College simultaneously.

HaLivni devotes very important chapters to the Holocaust, how he was affected by it, and how and why he still has faith in God despite what he experienced and despite having lost his family. He also writes about how certain beliefs by members of the general public concerning the Holocaust disturb him. For example, he says it is not true that every survivor feels guilt for having made it out alive.

This memoir leaves the reader with a lot to think about. His exploration of his own life as a survivor (he tells little of his traumatic experiences as a concentration camp prisoner) reinforces the notion that survivors are not a monolithic group. Their reactions are shaped by their upbringing, past experiences, circumstances, and individual personalities.

This memoir includes a detailed and useful glossary explaining religious terminology and well as describing who historical personages mentioned in the body of his work were.

To watch a video of a discussion between Elie Weisel (who grew up in Sighet)  and Oprah Winfrey about Auschwitz and to see them at Auschwitz, click here.

To read about the study of the Talmud, click here.

People

Family
Shaye Weiss   

            Channa Yitte Weiss – daughter of Shaye; married Yisroel Yehuda Katina (a cousin)

            Ethyl Weiss- daughter of Shaye

            Feige Weiss – daughter of Shaye; marries and divorces Zallel Weiderman

            Channa Yitte Weiss – daughter of Feige and Zalell; (took name Weiss once parents divorced)

            Leitzu Weiss – daughter of Feige and Zalell; (took name of Weiss once parents divorced)

David Weiss Livni – son of Feige and Zallel; (took name of Weiss once parents divorced); married Tzipora;  took name Livni is the U.S..

            Shai Livni – son of David Weiss Livni – married Diane Kushnir

Leib Weiss – brother of Shaye

Shiya Maggid – distant relative

Sarah  Festinger – author’s great aunt

Menachem Mendel Hager – grandfather of Tzipora – wife of author

Friends and Acquaintances

Beryl Landau

Shlomo Weiss

Leizar Hoch

Naftali Elimelech Schiff

Menachem Mendel Hager

Shimi Weiss

Rutzi Kratz

Yekutiel Yehuda Teitelbaum

Zalman Leib Gross

Menyu Rubin

Moshe Finklestein

Shulamit Halkin

Saul Lieberman

Aaron Kotler

Joel Teitelbaum

Yizhak Hutner

Louis Finkelstein

Gerson Cohen

Joel Roth

Laibl Kahan

Oskar Dob

Joshua Herschel Friedmann

Chaim Lieberman

Moshe Scharf

Aaron Wertheim

Places

Sighet, Romania

Kobolecka Poljana, Ukraine (formerly Czechoslovakia)

Khust, Ukraine

Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp, in the former Czechoslovakia

Visheva, Ukraine

Ungvar (Uzhgorod), Ukraine

Tyachevo, Ukraine

Jewish Theological Seminary, NYC

Windsheim Displaced Person’s Camp, Germany

Yeshivas rav Chaim Berlin, NYC

 

The Forger: An Extraordinary Story of Survival in Wartime Berlin by Cioma Schonhaus, translated from the German by Alan Bance, edition in English published in 2007

"In the vast literature devoted to the Jewish experience under the Nazis, Mr. Schönhaus’s slim book deserves a special place, as much for its tone as for the remarkable events it records: a catalog of hairbreadth escapes, clever ruses and brazen coups." from a review by William Grimes in the New York Times 1/23/2008

The Forger is fascinating to read. Although it is about Cioma Schonhaus’ distressing story of surviving in Berlin during World War II, the memoir is full of dark, absurdist humor which reflects the personality of the author. Many times observations he makes and the jokes he tells are quotes from his father who lives on in his memory and who serves as a beacon in dangerous times. The humor is undercut by the stressful set of circumstances he finds himself in and by the fact that his father is gone. Schonhaus was only nineteen years old and an only child when both his father and mother were deported.

Schonhaus avoids being deported because he knows people who know people who get him work in a factory that is deemed vital to the war effort. When they finally force him out, through his contacts he joins the resistance where he works as an invaluable graphic artist altering identity cards and passbooks for fellow Jews.

In the course of his work he alters documents for his own use, fashions multiple identities, lives in a series of rooms and apartments, and is constantly inventing and reinventing his life story in order to navigate as safely as possible in the world populated with potential German informers and Nazis. He tries for a bit of normalcy, often eating in restaurants off-limits to Jews, and enjoying the company of women.  His intelligence, his high tolerance for danger, and his luck contribute to his surviving the war.

A very interesting and a large part of the story he tells is about the importance of a number of Protestant clergy and their parishioners who worked in the resistance movement as members of the Confessing Church. In doing so they risked their lives to save many Jews, and, in fact, some were caught and were shot; others were jailed. He explains that parishioners handed in their identity cards which they then reported as lost. These documents were then handed over to Schonhaus so that he could alter them. Everyone involved in the process was impressed with his skill.

He also writes about a number of incidents where German citizens, not connected to the resistance movement, protect him. It is clear that, based on his experiences, he wants his readers to know that not every German was out to rid the nation of its Jewish residents. But eventually his identity becomes known, and he escapes by bike to Switzerland despite having been told by any number of people that it would be just about impossible to do because of the thicket of border patrols. Again, due to ingenuity and luck, as well as determination and stamina, he manages to escape into Switzerland. He settles in Basel where he starts a business, marries, and raises a family.

The last chapter consists of a list of many of the people he had known and worked with in Berlin and their ultimate fate.

To watch a thirty minute film interview with Cioma Schonhaus called Oifn Weg, click here.

Family
Enta Marie Berman
     Fanja Berman – daughter of  Ente Marie; married Boris Schonhaus
             Samson (Cioma) Schonhaus – son of Fanja and Boris
    Adi Berman – son of Ente Marie
    Meier Berman – son of Ente Marie; married to Sophie

Friends and Acquaintances
Michael Kestinger
Walter Majut
Ludel Frank
Jonny Syna
Wolfgang Pander
Gunther Heilborn
Lotte Windmuller
Curt Eckstein
Walter Prager – married to Nadja
Julius Fliess
   Dorothee Fliess – daughter of Julius
Det Kassriel
Karl Wiesner
Paul Levi
Eva Goldschmidt
Gerhard Lowenthal
Ruth and Werner Schlesinger
Walter Heyman
Friedrich Gorner
Manfred Hochhauser
Franz Kaufmann
   Angelica Kaufmann – daughter of Franz
Ludwig Lichtwitz
Werner Scharff
Hanni Hollerbusch
Stella Goldschlag
Lotte Blumenfeld
Leon Blum
Ernst Hallerman

Places
Minsk, Belarus
Berlin, Germany
Rishon LeZion, Israel
Bielefeld, Germany
Basel, Switzerland
Biel-Benken, Switzerland
Majdanek Concentration Camp, Poland
Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Czech Republic
Basel, Switzerland
Biel-Benken, Switzerland

Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson 2013 (fiction)

"Ben Solomon's tale is gripping . . . Balson's first novel is hard to put down." from a review by Miriam Bradman Abrahams posted on the website of the Jewish Book Council

This engrossing novel, focusing on the intertwined life of a Polish Jew and a Nazi, was privately published in 2010 and sold 120,000 copies. Because of its popularity, St. Martin’s Press has published what is described as “a different version,” probably a reworked version, of the novel.

Set in Chicago in the year 2004, Ben Solomon is convinced that the philanthropist Elliot Rosenzweig, also a resident of Chicago, is really Otto Piatek who grew up with him in Zamosc, Poland and who later became a Nazi officer. The bulk of the novel, though anchored in 2004, takes place in the years 1933 through 1944 where we read about the lives of Ben Solomon and his childhood friend, Otto Piatek.  Has Otto Piatek disguised himself as Elliot Rosenzweig? What are the clues? What is the evidence? Are Solomon and his lawyer going to be able to put together a convincing case and expose him?

The chronological history of the Holocaust in Poland is no mere background in this suspenseful, highly readable novel. In order to construct a historically accurate novel, the author, a lawyer who has made a number of trips to Poland, has included a lot of conscientiously researched material about World War II and about what happened in Poland, in particular. It is clear that Balson is attempting to reach out to a broad audience to educate them about the Holocaust that goes beyond a familiarity with Anne Frank and Auschwitz.

One literary strategy Balson uses is to make Ben Solomon’s lawyer, Catherine Lockhart, a non-Jew which creates an opportunity for the author, through his character Solomon, to explain many terms that he assumes she and many readers may not know, like Judenrat, Aktion Rheinhardt, kapo, the Nuremberg Laws, and the Anschluss. Sometimes he has Lockhart ask questions for clarification which prompt informative answers. For example, Solomon explains what ghettos were really like; he differentiates between slave labor camps, transit camps, and exterminations camps; and he creates scenes that involve the theft of property, the means of escape and the geography of escape routes, the existence and strategies of the Polish resistance, the danger in encountering informers, and the presence of helpful Catholic priests and nuns. Balson also introduces readers to the complications inherent in post-war prosecutions of Nazis and the strategies lawyers use to litigate these cases.

Although, as stated above, this is a suspenseful novel and is easy to read, it does feel a little like the plot is contrived to teach a history lesson. Balson deserves credit for having succeeded in presenting a number of aspects of the Holocaust, and in doing so he provides a useful and credible overview of the plight of Jews in Poland. However, Balson is less successful in the area of character development – his characters are not complex. That being said, the novel is a worthy addition to stories about the Holocaust. Interestingly, it joins Michael Lavigne’s Not Me in its shocking premise. In each novel the author imagines a Nazi posing as a well-respected Jew. Whether this is just a literary device or has its roots in reality is not clear.

To read an interview with the author in the Chicago Tribune, click here.
To read an article about Poles who have been honored for helping Jews during World War II, click here.

People
Family
Ronald Balson - married to Monica; author
     David and Matthew Balson- sons of Ronald
Linda Balson - sister of Ronald

Friends and Acquaintances
Rabbi Victor Weissberg

Places
Zamosc, Poland
Krasnik, Poland
Poland

The Last Jew of Treblinka by Chil Rajchman translated from Yiddish by Solon Beinfeld, published in the U.S. in 2009 with a preface by Samuel Moyn

"Rajchman’s searing story, frequently narrated in the present tense, has a powerful authenticity and should not be forgotten." from a review in Kirkus Reviews 10/25/2010

Chil Rajchman’s memoir of his incarceration in Treblinka is an important eye-witness account of the workings of a deadly camp set up not as a clearing house or a labor camp, but strictly as a site for killing all Jews who were transported there. In spare prose that highlights the horror, Rajchman describes in short vignettes the geographical layout, the personnel, and the daily activities that were arranged and monitored so that the camp worked as efficiently as possible.
.
That Rajchman survived is astounding because so few did. He was young, in good health when he arrived, and had his wits about him. He knew that he had the best chance to survive for some length of time if he could work, especially in a capacity that didn't involve backbreaking physical labor, so when they needed barbers, he stepped forward and said he was a barber, though he wasn’t. When they needed dentists he stepped forward and said he was a dentist, though he had no such training.

He relied on those more experienced than he to teach him what he needed to know so he could perform these tasks. But what he learned in the camp from others that was most important were general lessons about how to survive. He learned that he needed to do what he could not to anger guards and other officials, he needed to keep his head down and to work quickly,  to not make mistakes or in any other way call attention to himself. He could not let officials know if he got sick, and he needed to avoid getting beaten on his face where a visible wound would prompt someone in charge to shoot him.

Rajchman’s matter-of-fact style conveys the reality of the camp with all its terror where the abnormal was quickly normalized. His job as a barber was to cut off the hair of women who were about to be gassed. He worked as a dentist removing gold from the mouths of gassed corpses on their way to the burial pits.

The end of Rajchman’s memoir describes a revolt he and many of his co-laborers planned and carried out. Many were caught and killed, but luckily he escaped and hid in the nearby woods. He eventually made his way to Warsaw where a Polish friend provided him with Aryan identity documents.

This memoir includes an informative Preface by historian Samuel Moyn who places Treblinka in the context of concentration and extermination camps. He also discusses the importance of the memoir as the recording of an eye-witness account of Treblinka where very few lived to report about it.

This memoir also includes a map of the camp and family photos.

To watch a clip of a documentary that includes interviews with Chil Rajchman click here
To read an interview in 2012 with the two last survivors of Treblinka (Rajchman died in 2004) click here.

Family
Abraham and Java Froim
   Yekhiel (Chil) Rajchman son of Abraham and Java; author
         Jose, Andres, Daniel Rajchman – sons of Chil
Rivka – daughter of Abraham and Java
Monek – son of Abraham and Java
Ratza – daughter of Abraham and Java
Ruska – daughter of Abraham and Java
Isaac – son of Abraham and Java

Friends
Wolf Ber Rojzman
Leybl Goldfarb
Moyshe Ettinger
Zhelo Bloch
Rudolf Masarek
Yankel Wiernik

Places
Ostrow Lubelski
Treblinka, Poland

The Flat (Hadira in Hebrew) written and directed by Arnon Goldfinger 2011 (documentary film) In Hebrew and English

"Borne on the generational ripples of a painful history, Arnon Goldfinger's 'The Flat' is a true-life detective story that uncovers much more than the tangled roots of its maker's family tree."
from a review by Jeannette Catsoulis in the NY Times 10/18/2012

This documentary, primarily filmed at the flat of Arnon Goldfinger’s recently deceased widowed grandmother, focuses on issues having to do with the Holocaust that he and his family only start to confront when they start emptying her apartment.

Goldfinger’s grandparents were successful German Jews who lived in Berlin, but left for Israel before the war. As Goldfinger remarks, his grandmother, who died at the age of 98, lived her life in Israel as if she were still a citizen of Germany. She visited Germany yearly and held on to many possessions from Germany, including old newspapers, letters and photos.

Those artifacts from her past open up a world that the author did not know existed, nor did his mother, who had been born in Berlin. Goldfinger wants to understand what he has learned, so he travels to Germany to interview the German daughter of former friends of his grandparents. On a second trip he brings his mother along and they also visit a cousin who lives in Berlin who fills in more of the family picture.

The movie serves to demonstrate what is now a pretty well-established point: that those traumatized by the Holocaust often did not speak of it and that the children of the second generation most often respected those boundaries. Goldfinger himself is now puzzled as to why he and his siblings asked so few questions about his grandmother’s past.

What is very interesting are the conversations in Germany with the German daughter of his grandparents’ friends. Pressing her with information he has researched about her father, he finds she has maintained a willful ignorance of her father’s past. On both sides (although for different pschological  reasons), Goldfinger found the trauma of the Holocaust buried. On both sides, a veneer of normalcy prevailed.

To read an interview with Arnon Goldfinger, click here.
To read an article about another German Jew who fled Germany and settled in Israel published in Haaretz, click here.

Family
Susanna and Heinich Lehmann
    Gerda Lehmann – married Kurt Tuchler
        Hannah Tuchler Goldfinger – daughter of Gerda and Kurt
             Arnon Goldfinger –son of Hannah; writer/director
             Noam Goldfinger – son of Hannah
             Yair Goldfinger – son of Hannah
             Gidi – of Hannah
             Orit Goldfinger-Mendel – daughter of Hannah Goldfinger
  Paula Lehmann Weinstein – sister of Heinich
     Manuel Trokes – grandson of Paula Lehmann
     Rani Eisenberg – cousin; exact relationship not clear

Places
Tel Aviv, Israel
Berlin, Germany

Who She Was: My Search for My Mother’s Life, by Samuel Freedman 2005

"A son’s story, a Jewish story, an American story." from a review in Kirkus Reviews

The journalist Samuel Freedman (b. 1955) lost his mother to breast cancer when she was 50 during his sophomore year of college. He felt he never knew her very well, preoccupied as he was, first with his life as a teenager, then as a college student in Wisconsin, quite a distance from his home in New Jersey. He decided to do the research and write this memoir in an attempt to better understand her, by conducting extensive interviews with friends and family and by investigating other sources like letters, diaries, photos, and newspapers.

Through his research he recreates the Bronx of his mother’s youth, early adulthood, and young married life. He explores her home life, her Morris High School experiences, her work life and her social life. His skills as a journalist help him to place her life in historical context. He fleshes out the Jewish immigrant experience in the Bronx with the attendant tension between the immigrant parents and their American children. And he explores the social and economic impact of the Depression, World War II, and the post-war preoccupation with Communists in America. He also discusses what the cultural expectations were for a woman in his mother’s time and how those often unspoken restrictions played out in her life.

One of the most significant threads Freedman explores is the antagonistic relationship that existed between his mother and her mother which stemmed mostly from his grandmother’s insistence on the importance of living a traditional Jewish life. The author’s mother, a very bright student, spent much of her energy in rebellion. It is not surprising that the author, having delved as deeply as he could into their relationship and the circumstances surrounding it, develops a more nuanced understanding of both his mother and his grandmother.

But finally the author realizes that, despite having done a yeoman's job of recreating the past and having learned a great deal about his mother, he can never really know her completely. The fuller picture can never bring her to life, it can never completely fill the emotional gap created by her early death and his early loss.

To read an excerpt from this memoir, click here.
To read an article about the history of Jews in the Bronx, click here.

People
Author's mother's father's family
Sarah Hatkin
    Samuel Hatkin – son of Sarah
    Sol Hatkin – son of Sarah; married Rachel (Rose) Markiewicz
        Eleanor Hatkin – daughter of Sol and Rose; married Leonard Benjamin Schulman; second marriage to David Freedman
               Samuel Freedman - son of Eleanor and David; married Cynthia Sheps
                        Aaron and Sarah Freedman - children of Samuel and Cynthia
        Fannie Hatkin – daughter of Sol and Rose; married Danny Schlomkowitz (Stevens)
              Joel Schlomkowitz (Stevens) – son of Danny and Fannie
    Seymour Hatkin – son of Sol and Rose; married Evelyn
    Jacob Hatkin – son of Sarah; married Rachel Gartenberg, cousin of Rachel Markiewicz
    David Hatkin – son of Sarah

Mildred Schlomkowitz – sister to Danny (see above)
Jack and Hilda Schulman
     Leonard Schulman - son of Jack and Hilda (see above)
    Alan Schulman – son of Jack and Hilda
Leonard Hatkin – cousin of Eleanor; exact relationship unclear; married Thelma
Harry Schneer – cousin of Sol Hatkin; relationship unclear
Elaine Sheps - mother of Cynthia (see above)


Author's mother's mother's family
Yehuda Ariyeh Markiewicz – father of Rachel Markiewicz
 Rachel (Rose) Markiewicz – daughter of Yehuda Ariyeh; married Sol Hatkin (see above)
 Ester Dina Markiewicz – daughter of Yehuda Ariyeh; married Alter David Kaczkowicz
      Judis Kaczkowicz – daughter of Esther Dina and Alter David; married Jaime Prusky
      Julius Kaczkowicz– son of Ester Dina and Alter David; married Rebeca Kaganas
 Menuchi Markiewicz – daughter of Yehuda Ariyeh
 Avram Markiewicz – son of Yehuda Ariyeh
 Shifra Markiewicz – daughter of Yehuda Ariyeh

Shai Gartenberg – uncle of Rose Markiewicz – exact relationship not clear
Minnie and Morris Osder – Minnie is a cousin of Rose Markiewicz – exact relationship unclear
Rebeca and Guillermo Bronstein - relatives in Uruguay - exact relationship unclear
Dina Berlinblau - relative in Uruguay - exact relationship unclear
Pinhas Kaczkowicz – cousin of David Kaczkowicz (married to Ester Dina Markiewicz – see above)

Author's father's family
Samuel and Rose Freedman
    Ziggy Freedman – son of Samuel and Rose
    Clara Freedman – daughter of Samuel and Rose
    David Freedman – son of Samuel and Rose; married Eleanor Hatkin Schulman (see above)

Friends and Acquaintances
Regina and Monikou  Adler – sisters
Clare Abramowitz – married Hy Dickman
Leon Becker
Vicky Behar – married Dave Fried
Artie Bernfeld
Ralph Betstadt – married Lillian Golden
Miriam Beyman
Shirley Binenstock
Bruno (Bernie) Brenner – brother of Ignaz
Ignaz (Irving) Brenner – brother of Bruno; married Fannie Povodator
Florence Brodsky
Harry Ceitlin
Maxwell Cohen
Sid Cozin
Bern Dibner
Bernie Dunetz – married Anita Rosenhoch
 Sandy Dunetz – child of Bernie and Anita
Stanley Feldman – brother-in-law of Herman Keltz
Jerry Ferber
Bea Flesichman
Artie Fluger
Stanley Frank
Rudy Friedlander
Lou and Murray Glass – brothers; cousins of Vicky Behar
Al Glazer
Sol and Sidney Goldfarb – brothers
Mel Goodman
Howard Gropper
Dick Gumerov
Florence Herzog
Marion Herzog – daughter of Florence; married Saul Maidens
Max Kagan
Herman David Keltz
Mildred Keltz – sister of Herman
Rose Klekman
Hy Kraft
Abe Kronenfeld
Ruth Liebowitz
Morris Laitman
Joe Lempert
Leon Mandelbaum
Ted Millon
Bernie Murowitz
Harriss Pacter
Bernard Pacter – son of Harriss
Noach Pacter – brother to Harriss; married to Fannie
Sam Pacter – son of Noach and Fannie
  Ruth Pacter – daughter of Noach and Fannie; married Al Taylor
Estelle Pacter – daughter of Noach and Fannie
Simmy Plansky
Buddy Rashbaum
Neil Rosenberg
Bill Rosenhoch – sister of Anita; married Naomi Gruder
Pauline Rubenstein
Selma Rubenstein – daughter of Pauline
Hilda Saltzman Wachtenheim
George Slayton – cousin of Claire Abromowitz
Bernie Solomon
Jack Steinglass
Flo Zipkin

Places
Kolno, Poland
Bialystok, Poland
Morrisania, The Bronx, New York
Morris High School, The Bronx, New York
Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York
Montevideo, Uruguay
Stelton, New Jersey
Highland Park, New Jersey

Europa, Europa by Solomon Perel, published in English in 1997

 "Perel's continuing struggle with identity was indirectly reflected in the various titles of his memoirs, which have been published in French, German and ... Hebrew." from an article written by Daniel Williams in the Los Angeles Times 3/30/92

Solomon Perel, born in Germany in 1925 to a Russian-Jewish family who settled in Pleine, Germany after the Russian revolution, has a powerful story to tell about his experience masquerading as a young German, hiding in their very midst. In 1935 when he was ten, his family fled to Lodz in Poland, expecting that they would be safer there than in Hitler’s Germany. The author, a very good student, learned Polish quickly and settled into life in Poland only to be uprooted again when Hitler invaded Poland in September of 1939.

His parents, fearing for the safety of their children, urged Solomon to cross the border into the Soviet Union with his brother Isaac. The two brothers soon become separated and here begins a tale that reveals the deep determination of the author to survive. He tells his tale in order to describe the incredible stress he endured and to dramatize his responses to events that threatened his survival. He is not trying to portray himself as heroic. He is trying to plumb the depths of his psyche and explain as best he can to himself and to his readers how he could assume a German identity complete with a name and a background he invented and maintain it until the war was over. He became two separate people – Solly inside, and Jupp on the outside.

His fears were many. For example, he did not have papers identifying him as German (he told the Germans they were destroyed in a bombing), he had to keep his background story straight every time he told it, he was afraid he’d be identified as being a Jew if someone saw that he was circumcised, and he had to learn not to react “inappropriately” when being subjected to Nazi propaganda  which was a constant condition of his life.

But he was smart and he was lucky. The fact that he was alone and spoke German made it possible to pose as a non-Jewish orphaned German. He put his ability to speak Russian to good use by acting as a translator for the Germans as they interviewed wounded Russian soldiers. Because his intelligence impressed the Nazis, tthey sent him to Germany where he was enrolled in an elite Hitler Youth school where he was fed, clothed and safe. And his feigned enthusiasm also helped in his interactions with various Germans and Nazi officials.

When the war was over and he was on his own again, having inhabited the psyche for three years of a young German being groomed for an elite position in the Nazi power structure, it was difficult for him to feel free and to tell anyone that he was a Jew. When he finally felt liberated enough to live outwardly as a Jew, having seen and heard about the suffering of concentration camp survivors, it was then difficult for him to claim to be a survivor.

To see the trailer for the award-winning movie made based on Perel's memoir, click here.
To read an interview with the author in the New York Times, click here.

People
Eliahu bar Halperin – grandfather of author;
    Rebecca – daughter of Eliahu; married Azriel Perel
         Isaac Perel –son of Rebecca and Azriel;  married Mira Rabinowitz
              Naomi Perel – daughter of Isaac and Mira
        David Perel – son of Rebecca and Azriel; married Pola Rosner
              Azriel Perel – son of David and Pola
        Bertha Perel – son of Rebecca and Azriel
        Solomon Perel – son of Rebecca and Azriel; author
   Clara Wachsmann  - daughter of Eliahu

Friends and Acquaintances
Jerzyk  Rappoport
Jakob Lublinski
Hans Marburger
Binem Koppelmann
Manfred Frenkel
Lotte Friedenthal
Eliahu Beth Josef

Places
Peine, Germany
Lodz, Poland
Smorgon, Lithuania?
Stutthof  Concentration Camp, Poland
Munich, Germany
Tel Aviv, Israel

MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic by Art Spiegelman 2011

"The three longest chapters [of MetaMaus] provide nuanced and richly illustrated answers to the questions every reader has probably asked: 'Why the Holocaust?' 'Why mice?' and 'Why comics?'" from a review by Patricia Hagen in the Star Tribune, 11/19/2011

Art Spiegelman, author of the award-winning Maus, has written a memoir that looks back at the making of Maus and elaborates on its many themes. The body of the commentary comes in the form of conversations with the professor/scholar Hillary Chute, wherein she poses a question or states an observation and Spiegelman responds. Spiegelman provides background information about himself and his Holocaust survivor parents and carefully reasoned artistic explanations for many of the decisions he made as he was working on Maus. Also, Spiegelman gave her access to his files, and the book includes many early sketches, notes, and panels as well as related material which had been published elsewhere.

Spiegelman talked to Chute about what fueled his growing interest in trying to draw and write about the Holocaust. He never had any intention of using it in his art but he found himself inevitably moving in that direction, partly as a way to try to connect to his father with whom he’d had a difficult relationship, but also because the Holocaust was what had enveloped him his whole life. When he decided to tell his father’s story he had to wrestle with the issue of making art out of Holocaust experiences. He was intent in doing so without sentimentalizing his father’s story, branding all stories by and about survivors that rely on excessive sentiment “Holokitsch.”

Some of the most interesting material is the author’s discussions about memory and accuracy. Once he knew he needed to tell this story, he needed to immerse himself in history, worrying all the time about getting it right. He had dual concerns: getting his father’s story right and also being accurate about the larger story of the Holocaust. He needed to constantly prod his father for more details and check them against historical material whenever possible. He needed to visit Auschwitz.

Much of the book is taken up with discussions about Spiegelman’s use of the comic book form to tell his family’s story and his metaphoric use of animals to represent the characters. Spiegelman discusses what was innovative and the various forms of resistance Maus received, both before publication and after. He also discusses who his influences were in the world of alternative comic book art and how the fame Maus has brought him has affected him as a person and as an artist. There is an interesting discussion of the difficulty of translating Maus into other languages and the reception Maus had in various countries.

In addition to the discussions listed above, this volume also includes ancillary material:

After Maus was published Art Spiegelman learned of an extensive Spiegelman family tree created by a second cousin, Simon Spiegelman, which is included along with a two-page narrative history of the family written by his cousin. There is also a Zylberberg family tree. Both trees are reproduced below in list form without birth and death dates which can be found on the trees reproduced in the book.

The book also includes many more family photos than in the original Maus, a transcript of Spiegelman’s interviews with his father, a short chapter that includes interviews with women who knew his mother, a chronology - 1906-2010, and an index.

MetaMaus also includes a DVD. Part I is a digitally reproduced version of the complete Maus where you can also click to hear Spiegelman’s father’s voice and see digitally reproduced versions of sketches and drafts. Part II includes some of the same ancillary material found in the paper version of MetaMaus discussed above, but also additional material which forms a digital archive: sketches and drawings by the author, a collection called Anja’s Bookshelf which includes postwar Polish pamphlets on the war and the camps, a home movie of Spiegelman’s trip to Auschwitz, and essays by Spiegelman and others written about Maus and originally published elsewhere.

For a short history of Auschwitz through photos and text, click here.
For the earlier post on this blog of a review of Maus click here.

Family
Author’s father’s family
Majer Szpigelman – married Zysla
Chaim Lajb Szpigelman – son of Majer and Zysla; married Fajgla Szpringer
        Moszek Moshe Szpigelman –  son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Chana Zysla Rajsfeld   
            Icek Wolf Szpigelman – son of Moszek and Chana
            Hendla Szpigelman – daughter of Moszek and Chana
            Maria Laja Szpigelman – daughter of Moszek and Chana
            Rajza Szpigelman – daughter of Moszek and Chana
            Majer Jozef Szpigelman – son of Moszek and Chana
            Jakob Szymon Szpigelman – son of Moszek and Chana
Menachem Mendl Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajga; married Chaja Majerczik; married Chaja Sura Lauber (2nd wife)
        Majer Jozef Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Andzua Hendla Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Berek Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Rywka Zysla Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Lola Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Regina Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Eliash Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Miloch Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Sura; married Gutcha
        Pesach Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Sura
        Haskel Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Sura
Majer Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Ruchla Altman
        Ziser Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Mordka Hillel Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Abram Wolf Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Faigla Rywka Szpigelman – daughter of Majer and Ruchla
        Arie Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Zysla Szpigelman – daughter of Majer and Ruchla
        Szlama Becalel Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
Jozef Henoch Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Zysla Zylbersztajn
        Jakob Szlama Szpigelman – son of Jozef and Zysla
        Fajgla Rywka Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Abram Szaja Szpigelman – son of Jozef and Zysla
        Pinkus Eli Szpigelman – son of Jozef and Zysla
        Frajda Rachela Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Chaja Sura Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Hendla Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Jacheta Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Mariem Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
Sara Szpigelman – daughter of Chaim and Fajgla; married Fajwel Kronenberg
            Fela (Fajgla)  Szpigelman – daughter of Sara and Fajwel
            Majer (Max) Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Burech Mordka Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Jacheta Szpigelman – daughter of Sara and Fajwel
            Chaim Lajb Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Jakob Josef Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Dawid Moszek Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
        Chana Ruchla Szpigelman – daughter of Chaim and Fajgla; married Mendel Zygrajch
            Fajgla Szpigelman – daughter of Chana and Mendel
            Ajzik Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Fiszel Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Majer Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Pejsach Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Dworja Ita Szpigelman – daughter of Chana and Mendel
            Chaim Lajb Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Abram Jakob Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
        Abram Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Pesla Zylberszac; married Chaja Goldberg (2nd wife)
            Izrael Szymon Szpigelman – son of Abram and Pesla
            Fela (Faigla) Szpigelman – daughter of Abram and Chaja
            Vladek (William) Szpigelman (Spiegelman) – son of Abram and Chaja; married Anja Zylberberg; married Mala Kurland (2nd wife)
                Richieu Szpigelman – son of Vladek and Anja
                Arthur Szpigelman (Spiegelman) – son of Vladek and Anja; married to Francoise; (author)
                    Nadja and Dasheill Spiegelman – children of Arthur and Francoise   
            Marcus (Mordka) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Moses (Mojzesz) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Mendel Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Leon (Chaim Lajb) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Zosha (Zysla) Szpigelman – daughter of Abram and Chaja
            Yadja (Jacheta) Szpigelman – daughter of Abram and Chaja
            Pinek (Pejsach) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
        Wolf Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Sura Rywka
            Max (Majer) Szpigelman – son of Wolf and Sura
            Lorre (Zysla Laja) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Frieda (Fajgla) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Lotte (Liba) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Toni (Tauba Chana) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Helene (Chaja) Szpigelman – daughter of Wold and Sura

Author’s mother’s family
Heschl Karmiol – married Ruchla
    Malka Karmiol – daughter of Heschl and Ruchla; married Israel Itzah Zylberberg
        Herman Zylberberg – son of Malka and Israel; married Hela
            Lolek Zylberberg – son of Herman and Hela; married Lonia
                Rachel Zylberberg daughter of Lolek and Lonia
                                                Laurie Zylberberg – daughter of Lolek and Lonia
                Andrew Zylberberg – son of Lolek and Lona; married Cynthia
                    Elaine, Karen, and Allison Zylberberg – children of Andrew and Cynthia
        Levek Zylberberg – son of Malka and Israel
        Tosha Zylberberg – daughter of Malka and Israel; married Wolf Steinkeller
            Bibi Steinkeller – daughter of Tosha and Wolf
        Anja Zylberberg – daughter of Malka and Israel; married Vladek Spiegelman
            Richieu – son of Anja and Vladek
            Arthur – son of Anja and Vladek – married Francoise Mouly (see above); author
        Josef Zylberberg – son of Malka and Israel; married to Mina

            Marysia Winogron – second cousin of Anja’s (father’s were first cousins)
                Leonard and David Winogron – sons of Marysia

Friends and Acquaintances
David and Ita Kracauer
Paul Pavel
Renya Ostry
Alter Mandelbaum
Blima Mandelbaum (Blanca Thurm) – Alter’s daughter
Avraham MAndelbaum – Alter’s nephew
Liba Eibschutz – Alter’s neice
Marisha Shubert
Hanka Sucher (Hanna Heron)

Places
Dabrowa, Poland
Sosnowiec, Poland
Stara Sosnowiec, Poland
Srodula, Poland
Zawiercie, Poland
Bielsko, Poland
Dachau, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Birkenau Concentration Camp
Auschwitz Concentration Camp
Ravensbruck-Malhoff Concentration Camp
Sweden
Norristown, Pa
Fort Tryon Park, NYC
Rego Park, Queens, NYC
Soho, NYC

All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein 1957, reissued with additional material 1995

"Mrs. Klein bears witness memorably." from a review by John O'Connor of an HBO special called "One Survivor Remembers" in which Gerda Weissman Klein tells the story that she has written in her memoir.

All But My Life, one of the first post-war Holocaust memoirs to have been published, is a book often assigned by high school teachers to students studying the Holocaust because of its embedded history and its lucid, moving prose. It has a lot to offer readers of all ages.

Gerda Weismann was born in 1924 into a middle class family who lived in the prosperous Polish town of Bielitz. Because her father, who was part owner of a factory, suffered from a heart condition, she and her parents and her older brother Arthur were still in Bielitz in the fall of 1939 after many other Jewish families had run ahead of the invading Germans.

Part I of this three-part memoir starts with the author's early privileged life at home in their house which is where her mother had been raised. Once the Germans occupied their town, their lives were restricted: Jews had to give up items like autos, bicycles and radios, then they were forced to wear arm bands, then her family was ordered to move out of the main house into a two-room apartment in the cellar. The worst blow was when her able-bodied brother Arthur was ordered to board a train. Part I ends in 1943 when, after the family members were separated and sent to different locations. Eighteen-year-old Gerda was alone and did not know what was in store for any of them.

In Part II we travel with Gerda as she was moved from one labor camp to the next. An early move to the Kramsa labor camp in Bolkenhaim was fortunate because there she was taught to weave on a loom and although it was very difficult work that required her and the other girls to stand on their feet all day and inhale textile particles that damaged their lungs, the living conditions were not terrible. They had enough to eat and good enough sleeping quarters. But as the war progressed conditions deteriorated and eventually there was no more raw material to work on, the looms were silenced, and she and the other inmates were moved from camp to camp. In the war's final months she and the girls who were still alive were forced on a 350-mile death march. The author and her fellow survivors ended up in Vovary, Czechoslovakia where the Germans abandoned them and they were liberated.

Part III deals with her recovery and her future. At the time of her liberation she weighed 68 pounds and was hospitalized for many months. She had to re-learn how to walk, how to live, whom to trust, what it meant to be free. When she was liberated she met an American soldier, Kurt Klein who helped her through her rehabilitation. They married and he brought her to America.

In the 1995 revised edition Weissmann includes an epilogue which brings us up to date. She tells us that she and her husband settled in Buffalo, had three children and eight grandchildren. In Buffalo she volunteered with the Jewish Federation and Hadassah and early on she started speaking about her Holocaust experience to both children and adults. Eventually she and her husband moved to Arizona where she was still intent on giving back, of showing her appreciation for the life she was given in the United States.

This memoir includes family photos.

To see and hear Gerda Weissmann talk in November, 2010 about her being chosen to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, click here.


People
Family
Julie Muckenbrunn
    Helene Muckenbrunn – daughter of Julie; married Julius Weissmann   
        Gerda Weissmann – daughter of Julius and Helene; marries Kurt Klein; author
            Vivian Klein – daughter of Gerda and Kurt; married Jim Ullman
                Alysa, Andrew and Lindsay Ullman – Vivian and Jim’s children
            Leslie Klein – daughter of Gerda and Kurt- married Roger Simon
                Julie, Melissa, Jessica Simon – Leslie and Roger’s children
            Jim Klein – son of Gerda and Kurt- married Lynn
                Jennifer and Alexa Klein – Jim and Lynn’s children
        Arthur Weissmann – son of Julius and Helene
    Leo Muckenbrunn – son of Julie

Anna Weissman – Julius’ sister; married to Aaron
    Miriam and David – Anna’s children


Ludwig and Alice Klein – Kurt’s parents
        Barbara – Kurt’s niece

Friends and Acquaintances
Malvine Berger
Escia Bergmann
Abek Feigenblatt
Paula and Lola Feignblatt – Abek’s sisters
    Lonek – nephew of Abek, Paula, Lola
Gerda Feldmann
Ilse Kleinzahler
Kitty Kleinzahler – Ilse’s sister
Suse Kunz
Mala Orbach
Mary Reichman
Rita Shanzer
Ruth Singer
Leisel Stepper
Gretel Teichner
Herta Teichner – Gretel’s sister

Places
Bielitz, Poland
Burgberg, Germany
Freising, Germany
Kramsta  Labor Camp, Bolkenhain
Krynica,Poland
Landeshut, Czechoslovakia
Munich, Germany
Sosnowitz, Poland
Buffalo, New York

Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret by Steve Luxenberg 2009

A Michigan Notable Book, awarded by the Library of Michigan 2009 

Shortly before Steve Luxenberg’s mother died he was shocked to learn that his mother, who had always characterized herself as an only child, had had a sister. Luxenberg, a senior editor for the Washington Post, with the training and instincts of an investigative reporter, was profoundly disturbed by this revelation and was driven to learn as much as he could about his aunt and to see if he could understand why his mother would have kept the secret from her children her whole life.

It didn’t take the author long to learn that his aunt had spent all her years since the age of twenty in mental institutions in the Detroit area where the family had made its home. He was astounded to learn that she had died in 1972 when he was in college. Neither he nor his siblings had had an inkling of her life, her death or burial.

Luxenberg wanted to know what her diagnosis was and spent some time petitioning for her records as next of kin. This led him to do research on the history of mental institutions, and on the specific institution, known as Eloise, where she spent most of her life. To try to understand why his aunt spent most of her life institutionalized, he interviewed many professionals about the evolving ideas of mental illness and the institutions where those who exhibited a certain set of symptoms were placed.

The more he wanted to know about his aunt the less he realized he knew about his mother’s family. He remembered his grandmother as frail, his grandfather as taciturn. He had no idea where in Europe they had emigrated from. So he embarked on a genealogical investigation, searching for them in US census data, on ship’s manifests, in city directories, and in other public documents. He wanted to draw as complete a picture of the family as possible to see what he learned that might help him understand an immigrant Jewish family living in Detroit in the first half of the twentieth century. 

What was particularly helpful is that he found a cousin of his mother who had come to this country after World War II, having lost all of her family in the Holocaust. She had met Annie and was able to help the author better understand the dynamic between Annie, her sister (his mother) and their parents. 

Luxenberg’s background as a journalist adds immensely to the richness of the story. First of all, as his investigation proceeds, he is constantly figuring out the questions he needs answered. He uses his professional credentials to get certain documents not easy to obtain from the bureaucracy and he knows how to interview subjects – both professionals and family members. An interesting aspect is that he is constantly worried about his dueling roles of journalist and son. As a journalist he just wants to get the facts; as a son he wants to find facts that will exculpate his mother’s role in keeping her sister a secret.

To read an excerpt from the book that appeared in the Washington Post magazine in March of 2009 that deals with how his mother's cousin Anna survived the Holocaust, click here.

People
Author's mother's family
Nochim Korn – great grandfather of author
    Hyman (Chaim) Cohen (Korn) -  his son; married Tillie Schlein;
        Bertha (Beth) Cohen – Hyman and Tillie’s daughter; married Julius (Jack) Luxenberg
            Evie Luxenberg Miller – daughter of Jack Luxenberg and 1st wife Esther Golde; author's half-sister
            Marsha (Sash) Luxenberg Rosenberg - daughter of Jack Luxenberg and 1st wife Esther Golde; author's half-sister
            Michael Luxenberg – son of Beth and Jack; author's brother
                Toni Luxenberg – Michael’s daughter
            Steven Luxenberg – son of Beth and Jack; married to Mary Jo; author
                Josh and Jill Luxenberg – their children
            Jeffery Luxenberg – son of Beth and Jack; author's brother
        Anne Cohen – Hyman and Tillie’s daughter

Nathan Schlein – relative of Tillie
    Anna Schlein Oliwek – Nathan’s niece- her mother is a Korn (Cohen). Related to author’s grandparents on both sides
        Bella – Anna’s daughter
        David Oliwek – Anna’s son
        Dori – Anna’s daughter
    Mendel – Anna Oliwek’s brother
    Esther – Anna Oliwek’s sister
    Millie Schlein – Nathan’s daughter
    Medji Golde – sister to Esther
   
Author’s father’s family
Ida – author’s grandmother
    Jacob (Jack) Luxenberg – Ida’s son; married Esther (they divorced); married Beth Cohen
    Manny  Luxenberg – Ida’s son; second wife Shirley
    Rose Boskin - Harry and Ida's Luxenberg's daughter
Bill Luxenberg – brother of Jack; married to Lil
    Hy and Hank – brothers; cousins of Jack Luxenberg
Hinde Donofsky – aunt  to Jack Luxenberg
    Hy Donofsky – first cousin of Jack Luxenberg; married to Fran Rumpa


Friends and Acquaintances
Elaine Klein
Milton Arm
Fred Garfinkel – married to Barbara
Sid Frumkin – married to Marilyn; Fred Garfinkel’s brother-in-law
Ann Black – Sid Frumkin’s sister
Faye Levin Emmer
Molly – Faye’s sister
Jacob and Kay Robinson
    Irene Robinson – their daughter; married David Doren (second husband)
    Sylvia Robinson – their daughter
    Millie Moss Brodie – Irene and Sylvia’s first cousin
        Laurie Brodie Green – Millie’s daughter
    Marty Moss – Millie’s brother
    Julie Reisner
        Ellen – her daughter
    Sam Reisner – Julie’s brother
        Neil Reisner – his son

Places
Detroit, Michigan
Northern High School, Detroit
Eloise Hospital,(Wayne County General Hospital and Infirmary, Michigan
Hebrew Memorial Park Cemetery, Clinton Township, Michigan
Radziwillow, Ukraine
Brody, Ukraine
Lomza, Poland
Novomoskovsk, Ukraine