Showing posts with label holocaust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holocaust. Show all posts

"Final Solution": Nazi Population Policy and the Murder of the European Jew (Hodder Arnold Publication) Review

Final Solution: Nazi Population Policy and the Murder of the European Jew (Hodder Arnold Publication)
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"Final Solution": Nazi Population Policy and the Murder of the European Jew (Hodder Arnold Publication) ReviewA most excellent insight. The author deals mainly with the period September 1939 to the Wannsee meeting in January 1942, making use of new material which has come to light. He illustrates with meticulous attention to detail how those entrusted with the grisly task - Himmler, Heydrich, Eichmann, Frank etc - moved inexorably to their final position of Jewish extermination. The problems they had to deal with en route, including opposition from those who wanted to keep the Jews alive for indefinite slave labor and the economic expectancy of those Germans recently moved from "liberated" territories back to the Reich, are recounted in all their complex detail. The final chapter gives a selection of pertinent remarks from the murderers themselves. I have never read a more incisive and readable account of the incremental steps leading up to the Final Solution."Final Solution": Nazi Population Policy and the Murder of the European Jew (Hodder Arnold Publication) OverviewHow did it come about that a modern European state in the middle of the twentieth century planned and carried out the industrially organized mass murder of six million Jews, male and female, adults and children? Making extensive use of Russian, German, and Polish archives, Aly has provided the most exact and detailed reconstruction of the "Final Solution" yet achieved. As well as looking at the ideological imperative in the Nazi state to "solve the Jewish question" and at Hitler's own role, Aly investigates the actions of those running the Reich Security Headquarters in Berlin and of those numerous lesser figures on the ground who were in the eye of the storm, grappling with the planning failures inherent in Nazi resettlement plans and experiencing mounting difficulties in trying to be rid of "their" Jews. Aly illustrates, through the evidence he builds into an overall mosaic, the lunacy of Nazi race policy, and the variety of agencies that went into the gradual shaping of a policy of all-out genocide.

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In Time Of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack On America Review

In Time Of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack On America
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In Time Of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack On America ReviewThis book is timely and has intellectual weight. It is a well-researched and well-written story of the eight German terrorists who traveled by U-boats to America and landed on the beaches of New York and Florida during World War II. The book outlines the terrorists' backgrounds, their motivations, the circumstances of their arrests, and an interesting view of their trial by a military commission set up by FDR. This book of history is a pleasure to read because it moves like a fast-paced novel with characters of depth. As for the legal analysis following the history portion of the book (i.e. Chapter 22 and following chapters), I make no comment nor take any position.
However in the history portion, Pierce O'Donnell demonstrated that he is not only a great trial lawyer, but a great writer. Bravo!! A well-deserved 5 star read.In Time Of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack On America Overview

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Primo Levi's Universe: A Writer's Journey Review

Primo Levi's Universe: A Writer's Journey
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Primo Levi's Universe: A Writer's Journey ReviewAuthor Sam Magavern's book is enjoyable and thought provoking, offering a glimpse inside the world of writer, scientist, thinker and auschwitz survivor Primo Levi. As a writer's biography it examines both the author and his literary works, tracing the author's development as a man and a writer. It provides interesting insights on the impact and influence of the historical backdrop and other literary works on the writer and man. Primo Levi's Universe has broad appeal for those who enjoy biography and history. Great book!Primo Levi's Universe: A Writer's Journey Overview

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Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust Review

Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust
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Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust ReviewThis collection provides 14 generous excerpts from journals of young people during the Shoah; the earliest diaries are from adolescents who got out before or just as things were getting bad, but as we go further on, the diaries get more intense in scope, moving from adolescents who weren't quite sure what was to come, to people who had some inkling but weren't quite sure the rumors were true, to finally young people in ghettos, young people who therefore knew how bad things were, although they didn't yet know what their final grisly fate was to be. Before each excerpt we also get a generous introduction to the author, his or her surroundings, what generally happened to the Jews of that particular city or town, and the diarist's final fate. Some of these young people survived, others perished, and still others' fates are unknown, though they are presumed to have perished. There's also an appendix detailing a number of other young diarists from the Shoah, some information on them, their fates, whether the diary is in a private collection, a museum, if it's been translated into English, or was published for the general public whatever language it's in. A lot of these young diarists were very literate and intelligent astute young people; it's incredibly sad how some of them died so young and therefore didn't get a chance to possibly become great writers. My only small complaint is that Poland is a little overrepresented; while it's true that at least half of the murdered came from Poland and that Poland was the nation that lost the greatest percentage of its prewar Jewish population by far, it would have been nice to have some variety in the locations, like maybe include more diaries from Germany, France, and Belgium, or ones from Holland, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, and Greece, for example.Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust Overview

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We Are On Our Own Review

We Are On Our Own
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We Are On Our Own ReviewThis is a wonderful, touching book. It is a harrowing story of a young women's struggle to survive the Holocaust and save her toddler daughter. The story takes place in Hungary in the last year of the war. A resourceful and courageous woman, the mother manages to hide as a servant woman. She is both willing and able to do whatever it takes to stay alive. The latter part of the book is devoted to her husband's search for her and his daughter. This search is eventually successful and the family builds a happy life after the war.
The book moved me to tears because it touches the raw pain and desperation both of the mother and of the bewildered child. Unlike many other Holocaust books, this one focuses not so much on the cruelty of the Nazis and their Hungarian helpers, but on the many kind people who took risks to help the two survive or just showed them kindness when it was most needed.
One of the central themes of the book is the young child's struggle to understand God in the context of the losses she suffers. Throughout her life, the protagonist yearned to believe in a God that she felt did not exist. It's an interesting theme and is handled in a nuanced manner.
This is a graphic novel, in cartoon strip format. I did not fall in love with the images. They lack the graphic power of "Maus." Spiegleman made the cartoon medium work for him, forever changing it. Katin's images seemed to me to be less interesting and challenging. They are carefully drawn and capture the mood, but what made the book work for me was the dialog, and that could have been captured as a narrative as well.
This book may not, in my opinion, be appropriate for the younger student because of sexual content. There are two situations of forced sex, and while they are not graphically depicted, the themes are rather adult. There is also discussion of an abortion. The older highschool student should be able to contextualize the material appropriately.
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After the Darkness: Reflections on the Holocaust Review

After the Darkness: Reflections on the Holocaust
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After the Darkness: Reflections on the Holocaust ReviewWhile Elie Wiesel's first book, "Night", recounts his experience in the concentration camps, his new anthology, "After the Darkness", gives a wider perspective on the Holocaust. This book serves as both a historical record of this dark period and as a memorial to the 6 million victims of the evil that went unchallenged for far too long.
The factual documentation is accented with Survivors' testimonials that were previously unpublished. Full-page photographs add an incredible dimension to the stories that makes them easier to comprehend. There are two photographs that particularly moved me. The first is of a woman hanging from her balcony, desperate to escape the Nazis who wait on the street to capture her. The second photograph is of four women smiling as they peel potatoes just a few feet from a long stretch of corpses. This photo lets me see the utter loss and indifference that Wiesel describes in his book, "Night".
"Night" let us see the horrors of the Holocaust through Wiesel's memory. "After the Darkness" shows us how the Holocaust slowly crept up on an innocent and unsuspecting world. The narratives demonstrate the devastation that the Nazi regime had on many different people, and the photographs will remain in our memories to enforce the adage, "Never forget."After the Darkness: Reflections on the Holocaust OverviewA poignant, powerful distillation of the Holocaust experience from the internationally acclaimed writer and Nobel laureate.In his first book, Night, Elie Wiesel described his concentration camp experience, but he has rarely written directly about the Holocaust since then. Now, as the last generation of survivors is passing and a new generation must be introduced to mankind's darkest hour, Wiesel sums up the most important aspects of Hitler's years in power and provides a fitting memorial to those who suffered and perished. He writes about the creation of the Third Reich, Western acquiescence, the gas chambers, and memory. He criticizes Churchill and Roosevelt for what they knew and ignored, and he praises little-known Jewish heroes. Augmenting Wiesel's text are testimonies from survivors, who recall, among other moments and events: the establishment of the Nurembourg Laws, Kristallnacht, transport to the camps, and liberation.With this book—richly illustrated with 45 photographs from the U.S. Holocaust Museum—Wiesel proves once again the ineluctable importance of bearing witness.

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War and the Pity of War Review

War and the Pity of War
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War and the Pity of War ReviewHave you ever wished there was no war. "WAR and THE PITY OF WARS" is book full of poetry about war and the soldiers survive. Not all of the poems are the same. Just like how wars aren't the same. These poems tell you about war and how it is in combat and how the life is behind enemy lines.
The "WAR and THE PITY OF WAR" is an awesome book. It has some emotionally wrenching parts. This book relates to the war we are fighting in Iraq. The wars today are more because the military invented high tech weapons that can from a distance.
I would recommend you check out "WAR and THE PITYOF WARS". If you like to read about war and the consequences of war you should definitely read it!
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Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler Review

Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler
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Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler ReviewAnne Nelson's book "The Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler" is one of the most engaging books I have read about this well-documented and painful period in our recent history. The book follows the fates of a group of friends and acquaintances living in Berlin who support each other's efforts, no matter how audacious or diminutive, to resist the Nazi takeover of Germany starting in the pre-war 1930s. Although this is without doubt a historical text, the narration reads more like a novel than a history book. Against a backdrop of suspense, we are drawn into the daily world of these underground resisters as they battle against Hitler and the Third Reich. Ms. Nelson's writing style is both unpretentious and captivating. One develops an intimacy with the real-life characters over the course of the book. The extraordinary collection of photographs which accompany the book (some formal, but many candid) literally bring the reader face-to-face with these courageous people. In the end, one can't help but to cheer on their anti-fascist actions and grieve their personal losses. A page turner, to say the least!Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler Overview

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The Feather-Bed Journey Review

The Feather-Bed Journey
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The Feather-Bed Journey ReviewThe characters and emotions are well developed in this book. The story is of a Jewish family. The Grandma has a special pillow. Rachel and her brother begin to argue and tear their Grandma's special pillow, and the feathers fly everywhere. Grandma is upset as they try to get all the feathers as they blow through the air. The children wonder why the pillow is so special to her. Grandma then explains how this pillow contains memories of when she was younger and the war that she experienced.The Feather-Bed Journey Overview

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I Am Alive :The horrifying eye witness account of Auschwitz & Birkenau Review

I Am Alive :The horrifying eye witness account of Auschwitz and Birkenau
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I Am Alive :The horrifying eye witness account of Auschwitz & Birkenau ReviewMy review is based on the original (1961) edition. Kitty Hart was a Polish Jew who had lived in Bielsko (Bielitz) in then SW Poland. During the 1939 German-Soviet conquest of Poland, she observed German fifth column activity. Germans shot at Poles from rooftops, rioted in the streets, etc. (p. 14). In common with countless eyewitnesses, Hart reported Luftwaffe planes strafing columns of defenseless refugees. (p. 15).
At one time, she, as a Jew, fled from the Nazis into a local forest and successfully hid in the straw of the loft of a forester's cottage (with his permission). Unlike Jan T. Gross and his fans, Hart, who actually went through the Holocaust, appreciated the chilling effects of the German-imposed death penalty for the slightest aid to Jews: "Apparently the Germans had been, and the forester was told that the dogs had followed tracks of several people to the house. They made a search and finally departed unconvinced. They warned the forester that if any Jews were found hiding he would receive the first bullet." (pp. 26-27).
In time, Hart felt safer to be deported to Germany as a Polish forced laborer. She noted how the Poles were forced to wear the "P", and were forbidden to have any casual interactions with Germans. (p. 33).
She feared that her Jewishness would be discovered, and that is what happened. The German authorities took her to Gestapo headquarters, and then got her to admit that she was using a false name by tricking her into believing that her mother had already confessed to them using a false name. She was sent to Auschwitz but, instead of being dispatched to the gas chambers, was admitted as an inmate.
Hart gives gruesome details about the arrivals, the selections, the mass gassings, the infants thrown by the Germans directly into the fire, the clouds of black smoke from the crematory ovens and the overflow open-air pyres, and the stench of burning flesh, etc. She also notes how the Germans periodically sent inmates, of all nationalities, who were too sick to work, to the gas chambers. (pp. 70-71; 110-111).
The economic benefits of the Holocaust to the Germans have often been overlooked. For a certain stretch of time at Auschwitz alone, the haul was staggering. Hart comments: "At the bottom, on the left-hand side, by the last huts, was a huge heap--it really looked like a mountain--as high at least as a three-story building. Piled on the heap were goods of every description all jumbled up, suitcases, loose bundles of clothing, shoes, prams, food and even toys. These were the belongings of those already dead." (p. 85). When the stepped-up gassings and cremations of Hungarian Jews began, Hart suggested that: "Once again wealth will flow to the now ruined `Fatherland'". (p. 102).
Holocaust materials often mention Poles enjoying themselves on a carousel within sight of the burning Warsaw Ghetto. This is taken out of wartime context, and the reader is led to believe that this implied Polish hostility, or at least callousness, to the Jews and their suffering. In actuality, it was an attempt at normalcy in the face of the unending tragedies. In fact, the inmates of Auschwitz also tried to escape the horrors by enjoying themselves, as Hart relates: "We would dance and sing and even formed a little band. We began to laugh and joke again...This was surely the craziest set-up in the whole world. All around us were screams, death, smoking chimneys making the air black and heavy with soot and the smell of burning bodies. I think our main fight was for sanity so we laughed and sang with the burning hell all around us. It was incredible, we lay sunbathing and not two yards away, divided only by a thin fence, columns of people of all nationalities were passing by on their way to the sauna and to the gas chambers." (p. 92). Certainly, Hart, who was Jewish herself, was not disrespecting the dying Jews by her conduct.
The "Jews are getting burned like bugs" remarks by some Poles during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, rather than a mockery of the Jews and their plight, may actually have been a form of nihilistic gallows humor in the face of the overwhelming, monstrous events. Hart, for example, observed such gallows humor in reaction to the horrors of Auschwitz: "Someone inside our block made up a dance and named it `UNDER THE SMOKING CHIMNEYS'." (P. 104). Obviously, no one was making fun of those who had been murdered and were now being cremated.
The Germans transferred some Auschwitz inmates to Gross Rosen. Hart was among them. With the camp evacuated, in early 1945, ahead of the advancing Red Army, Hart observed columns of Silesian Germans fleeing westward (p. 130, 133). In time, the American Army liberated her.
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