War Through The Generations: WWII

When the new year began and I started reading books for the "War Through The Generations Challenge: WWII," I did not know the entire month would be devoted to this genre. I have read a total of 7 books on the Holocaust which was my original goal, I had intended though to read 2 more books, "The Journey" by H. G. Adler and "The Rape of Nan king" by Iris Chang, but I just cannot read anymore on this subject, my emotions are exhausted. It was the last book that I completed yesterday, that "was the final straw." This book I had started off speed reading because it appeared to be written in a textbook type fashion, a just the facts type of book, but after reading several pages I was pulled in to the book and it became emotionally anguishing.

"Hitler's Willing Executioners, Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust" by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen.

This book is considered controversial; it is in my opinion a very biting and "full in your face" research to the question of, "how could the Holocaust have happened?"

The author writes lengthily about anti-Semitism in Europe in the previous centuries before WWII. He digs deep and albeit not very tenderly in the role of the Catholic church in promoting anti-Semitism, he includes Martin Luther as also being an anti-Semite. The author goes on to say that what happened during the Holocaust ran much deeper and more evil that anti-Semitism, the Nazi's that came to power in 1933 preached that the Jews were not human, and thus extinguishable. The Jews were blamed for all the problems in Germany, the Nazi's looked upon the Jews as being "hostile and dangerous" for their country. This began by not allowing the Jews to take part in the social situations of life in Germany, signs were posted "Jews Not Allowed." The next step was in beating, abusing, and degrading the Jewish people. Many of the Jewish men's beards were cut, or shaved. Often the Jewish men would be paraded on the streets holding signs, while the Nazi's stood on the sides of the streets mocking and ridiculing. Many buildings and synagogues were burned and destroyed by the Nazi's. From 1933 until Kristallnacht which was November 9-10, 1938, many Jews emigrated from Germany. During and after Kristallnacht the vicious brutality, carnage, and murderous genocide of the Jews increased. In June of 1941 the Nazi's began the massive extermination of the Jews in the Soviet Union. On September 1, 1941 it was required for Jews to wear the yellow star of David sewn onto their clothes with the word Jude. There were 10,005 concentration camps and ghettos, and there could have been more. There were 52 main concentration camps, and 1,202 satellite camps. These places were "a world without restraint, all of the prisoners were dehumanized, and robbed of individuality." There is more that 1 chapter devoted to the hideous mass murder's of the Jews, the details of how far away from the Jews head the Nazi would need to hold the gun, the details of how blood, brains, and bone fragments would be left on the Nazi's clothes. There are descriptions of how women and children were murdered.

My final paragraph on my review of this book is on the German people themselves, the active role that they played. There were 8 million members of the Nazi Party! Most Germans were allied with the Nazi's, most believed in their ideology of bringing the country into a better economy, and to be a great world power again, they were swept up in Hitler's visions for their country. Very few Germans defied the Nazi's, this includes the Church. In Weimar 70-80% of the protestant pastors were allied with the Nazi's. The German people consciously chose to align themselves with Hitler and with the Nazi's.

I have a question that I do not believe has been addressed before. What happens to a country such as Germany that is guilty of the horrific, hideous atrocity as the Holocaust? What residual affects are on the country? I am aware that most of the people that were involved in the genocide of the Jews are now dead. Often when something this evil has taken place, the after affects do not just go away after a generation, they are penetrated far too deep.

This book is not for the "faint of heart," but it is a powerful book that you will never forget!

War Through the Generations: WWII

This has been a better week to read, less interference, of course now that I've voiced that, the "left shoe will fall off" so to speak!

"After Long Silence" by Helen Fremont

This is the story of 2 sisters Lara and Helen, they are on a quest to find the missing pieces of their parents past, a past their parents have not talked about, the sisters believe there has been a cavity in their families identity. The book shares with the reader the story of Lara and Helen's research on their parents, it also shares the "story" of their parents and their mother's sister Zosia. Lara and Helen are amazed to find out they are fully Jewish, both of their parents are Jewish, and both of their parents had hidden their identities for many years, they hid their identity in an effort to detach themselves from their past. This detachment was a survival skill, but buried deep in their souls was a deep cavern of sorrow.

The following books listed I read in 2006, 2007 and 2008, on WWII and The Holocaust. My motive in posting this list is to help those taking part in the WWII Challenge to find other books, I do not wish for them to be counted as books read in my current challenge.

1. "Evidence Not Seen" by Darlene Deibler Rose

2. "Those Who Saved Us" by Jenna Blum

3. "Suite Francois" by Irene Nemirovisky

4. "Night" by Elie Wiesel

5. "Witnesses of War" by Nicholas Stargardt

6. "Occupation" by Ian Ousby

7. "Greece The Struggle For Freedom" by Stephanos Zotos

8. "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss

9. "The Nazi Officer's Wife" by Edith Hahn Beer with Susan Dworkin

10. "The Bitter Road to Dachau" by Robert L. Wise

11. "Hiding in Plain Sight" by Betty Lauer

12. "Edith's Story" by Edith Velmans

13. "Auschwitz" by Laurence Rees

14. "When Light Pierced The Darkness" by Nechama Tec

15. "The Nazi's" by Laurence Rees

16. "Stones From the River" by Ursula Hegi

War Through the Generations: WWII

"Defiance" by Nechama Tec

The book "Defiance" has now been made into a movie playing at the theatre, the title role of the main character in the book is portrayed by the very handsome and dreamy Daniel Craig. He makes me sigh!

The first time I saw the book it was near the check out desk at our book shop in our mall, I grabbed the book, of course intrigued by the photo on the cover of Daniel Craig, but I was intrigued by the story of the Bielski brothers.

The Bielski brothers; Tuvia, Asael, and Zus, are from a large Jewish family living in what is now known as Belarus, or Belarusia. Belarus is an eastern European country, Poland borders the western side, Ukraine to the south, Lithuania and Latvia to the north. The country is 40% forest. It was in this forest that the Bielski brothers during Hitler's murderous regime that the Bielski brothers hid many Jews.

The book is more of a just the facts kind of book, interviews of people that knew the brothers give the book a more personal and less textbook perspective. Details are given about the brothers personal lives, their wives, their character, and even their vices.

I am not sure I will see the movie at the theatre, I am more of a "I'll wait till it comes out on DVD."

I am reading 2 other Holocaust/WWII books; "Hitler's Willing Executioners, Ordinary Germans and The Holocaust" by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, and "After The Long Silence" by Helen Fremont. The first book mentioned that I'm reading is the authors perspective on the German people's involvement with Hitler and anti-semitism in Germany and Europe. This book is a slow go, very textbook like, I have to admit I'm speed reading some of it. The later book "After The Long Silence" is a much more engaging book.

Book Blogs

War Through the Generations: WWII

"Auschwitz, A History" by Sybille Steinbacher
This book is a detailed history of Auschwitz, the concentration camp, and the town of Auschwitz.
Auschwitz or Osweicim was first mentioned in writing in 1178, it saw many upheavals in the history of the town and the area it was in, sometimes being under German influence, or Polish. Jews are first recorded as being in this area in the mid 1400's. In the later half of the 19TH century most of the Jewish community were professionals, many owned a business; while the Catholic community was almost all farming related. In early September of 1939 Germany invaded Poland and Auschwitz was taken. Auschwitz the concentration camp was started in June 1940. There may have been as many as 1.5 million Jews murdered at Auschwitz, the count is set at 960,000. The book gives horrific details of the gas that was used on them, the medical experiments, the crematorium. The book also addresses the Polish people that lived in the town and their lack of response to what was undeniably going on. The Polish towns people could smell the crematorium, the sickly smell of burning flesh, but yet they explained it all away. This book is a must read for anyone interested in knowing the history of the most infamous concentration camp, Auschwitz.

War Through the Generations:WWII

The Nazi Party, which came from "The National Socialist German Worker's Party" lead by Adolph Hitler came to power January 30, 1933. They believed that they were "racially superior" and that the Jews were thus inferior to them. The Nazi's believed that the Jews were a threat to the racial purity of their precious Aryan race. The Nazi's also attacked the Roma or Gypsies, the disabled, Polish and Russians, and other Slavic races, also Communists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.

The word Holocaust is of Greek origin, from the words "holos" meaning completely, and "kaustos" meaning burnt. In Hebrew the word is "haShoah" meaning calamity, catastrophe, disaster, or destruction, in Yiddish the word is "churben."

"A Cup of Tears, A Diary of the Warsaw Ghetto" by Abraham Lewin, edited by Antony Polonsky, translation by Christopher Hutton

Abraham Lewin was a husband, father, son, grandson, cousin, friend, and teacher. He was a man that was in love with his wife Luba, tenderly loved and cared for his daughter Ora, was passionate about his role as a teacher; but yet he was a Jew, and this meant that he and 445,000 other Jews, would be cram packed into a walled off ghetto, that had been established for the Jews to live in. A Jewish council called "Judenrate" was responsible for carrying out promptly the laws. The daily food ration in 1941 was 184 calories for a Jew, 669 calories for the Polish, and

2, 613 calories for a German. The Jews lived day in and day out with the dire and dismal cognizance that they were going to die, whether it would be today, or tomorrow, it would eventually happen. They tried to live with hope that somehow they would be saved, but as time progressed and the situation became even more dismal, despair and depression was consuming. Abraham Lewin kept a diary of the painstaking ordeal, the diary was from March 29, 1942 to January 16, 1943. He wrote of the people he saw around him, the smugglers, the people he passed on the streets in the ghetto, the people that he saw outside the window of where he lived, he wrote of the rumors that they heard, he wrote of the depravity of the German Nazi's and their blood lust for the Jews. Abraham Lewin wrote the story of what was going on around him, he wrote very little of his own family, maybe that was too painful. During the deportation most of the Jews were sent to Treblinka and gassed. It is presumed that Abraham and his family were murdered at Treblinka. His diaries were found after the war hidden in milk churns.

Dachau

The concentration camp Dachau is located near Munich, Germany, it opened in March 1933. It was the first concentration camp in Germany, when it first opened it was used for political prisoners, later there were Jew, Christian, and Soviet prisoners. Dachau was the model that other concentration camps would use. It is believed that a total of 200,000 prisoners were here, and 35, 613 people were murdered. The camp had a crematorium and also medical experiments were performed. Dachau was liberated April 29, 1945, it was the 2ND concentration camp to be liberated by the allies.

At the entrance to Dachau, just as at several other concentration camps, a phrase is posted on the gate, "Arbeit Macht Frei" meaning "work shall set you free." This phrase would have been viewed by all of the prisoners that walked through the gate, to their dismal and heinous Gehenna.

The pictures above were taken by me in October 1999.

My Stack is Growing

I made a trip to my favorite sanctum today, bringing home a large stack of books mainly on the subject of WWII and the Holocaust.

My new stack of books TBR are:
"Auschwitz" by Sybille Steinbacher
"A Cup of Tears, A Diary of the Warsaw Ghetto" by Abraham Levin
"After Long Silence" by Helen Fremont
"Hitler's Willing Executioners, Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust" Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
"The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang
"The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton
"The Journey" by H.G. Adler

I am currently reading 2 books that I own:
"Defiance" by Nechama Tec
"The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins

War Through The Generations

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"Sarah's Key" by Tatiana De Rosnay

I have to say that I adore the author, meaning after reading the book, and reading the author chat in the back of the book, I would love to visit with her as if we were ole' friends over a cup of cafe', or a cup of tea. The copy of the book that I purchased is a "Target Bookmarked Club Pick," I have found in my humble little town that "Target" has a great selection of books.

This is a book that the reader must have at least 1 box of Kleenex, I am not an emotional kind of gal, but this book is a riveting poignant story.

I must be careful in my review not to give too much away, I must encourage all who read this post, READ THE BOOK.

There are 2 stories in the book, 2 main characters, 2 time periods, and the 2 shall intertwine with each other.

Sarah is 10, her brother Michel is 4, they and their parents live in Paris, France. They are Jewish, and Hitler's plan to annihilate the Jews is underway. On July 16 and 17 of 1942, there was a round up of the Jews living in Paris and the surrounding area. This incident is referred to as the "Vel d' Hiv. There were 6000 French policeman involved in this round up, the Jews were at first staged in a holding area previously known as an indoor cycling track. The Jews were then separated and sent to camps in France, then on to Auschwitz. In those 2 days 13, 152 Jews were arrested and murdered. Sarah is the first stories main character.

Julia is a middle aged married woman with 1 daughter, she has been living in Paris for 25 years. Her French husband is a jerk (my opinion.) Julia is a journalist working on a story about the anniversary of Vel d' Hiv, in the process she uncovers her connection to Sarah. She also has arduous decisions to make in her own life. Julia is the second stories main character.

In reading a little more about he Vel d' Hiv online I came across an interesting blog, http://jewwishes.wordpress.com/ also click on http://www.sarahskey.com/

War Through The Generations

http://warthroughthegenerations.wordpress.com/


"Winter Passing" by Cindy McCormick Martinusen
Celia Rachel Lange Muller has a secret, a secret she has held onto for many years. She is now an elderly woman living in America, her daughter and granddaughters are nearby. She is frail, in ill health, but still she remembers, she remembers that she must give Tatianna back her name, and she gives the mission to her granddaughter Darby to carry this out. After Celia dies, and papers are brought forth, letters, a passport, there are many more questions than answers for her family. Darby, with well wishes from her mother, travels back to Austria, to where it all began for her grandmother Celia. Darby encounters people that are helpful, and those that are angry and fearful, and those that are hiding secrets of their own.
This book is part historical fiction and part mystery. This book is a quick read, enjoyable.

War Through The Generations Challenge

One of the book challenges I am taking part in for 2009 is "War Through the Generations: WWII." http://warthroughthegenerations.wordpress.com/
This challenge is near, and dear to my heart; my dad was in World War II, he was in the Army, 2ND Infantry Division, 2ND Signal Company. My dad was in the D-day invasion and in the Battle of the Bulge. I have written several posts on his experiences on my other blog @ http://awell-wateredgarden.blogspot.com/
For many years I have read books on World War II and on the Holocaust, the book that affected me the most was a book written by Laurence Rees entitled "Auschwitz: A New History." In 2007 I read 8 books in succession on the Holocaust, 2 of the books were by Laurence Rees. I read on this subject until I had nightmares, I was haunted by the images in my mind of the children that had suffered horrifically.
Sometimes I feel so inadequate in posting on certain books that I've read, especially on the subject of the Holocaust. I feel inadequate in that I am not a professional, I have not studied for years on a certain historical subject. I am just a gal that is middle age, that lives in America, in Texas, trying ever so gingerly to write on something that was so horrific, so hard for my mind to comprehend, that I am beside myself, inept, unable to put together words that could ever express what I am feeling.
I have read 2 books this week on the Holocaust: "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana De Rosnay and "Winter Passing" by Cindy McCormick Martinusen. I hope to start reading tonight the book "Defiance" by Nechama Tec. I must read at least 5 books on WWII in order to complete the challenge, I have not decided yet what my other 2 choices will be.

A January Cold

I have spent the past 9 days with a cold, that then developed into a sinus infection, I'm now on a antibiotic and hopefully will be better soon. When I am feeling more ambitious I will be organizing a better area on my blog for all of the book challenges that I have made a commitment to in 2009.

"Away" by Amy Bloom
The first thing that caught my eye in the bookstore is the beautiful cover of the book, I was intrigued by the background of a long and winding stream, in a flaxen colored misty valley, the forefront of the cover picture is a bowl of shiny fruit. The second thing that caught my eye about the book is the short title, "Away," of course my curiosity was peaked; I wanted to know "Away" from what?
The main character is Lillian Leyb, a young Jewish woman from Russia that recently arrived in New York City, the year is 1924. In the beginning she lives with a cousin and other boarders in an apartment, she works as a seamstress in a theatre. Lillian carries with her the memories of the macabre butchery of her family, her every night is haunted by the hellish dreams of "the event." Lillian believes that her daughter died during the butchery in Russia, a newly arrived cousin tells Lillian that her daughter Sophie is alive and where she is living. Lillian embarks on a cross country travel, that she hopes will then enable her to cross the Bering Strait, and into Siberia where she has been told her daughter is living. Lillian has many encounters in her travels, it does seem superfluous to me that everyone she meets wants to have sex with her, it was happening so many times in the book that I speed read through those areas, I was more interested in knowing if she would be reunited with Sophie.