The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany

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Writing this book must have required enormous courage; reading it is overwhelming, especially for anyone personally connected to the events it describes. Martin Goldsmith, best known as the host of NPR's Performance Today, is the American-born son of two German-Jewish musicians who escaped the Holocaust. He anchors the Holocaust to the story of his own family, whom he never knew because most of them perished in Hitler's death camps. Goldsmith accompanies them through their lives in Nazi Germany, with its ever-tightening persecution and repression of the Jews, and on their nightmarish journey to the gas chambers. He follows his parents through their early musical training, their blossoming love, courtship, and marriage--making them seem like a normal, happy young couple--to their miraculous rescue and escape to America.

The book's linchpin is the Jewish Culture Association ("Jüdische Kulturbund"), in whose Berlin orchestra his parents met. Established by prominent Jewish leaders in 1933, after a "purge" of all Jewish Civil Servants, the Kulturbund flourished for eight years, with the permission and under the constant, increasingly repressive surveillance of the Nazis, who exploited it as a propaganda tool. Spreading from Berlin to other cities, its musical and theatrical presentations, lectures, and films offered employment to thousands of Jewish artists and the only cultural oasis to its Jewish audiences. In 1941, Germany's preoccupation with the war and the "Final Solution" rendered it superfluous, and it was dissolved.

But Goldsmith also furnishes the proper historical context for his uniquely individual, human account of the 20th century's most inhuman period. After a chillingly detailed description of the grass-roots rise of Nazism, he focuses on particularly horrifying events: the infamous 1935 Nuremberg Laws and the devastating 1938 pogrom, "Kristallnacht." The tragedy of the 937 refugees, including Goldsmith's grandfather and uncle, who were refused disembarkation first in Cuba, then in Miami, illustrates the world's customary indifference to "other" people's misfortunes. Nobody paid attention when, as early as 1922, Hitler declared that his first priority on coming to power would be the extermination of the Jews.

Goldsmith's factual, reportorial style increases the sickening horror, and he reminds us frequently that he is writing about his own family. Though his story's outcome is never in doubt, he generates real suspense--a measure of his skill, despite his unfortunate habit of hinting at the future. The Kulturbund has been accused of encouraging the Jews to ignore the desperate circumstances outside the theater, and therefore the imminence of their danger. Goldsmith refutes this. For most of them, emigration was impossible because, apart from the natural fear of pulling up roots, leaving everything behind, and starting a new life, they had nowhere to go. Moreover, how could anyone foresee the depth of the impending horror? It was, and still is, beyond the human imagination.

Goldsmith writes with insight and aching honesty about the survivors' guilt and its numbing effect even upon the next generation. But his parents also taught him to love music and appreciate its meaning in people's lives, and he talks about it with real knowledge and understanding. (However, someone should have corrected his opening reference to Siegmund's sword in Die Walküre, which is made of steel, not gold.) This is a brilliantly written, important, unforgettable book. --Edith Eisler

Book Description

Advance Praise for the Inextinguishable Symphony "A Fascinating Insight into a Virtually Unknown Chapter of Nazi Rule in Germany, Made all the More Engaging through a Son's Discovery of His Own Remarkable Parents." -Ted Koppel, ABC News "An Immensely Moving and Powerful Description of those Evil Times. I couldn't Put the Book Down." -James Galway "Martin Goldsmith has Written a Moving and Personal Account of a Search for Identity. His is a Story that will Touch All Readers with Its Integrity. This is not about Exorcising Ghosts, but Rather Awakening Passions that no One Ever Knew Existed. This is a Journey Everyone should Take." -Leonard Slatkin, Music Director National Symphony Orchestra "For Years I've been Familiar with Martin Goldsmith's Musical Expertise. This Book Explains the Source of His Knowledge and His Passion for the Subject. In Tracking the Extraordinary Story of His Parents and the Jewish Kulturbund, Martin Unfolds a Little-Known Piece of Holocaust History, and Finds Depths in His Own Heart that Warm the Hearts of Readers." -Susan Stamberg, Special Correspondent National Public Radio "[A] Strong and Painful Book, Well-Written, Well-Researched, Moving, and Very Instructive." -Ned Rorem, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully Haunting ... .......2007-09-28

My bookclub is entering into its Holocaust Month. Someone recommended this book to me last year and I thought, it sounded interesting enough to read. Interesting just barely describes this book. Haunting is more the word that I think of when I finished this book. Incredibly lucky are two more words.

There are so many books out there about the Holocaust that it can be confusing sometimes to read what. This book definitely should be read simply because it's beautifully moving, tragically sad and not only that, it provides a different viewpoint of what happened during the early years of Nazihood in Germany and before the "Final Solution" was proposed to exterminate the Jews. This happened and I don't recall hearing much about any of this till I read this book. Before Hitler and Goring proposed the death camps and just while trying to get rid of Germany of the non-Aryan blood, they came up with a solution that provides entertainment and music/art/theater productions just for the Jews. This is a place for the Jews to retreat to. They were only allowed to play Jewish pieces written by Jewish artists/musicans. And they were left alone in the 30s and early 40s. Well, not quite completely left alone as they still had to follow the Nazi rules. But it was a place of refuge for the Jews, especially in Berlin.

This book, while devoting a huge portion to the Kulturbund and its orgins, the author writes of his personal family history. His mother and father were musicans in the Kulturbund. And they suffered horrible tragedies as the war progressed over the years. However, they were young, in love and naive like a lot of people were. They did manage to escape Germany but they also managed to leave behind family members which have haunted them and their children even to this day. It is very intense reading at times and with hindsight on the reader's part, it is very hard to fathom their optimism that things will work out ok in the end. Not only that, this book brings up the question of whether or not the Kulturbund was good for the Jews or kept them compliant enough to keep them in Germany instead of escaping to other countries, so the Nazis could gas them too. This book is haunting and disturbing. The questions that the author may have unknowingly stirred are now raised in my mind ... and the answers are not easy to figure out.

This is not your typical Holocaust book nor is it like the other books about the camps ~~ this book simply tells a tale of two musicans who were unfortunate to be caught up in the times that stirred Germany (and the world) ~~ but yet, their love of music has sustained them through the years before they left Germany. Are they heros? Not in the sense that we associate it with. They are more like survivors and like all survivors, they carry a burden of guilt that resounded through the years. But it is a book that honors the memory of those who were left behind in a time of turmoil that even today, still vibrates through the years.

9-28-07

A different Holocaust story.......2005-10-26

MG's story of his family during the early Nazi era is an unusual glimpse into the lives of German Jews during the period from 1933-1941. He writes about the Kulturbund, an organization created by the Nazis to (1) rid Germany of Jewish influence in the arts and (2) provide propaganda coverage of the maltreatment of Jews by the Third Reich.

In my opinion the book is generally well written and seems to be the result of careful research. My one complaint is that MG frequently quotes conversations which I doubt have been recorded in any way. I don't like that in historical writing, but in this case I was willing to overlook it, because of my interest in the story.

A son's voyage of discovery of his parents' nightmarish past.......2004-01-06

What do we really know about our parents' life before we were born? That depends largely, I guess, on how much of an interest we show - and on how much they are willing to reveal. Because in the life of every person there are instances and times they rather wish to forget, and not revive time and again by discussion, even if only among their nearest and dearest.

Such, in the lives of author Martin Goldsmith's parents, were the years from 1933 through 1941; so much so, in fact, that Goldsmith likens that time to the massive ash tree in the house of Germanic warlord Hunding, the setting of the first scene of Richard Wagner's opera "Die Walkuere:" Something looming large, yet never openly acknowledged. Because before George Gunther Goldsmith, furniture and home decorating salesman of Cleveland, Ohio, and his wife Rosemary, a violinist with the St. Louis Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, became American citizens in 1947, they had lived a whole other life - the hunted life of Jews in Adolf Hitler's Germany. And only years after his mother's death, on a trip to his father's home town of Oldenburg, did Goldsmith catch the first glimpses of what was hidden behind that massive ash tree, and George Goldsmith began to talk about the events which his, the Goldschmidt family had witnessed there; as well as the early life of Rosemarie nee Gumpert in Duesseldorf, the couple's first meeting in Frankfurt, and their later life in Berlin until their lucky escape to the United States. Beginning with this visit, Martin Goldsmith retraced his family's path to the early years of the 20th century, when his paternal grandfather Alex Goldschmidt took residence in Oldenburg, and his maternal grandfather Julian Gumpert settled in Duesseldorf.

How intensely personal this voyage into the past must have been becomes clear in the account of Goldsmith's visit to Oldenburg prison, as a participant in a march retracing the path taken by the Jews - among them the author's grandfather - driven through the streets of Oldenburg in 1938 by Nazi thugs, to later be shipped off (at least temporarily) to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. But although he writes about his very own family, and now in full knowledge of their fate, Goldsmith's narrative is in no way sentimental. With a journalist's detachment he talks about Guenther and Rosemarie, Alex, Julian and their wives and other children; turning a nonfiction account whose outcome is clear from the very start into a heartstopping tale few would be able to believe if presented with it under colors other than that of the plain historic truth.

Prominently featured in Goldsmith's account is the Jewish Culture Association, or Juedischer Kulturbund; as of 1933 the German Jews' only permitted artistic organization, in whose orchestra Guenther and Rosemarie had met and which had formed the center of their life until they finally left the country. One of the most controversial institutions of Nazi Germany, it reunited what was left of the country's Jewish musicians, artists, writers and composers - providing a modicum of shelter in an increasingly hostile environment, but also a convenient tool in the Nazi propaganda machine. Were the members of the Kulturbund instrumentalized to deceive public opinion, at home and abroad, about the true intentions of Hitler's government? By giving their Jewish audience a sense of comfort and "belonging," did they also prevent some of them from rescuing themselves when there still would have been time? The surviving members of the "Kubu" and their families, interviewed by Goldsmith, come down on both sides of the issue; and the fate of the survivors is probably as symptomatic as that of the many who ultimately did perish in Nazi concentration camps - chiefly among those the Kulturbund's charismatic founder Dr. Singer, who not only let himself deceive into returning to Germany after already having reached the safe shores of the U.S. but saw a mark of distinction even in his deportation to the "model" concentration camp of Theresienstadt.

Yet, for Guenther and Rosemarie the years with the Kulturbund were dominated, above all, by the musical companionship they experienced. What does seem to have haunted them most for the rest of their lives, however, was their very escape to America, while their remaining family members were stuck in Europe and, one way or another, died in Hitler's concentration camps - and the feeling that with a little effort they just *might* have saved at least some of them. The letters of Alex Goldschmidt and his younger son Helmut, written to Guenther from captivity in France after their own unsuccessful attempt to flee to Cuba, are among the most chilling testimonials contained in this book; and the decision to translate and include them conceivably cannot have been an easy one for Goldsmith. Indeed, it apparently was the knowledge of his family's fate that, all talent and love of music aside, eventually compelled George Goldsmith to forever retire the flute which, in his life as Guenther Goldschmidt, had been the only item of true importance besides his beloved wife Rosemarie; thus punishing himself in a way no outsider could have done. Yet, the couple's gift for music lives on in their son, who in his own way has brought many hours of joy to radio listeners all over the U.S.

Martin Goldsmith's "Inextinguishable Symphony" - named for Danish composer Carl Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, which sets music, as a parable for life itself, against war, terror and destruction - is as much a personal journey of discovery as a journalist's account of historic facts; seeking to understand rather than to judge. It deals with a time in which morality was thoroughly upset by a profoundly immoral regime, which cannot possibly have remained without effect on anybody who witnessed those events. In applying our own values to those facts, I think we would all do well in being careful to, likewise, make a thorough effort to understand before we judge. Goldsmith's insightful account is a great place to begin such a process.

A Very Moving Book.......2003-09-01

This story was impossible to put down and when you finish, it stays with you for a very long time. Its hard to believe that Gunther and Rosemary didn't make every effort to help their parents emigrate to U. S. What really bothers me most is, not being Jewish, what would I have done in Germany in the late thirties and early forties when I saw these atrocities happening?

Wow.......2003-06-09

I listened to Martin Goldsmith on "Performance Today" (and still listen to his successor, Fred Child) for many years. This man who for years described classical music on the radio -- composers and their life story, pieces and their histories, in accessible, engaging, and lightly humorous ways, and even sometimes tied it in to his love of baseball -- he also has an extraordinary family story. It's moving and well-written, and makes me think about the extraordinary stories that must dwell in the depths of my own geneological past.

Indians, Oil, and Politics: A Recent History of Ecuador (Latin American Silhouettes)

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useful but rambly
Where was the editor?
Superb, but dense
Political Thriller
A definate read for anyone going to Ecuador

Indians, Oil, and Politics: A Recent History of Ecuador (Latin American Silhouettes)
Allen Gerlach
Manufacturer: SR Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0842051082

Book Description

It is indispensable that Ecuador has peace, but to have peace you need freedom and to have freedom you need justice. And the Indian population needs justice.-President Gustavo Noboa, January 23, 2000 For five centuries, the Indians had very little voice

Customer Reviews:

useful but rambly.......2007-05-23

This book has lots of information and a lack of jargon but I do agree that an editor could have helped make the text flow better. Once the author starts talking about indigenous movements he tends to move around in time and repeat points in ways which make it hard to keep a clear thread. The chapters on recent presidencies also could use more structure. Still, worth reading if you want to get a quick picture of Ecuaforan politics till about 2001.

Where was the editor?.......2006-11-14

I have recently moved to Ecuador and thought this book might give me a better understanding of what is going on here. There is plenty of information in this book--but it is completely garbled! I have read many political science books, and this is the most disorganized, badly written, unedited one I have ever tried to get through. There are outright misktakes, frequent repetitions, poor translations, and no clear storyline, chronological or otherwise. Could someone please write a better book about Ecuadorean politics? It should be a fascinating subject.

Superb, but dense.......2006-11-11

Gerlach's discussion of the Indian uprising of 2000 is excellent, although at times his book suffers from too much detail and too little abstraction. If you are in search of a history of Ecuador, specifically the rise of the indigenous movement, then this is your book.

Political Thriller.......2006-07-14

A superb review of contemporary Ecuadorian politics and their historical roots. It's very engaging and many chapters read like a political thriller.

A definate read for anyone going to Ecuador.......2004-06-08

I'm going to Ecuador soon and I feel like this book has given me a great introduction to social issues and politics in the country. With the information I have gained I have been able to follow the most recent developments in the current Gutierrez administration, and I can put these events in a historical perspective. Gerlach, for me, has made sense of the senseless. The book has also helped me to form a lot of questions for which I hope to get answers on my upcoming trip.

From Tragedy to Triumph: The Politics Behind the Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry

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From Tragedy to Triumph: The Politics Behind the Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry
Mitchell G. Bard
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ethiopia | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0275970000

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From 1984 to 1991, Israel conducted a series of dramatic rescues, bringing thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the state of Israel. Codenamed Operation Sheba, this effort involved various covert means, including large-scale airlifts and exchanges for arms, to save these Jews from intolerable conditions in Ethiopia and the Sudan. But as dramatic and uplifting as this effort was, there are still troubling questions about why it took so many years for Israel to act on behalf its African compatriots. This is the complete story behind the Israeli rescue of the Jews of Ethiopia--how tragedy was turned into triumph. These rescue operations represented the culmination of complex political maneuvering in Israel and illustrated what Israeli resolve can accomplish when Jewish lives are endangered. It was an inspiring effort--as William Safire wrote at the time, "thousands of black people are being brought to a country not as slaves, but as citizens." On the other hand, there is much to deplore how long it took for the leaders of Israel to recognize and take action to save this ancient African branch of the Jewish Diaspora, known as the Falasha. The reasons are the result of the complex intersection of Israeli geostrategy, pressure from the American Jewish community, and Ethiopian domestic politics, as well as racism and debates about the "Jewishness" of the Falasha community.

From Beirut to Jerusalem: Revised Edition

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From Beirut to Jerusalem
Still relevant
Friedman's habitual "cuteness" thankfully absent here
Just not very good at all.
The Middle East Illuminated

From Beirut to Jerusalem: Revised Edition
Thomas L. Friedman
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374158959

Book Description

This revised edition of the number-one bestseller and winner of the 1989 National Book Award includes the Pulitzer Prize Winning author's new, updated epilogue.

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Winner of the National Book Award for nonfiction, this extraordinary bestseller is still the most incisive, thought-provoking book ever written about the Middle East. Thomas L. Friedman, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Foreign Affairs Columnist for The New York Times, drew on his extensive experience in the region to write a book that The Wall Street Journal called "a sparkling intellectual guidebook . . . an engrossing journey not to be missed." As the conflict in the Middle East continues unabated, this seminal historical work reaffirms both its timeliness and its timelessness.

Customer Reviews:

From Beirut to Jerusalem.......2007-09-17

Best intellectual book on the Middle East that exists. Friedman is an experienced, thoughtful genius. A must read.

Still relevant.......2007-08-29

Tom Friedman occupies a unique place in the American Foreign Policy establishment elite. Not since Walter Lippman has the voice of a journalist been more influential in Washington DC. "From Beirut to Jerusalem" was his first foray into full-length treatment on critical international issues -- and it is still his best. Moreover, although it was written two decades ago and during a very different time, it is still incredibly relevant to current events.

What makes Friedman's narrative so powerful is his liberal use of personal anecdotes from his time as a New York Times coorespondent in the Middle East in the early 1980s. The story crackles with life as Friedman reconstructs the events of the Lebanonese civil war and Palestinian intifada from a broad spectrum of perspectives, from ultra-ortodox rabbis to American Jewish peace activists, Yasir Arafat and Palestinian schoolchildren, Washington policymakers and enlisted Marines. Friedman's description of life as a journalist at Beirut's Commodore Hotel is especially noteworthy and, on occasion, hilarious.

At the core of Friedman's analysis is the contrast between American naivete and the almost primordial savagery of tribal relations endemic to the Middle East. Friedman uses "Hama Rules" (after Syrian president Hafez al-Assad's brutal 1982 repression of a nascent Muslim Brotherhood insurgency in the Syrian city of Hama) as short-hand for the nature of power politics that shaped the flow of events in the region during his time there. The common demoninator in group identification is religion (by sect and by clan) and the gravest sin is to show weakness to your enemies. Friedman argues that the Reagan administration completely failed to understand this fundamental nature to life in Lebanon in the early 1980s when they committed Marines to help bolster the newly elected Maronite Christian president Gemayel, who was, in fact, more the leader of the Phalangist militia than true representative leader of the polyglot country.

Interestingly, Friedman writes that Israeli leaders often make the same mistakes as the US about the region, although some Israelis, such as Ariel Sharon, understand Hama Rules and act accordingly. Friedman describes the Israeli army reaction to the kaleidoscopic factional environment they found in Lebanon after their 1982 invasion as quite similar to the US army experience upon entering Baghdad in 2003.

Indeed, comparisons to Iraq are what struck me most when reading this book. After reading "From Beirut to Lebanon," I was amazed how optimistic Friedman was about the Iraq invasion in early 2003. He was relatively supportive of the war -- a position most likely held out of a deep desire and hope that it would succeed in bringing democracy to the Middle East, a position he passionately promotes, rather than any reasoned belief that the mixed Iraqi population would welcome a new US-installed regime. The civil war in Lebanon in many ways mirrors the intense factionalism of warfare in Iraq where religious identification -- Maronite, Druse, Shiite -- defines the membership of warring militias and undermines any attempt to use a national army to provide stability and bolster a central regime.

Many of the details about the war in Lebanon or the intifada make the book feel outdated, but the central underpinnings of conflict and discord in the region so lucidly explained by Friedman will not change anytime soon. The reader gets a sense of division and pure hatred that divides the people of that troubled land and seem to guarantee that the "peace process" is a meaningless charade.

Friedman's habitual "cuteness" thankfully absent here.......2007-06-28

As of this writing, 168 reviewers have reviewed this book, so I will be brief. Thomas Friedman, for all his real acumen and gifts with language (both spoken and written) tends to be cute or trite too much for comfort. That said, this book suffers from precious little of this. It is definitely in the genre of "New Journalism" now quite old, where the reporter is part of the story, maybe even the story itself at times, but this does not detract from the boldness of this work in the form of its written style, which is free, easy, yet complex, handling each topic with a certain grace and style and formal beauty. Friedman brings a complex topic to a general audience without sacrificing nuance (in fact, this is his main thrust) to show both Lebanon and Israel as cultures of almost impossibly subtle nuance, where small difference of sects and creeds can be the difference between war and peace, bliss and pain

Just not very good at all........2007-06-08

The writing wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't good either. Much of the book read as if it was filler and stories he heard from someone else. The author's account of his time in Beirut was not informative and rather bland. I have read other accounts that really go in depth into either the political, military or personal experiences of those on the ground, but this book did not add anything to what's been written. His analysis of the Beirut conflicts left much to be desired.

I remember a part of the book where Friedman writes about his time in the Commodore Hotel and how this hotel was the place to be for any journalist in Beirut, and then reading Robert Fisk's Pity the Nation where he talks about all the hack journalists hiding out in the Commodore writing their stories from second hand accounts instead of going out and reporting the story with their own accounts. I don't know if Fisk was right, but I thought his book was much better than Friedman's.

I did find his writing on Israel to be informative (still bland though). His analysis of the psychology of the Israeli people I found to be highly insightful, and it gave me a perspective which I had never seen before. The only way to understand the Israeli people is to try and understand how the Holocaust and being surrounded by hostile people has affected their national psyche. The Israeli perspective was the best thing I took away from this book, but not even this was able to redeem the work for me.

One of the reasons I like reading reporter's books is that they are usually well written, entertaining and written with a passion or flare that the academics usually lack. This book had none of that. I felt bored and found myself having to concentrate pretty hard to stay in touch with what I was reading. I would have been fine with the shoddy writing had the analysis or the history been better but it just wasn't. There are just many books out there that treat the subject with much more competency.

If you're looking for a good book to learn more about this topic, keep looking.

The Middle East Illuminated.......2007-06-05

Tom Friedman is a master at using charming, funny and fascinating anecdotes to illustrate broad historic events and cultural phenomena. His grasp of history is profound, and his observations are always spot on. The events he describes in this book may, indeed, be limited to only a very small part of the planet, but the human dynamics involved are universal and have profound implications for us all.

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Continues to show people don't learn from history....
Overview of war but dated at this point in time
Worth reading
The most complete political history of the 1982 conflict
Yasser forces Israel's hand and Sharon wipes him out

Israel's Lebanon War
Ze'ev Schiff , and Ehud Ya'ari
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671602160

Customer Reviews:

Continues to show people don't learn from history...........2007-09-02

Superbly written account of how Israel became mired in the Lebanese civil war. The Israeli people were essentially mislead and lied to (sound familiar?) by its government, which itself was duped by the Lebanese leadership under Bashir Gemayel. Ariel Sharon was bound and determined to invade Lebanon to drive out the PLO, and any dissenters were quickly dismissed. After Bashir Gemayel was assassinated, everything started to fall apart, starting with the international outcry following the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

Excellent detail of the underlying politics and the series of missteps, lies, miscalculations and misjudgments committed by Israel before and during the conflict.

Overview of war but dated at this point in time.......2007-08-31

This book gives an overview of the war. Unfortunately it is the one of the few that does. The major problem is that, at least today, the book is dated and presents nothing new. This was not the case when it was first printed however. Nevertheless it makes for a good introduction into the war.

Worth reading.......2006-10-05

There are also more facts that demonstrated scores of pitiful signs of agonising 'stories'.
The author did not mention, for example, that Lebanese have witnessed at the bend of roads or at the top of a rise, slow moving procession of civilians travelling along the so called 'green lines' on top of mined sand dunes.
It seemed a biblical scene.
Many people were marching on foot , parents hugging their children on the verge of tears, cursing a situation perhaps as a means used to mask their fears...

The author should have, as an added value, referred more to the other side of the coin: 'The suffering of the Lebanese people'
Many had already gone from Beirut to the mountain areas, but many who remained faced the same dilemma: whereto should they leave??
Those who left their love ones behind in Beirut (West) were on the brink of panic largely because nobody really knew what could happen.
Most people were expecting fighting would erupt in the city within a few days. But It was difficult to draw conclusions.
It was the brave who stayed behind for the most part, hoping against hope that they might be able to help Lebanon. "Radio Isreal" blared warnings that people must prepare for the rigours of a siege, and get ready for the terrors of street fighting.
Mentioning this side of the 'story' should make the picuture more balanced

The most complete political history of the 1982 conflict.......2006-08-23

Without doubt this is the definite account of the 1982 war in Lebanon, although the reader who is more interested in the military aspects of the campaign should read also Samuel Katz's excellent "Israeli Tank Battles". The authors give plenty of information regarding the dark motives of the israeli policy in Lebanon, the alliance with the Christian Maronites and the complex games played by Ariel Sharon (Defense Minister of Israel) and Bashir Gemayel. The most astonishing fact in the book is the way that one minister (Sharon) dragged a government and a whole nation in a war adventure without telling the truth and not explaining his objectives from the beginning. The campaign of 1982 never was intented to go far beyond the Litani river, but eventually the IDF reached Beirut and put it under siege for months! Also, the clash with the Syrians in the Bekaa valley was Sharon's choice and the israeli cabinet was forced to accept it! The terrible massacres of Shabra and Shatila are also covered in many pages and in great detail. I wish the authors had devoted some more pages to the military events, such as the brilliant victory of the Israel Air Force above the Bekaa.

Yasser forces Israel's hand and Sharon wipes him out.......2005-07-09

Over 20 years after it was published, the story of the Israeli attempt to eradicate massive and repeated terrorist attacks emanating from the PLO (Bubba's/Jacques/UN's buddy Yasser) in Lebanon is no less important. Interestingly, Lebanon is still struggling to rid itself of Syrian occupation. They have gone from the vegan dictator Hafez Assad murdering opponents and journalists to the Syrian optometrist dictator murdering opponents and journalists (another killed last week 7/2005).

In this review, I will attempt to explain the story, the left-wing/doves reporter's views (and on so many levels his mistakes), and most importantly to Americans who love and support Israel, the correlation between Israel's actions and our "War on Terror."

First to the journalists, the main one being the left wing newspaper Haraatz Ze'ev Schiff. As the brilliant reviewer givbatam3 points out nearby, Mr. Schiff is a member of the Israeli left/dove/Peace Now group. This "coalition" consists of myopic people (with all due respect) that don't seem to understand good and evil. Just as our great President Bush was criticized for denouncing the "Axis of Evil" (he forgot to mention Syria and the House of Saud), these doves conveniently choose to ignore the problems with cooperating with our/their enemies. This is what lead to the fraudulent Oslo accords and the creation of the terrorist supporting Palestinian Authority. It is this "authority" that unleashed a wave of terror on Israel immediately after Clinton helped the murderer Arafat receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Fittingly, Arafat walked away from the Clinton/Barak plan in 2000, which would have created a Palestinian state, which to this day (7.8.05) does not exist despite the charade of the Road Map. The authors accuse Prime Minister Sharon of illegally leading Israel into the war in Lebanon. Most of the books I've read about Israel seem to have been written by journalists out to discredit Sharon. He seems to be the Donald Rumsfeld of Israel. I don't live there so it is impossible for me to get a read on the situation, but he WAS democratically elected, so most of the voters must disagree with the left's assessment of Mr. Sharon (yes, I know his "disengagement" is an illegal abomination, more on that later. Wear Orange to support the settlers.)

On page 39, Mr. Ze'ev describes Sharon as "a cynical, headstrong executor who regarded the IDF as his personal tool for obtaining sweeping achievements-and not necessarily defensive ones-and a minister prepared to stake the national interest on his struggle for power." Those would prove to be the "kindest" words he would have for Mr. Sharon. On page 58, he accuses Sharon of implementing a quasi-coup d'etat.

And on and on it goes. The author also accuses Sharon of duping the American government, details forthcoming.

Later on, we learn of the "courageous, freedom fighter" (my emphasis) Arafat's decision to deploy all Palestinians including 12 year old boys to kill Israelis. Of course, to this day the PA affiliated Fatah and other groups use children to murder Israeli civilians (the best non-child attack recently was the Palestinian woman who was granted permission to receive medical care in Israel who tried to kill innocent Israeli doctors/nurses using "bomber pants." Great video of her discovering the bomb wouldn't activate, however US MSM {mainstream media} other than FOX refused to air it.)

On page 92, we learn of Arafat crony and current PA leader Abu Mazen's (the same Oslo and Road Map violating, terrorist supporting/enabling, holocaust denying, chain-smoking Mazen that GW brazenly brought to the White House) recommendation to target specific ethnic types of Jews for murder.

Throughout the story, if indeed the cabinet was mislead, we learn that this deception had negative military preparedness consequences. Specifically, a failure to call up the reserves.

To his credit and unlike journalists Robert Fisk (Pity the Nation) and Thomas Friedman (NY Times, From Lebanon to Jerusalem), Mr. Schiff reminds us of the level of terror practiced by Ray-Ban Wayfarer wearing Arafat even inside his own PLO. On page 147, we learn of Palestinians killing Palestinians that were given the chance to evacuate an area prior to IDF action. In this episode, three children were gunned down in front of their father.

On page 149, the authors engage in a disgusting bit of analysis about the minds of IDF members. In discussing a particularly brutal phase of the operation, the author's ask "was it perhaps fueled by an even deeper sense of vengeance for all the harm and hatred that the Jews had suffered at the hands of others over the centuries?" And further, "How would the grandparents of these boys have reacted to the scene of mayhem...?" Are you kidding me?? These members of the citizen army were probably quite sick of repeated murders of innocent Israeli citizens and committed to seeing their country living in peace. Meanwhile, the UN, the left/doves, the media, and others seemed to downplay or turn a blind eye to Arafat's involvement in the many terrorist attacks conducted by the PLO prior to the Lebanon operation. In my humble view, something had to be done. Prime Minister Begin agreed with Sharon's initial plan on eliminating the terrorists in Beirut.

Page 152 features more America bashing, culminating in an accusation that the US was an Israeli dupe.

The story of the military operation is detailed completely. And no discussion of the Lebanon operation would be complete without mentioning the incidents in the refugee camps in Sabrit and Shatilla. I'll leave it for the reader to decide on this operation, but in short, Israel relied on their "allies" in Lebanon to rid the camps of terrorists. Most assuredly, after the Palestinians brought havoc to these people, they wanted revenge. The result: some civilian deaths to go along with the "clean up" operation and a rebuke of several Israeli figures including Prime Minister Sharon.
Folks, war is not pretty and the US faced similar choices in partnering with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. Many to this day say that is why we allegedly "lost" Bin Laden in Tora Bora instead of adequately deploying our troops on the Pakistan border. General Tommy Franks says this would not have been possible and I believe him more than the Kerry/Kedwards crowd. Our "ally" Pakistan would not have tolerated a US presence, given that they were one of only three governments with relations with the Taliban.

As for the author's attempts to rid Israeli society of Prime Minister Sharon, it didn't work. He forcefully fought the charges emanating from the investigation into the Lebanon operation. After Yasser walked all over Clinton in Barak in 2000 and launched/restarted the intifada, Israel voted for "Arik" and his platform of not negotiating with Arafat. Sadly, no tragically, he is haphazardly implementing his "disengagement plan." Six weeks prior to its start, it appears the plan is not well thought out and polls show that Israelis are increasingly against it. Moreover, turning land over to terrorist supporting Mazen will embolden those that seek Israel's destruction. Israel expects terror gangs of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Mazen's own Fatah to immediately set up shop in the West Bank and begin terror operations.

So looking back Mr. Schiff and Ya'ari, who was right? Terror coddling doves such as Rabin (who at least acknowledged the danger in trusting Arafat) and Peres or Likud hawks such as Sharon (and Netanyahu)?

Let the reader decide. I know who I would trust with my security: Likud members Sharon and Netanyahu.

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Great view of Paris
Please
An Exhibition Book That Does Justice to the Exhibition
A long-awaited but disappointing retrospective

Brassai: The Eye of Paris
Anne W. Tucker
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810963809

Amazon.com

Brassaï: The Eye of Paris is both the catalog of an exhibition of Brassaï's photographs organized by the Houston Fine Arts Museum and a valuable biography of the artist. In 1932, only three years after he purchased his first camera (a Leica), Brassaï published a portfolio of 64 photos titled Paris by Night that caused an immediate sensation. His lively eye (seen in an enigmatic photograph at the beginning of the book) captured fresh, unique images of the city and its citizens. Fascinated by the underworld, he moved easily among gangsters and prostitutes in bars and bordellos; he was equally at home among the fashionable and wealthy, and just as devastating in his depiction of them. He used magnesium flares for low-contrast shadows, catching his subjects in natural poses at significant moments. The wide range of Brassaï's work is suggested by his formal nudes, which have an affinity with Edward Weston's, and his informal portraits, which remind viewers of Diane Arbus, who admired his work. Brassaï was a central figure in the intellectual and artistic circles of Montparnasse that made Paris the most exciting city in the world during the 1930s. In a long essay that includes lively anecdotes of the photographer's relationships with Picasso, Henry Miller, Kertesz, and many other luminaries, the author re-creates the aesthetic and philosophical ferment of the period. Brassaï: The Eye of Paris recognizes the artist's talents in five different media--photography, filmmaking, sculpture, writing, and drawing--but focuses on what he is best known for: lyrical and penetrating photographs of the City of Light. --John Stevenson

Customer Reviews:

Great view of Paris.......2007-03-31

The pictues are outstanding and the commentary very interesting. It is an excellent value and a great look at Paris in the Pre-WWII era.

Please.......2000-12-01

I am surprised that this book has gotten such mixed reviews here -- it is the definitive book on the subject. The essays are full of new information and elegantly presented. The design of the book, bleeds and all, remind me of the particular way Brassai made his books (which is why we care about Brassai today). The reproductions look like the original prints! The book is smart and real.

An Exhibition Book That Does Justice to the Exhibition.......1999-11-30

I saw this exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and bought the book. The exhibition blew me away and so did the book! It is the best exhibition book on photography I have seen. The print quality of the photographs is superb and the text is excellent. This book is a lesson in photography, political science, and sociology.

A long-awaited but disappointing retrospective.......1999-11-27

For lovers of great photography, one of the real gaps for a long time has been a monograph on this master of Euorpean street photography, whose images of Paris in the 30's in particular are among the greatest of their kind. Since the unfortuante deletion of the magnificent mid-80's reissue of PARIS BY NIGHT there has literally been nothing available except an over-priced paperback from Germany (I beleive) that has made its way to US museum bookshops and the like. What great news it was that Abrams, who are one of the best houses for this sort of thing, was publishing a major catalogue to accompany the travelling exhibit now at the National Gallery in Washington. The book was delayed several times earlier this year (no doubt to the chagrin of the museums the exhibit has already passed through) and has finally arrived in time for Christmas.

It is sad indeed to report that the book is a total disappointment- at least so far as the images themselves are concerned:

One: The source material and printing of the picutres are truly second-rate - without richness, luster, or dimension. Many look like photocopies from magazines or other books. They are oddly glossy but flat. Compare these to the incredible matte reproductions in PARIS BY NIGHT and the contrast between what can be done with with what is here is nearly heartbreaking.

Second: What is with the recent tendency to print photographs in an oversized, right-to-the-edges format with no sense of border or space to let the composition breathe and no sense of frame lines. The bleed-over simply kills the impact of many of these photogrpahs. It's a ruinous way to present great imagery. (It afflicts Abrams' new Bill Brandt book as well but to a lesser extent because the printing of that book is so much better.)

Third: There is very little that is new here. For such a major undertaking it comes across as a routine collection of well-known images, a greatest hits, that ends up delivering little emotional punch or insight into this great artist. Compare this to Abrams' own exhaustive works like Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye and you'll see what I mean.

With so many great photographers receiving deluxe treatment in the past few years from Abrams' W. Eugene Smith book last year to Bulfinch's Lartigue mongraph, it is a real shame that someone as seminal but poorly represented in print as Brassai should receive such a well-intentioned but unsatisfactory tribute. PLEASE BRING BACK PARIS BY NIGHT!

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Theology study material

A World of Grace: An Introduction to the Themes and Foundations of Karl Rahner's Theology

Manufacturer: Georgetown University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Foundations of Christian Faith

The Foundations of Karl Rahner: A Paraphrase of the Foundations of Christian Faith

Manifestations of Grace (Theology and Life Series, 29)

The Cambridge Companion to Karl Rahner (Cambridge Companions to Religion)

A New Look at Grace: A Spirituality of Wholeness

ASIN: 0878405968

Customer Reviews:

Theology study material.......2007-01-11

World of Grace: An Introduction to the Themes and Foundations of Karl Rahner's Theology
by Leo J. O'Donovan

Excellent for theology study of the Revelation of God.

Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of over 1800 Shows

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Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of over 1800 Shows
Vincent Terrace
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0786403519

Book Description

How did Philip Gault become The Whisperer? What radio series was the proving ground for a motion picture? Who owned the Solomon Levy Department Store?

The answers to these and many other questions can be found in this encyclopedic reference work to 1802 radio programs broadcast from the years 1924 through 1984. Entries include casts, character relationships, plots and storylines, announcers, musicians, producers, hosts, starting and ending dates of the programs, networks, running times, production information and, when appropriate, information on the radio show's adaptation to television. Hundreds of program openings and closings are included.

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Important book

Black Jews, Jews, and other Heroes

An Inspirational Retelling of a Remarkable Grassroots Movement

Riveting and heart felt account

Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes: How Grassroots Activism Led to the Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews
Howard M. Lenhoff
Manufacturer: Gefen Publishing House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ethiopia | Africa | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 9652293652

Book Description

Seldom has a small grassroots organization polarized American Jewry as did the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ) and seldom has a grassroots organization been so successful.

How were five governments persuaded that it was to their interest to allow the threatened Jews of Ethiopia to fulfill their dream of rejoining their brethren in Israel? From 1974 through 1991, active AAEJ members demonstrated that it was possible to rescue black Jews from Africa. They enlisted the support of college students, American Rabbis, editors of the Jewish press and other Zionists. Lenhoff's memoir provides many untold stories behind this historic drama: How Israeli Ethiopian Jews and Americans Jews worked secretly to rescue over 1,000 Ethiopian Jews. How Jerry Weaver masterminded Operation Moses - the first mass exodus of black Africans as free people - not as slaves. How two gutsy American women set up a situation allowing Israel to rescue 14,000 Ethiopian Jews in one day of Operation Solomon. There is more: the intrigues in Israel between the politics of religion and the Law of Return; the daring heroic adventures of courageous Ethiopian Jews as they trekked from Ethiopia to Sudan. These are the stories of activists who challenged the establishment and won!

Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes is written from the first-hand experiences of one of the AAEJ's three Presidents, scholar-activist Howard Lenhoff. Lenhoff and Gefen Publishing House are especially pleased to present also as part of this book, the untold story of "righteous gentile," Jerry Weaver.

Customer Reviews:

Important book.......2007-05-06

Howard Lenhoff's book is important because it tells how a small group of dedicated people helped to save thousands of lives. In fact, the entire culture of Ethiopean Jewry was saved. This book goes to the heart of our humanity.

The book is well written and is presented in first-person form. Highly recommended.

Black Jews, Jews, and other Heroes.......2007-04-21

Lenhoff relates, in clear and riveting style, the compassion, courage, ingenuity and tenacity required to achieve an epic humanitarian goal in the face of inscrutable and overwhelming odds. Thus the rescue of ancient tribes of enslaved black Jews from Ethiopia (Falashas or Beta Yisrael) and their immigration to Israel (aliyah) during operations Elijah, Moses, Sheba, Pidyon Shevuyim and Solomon required catalytic activism of a host of heroes from, among others, the American Association of Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ; 1974-1993). Lenhoff was President of AAEJ from 1978 to 1982, a fledgling group that first irritated, then involved established organizations in American and Israel Jewry. He reveals the oscillating evolution of an intricate tapestry of motivation, information, recruitment and insertion during the growth of AAEJ, including conflicts and compromises, in religious and political arenas, with bureaucracy of the government of Israel.

The exodus began slowly by trailblazing efforts to smuggle single or small groups of Falashas, eventually totaling about 1000, to the squalor of refugee camps in Sudan, then at war with Israel, and to Kenya, and then onward to Europe and Israel. Mass exodus of more that 10,000 Beta Israel from Sudan, orchestrated by Jerry Weaver during Operation Moses, occurred late in 1984, followed by Operation Sheba during which 500 remaining refugees were liberated. Still, some 25,000 black Jews remained in Ethiopia. In the next five years, more than 1,000 of them were transported to a refugee camp in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then on to Israel. In the first few months of 1991,about 5,000 Falashas made the trip to the Promised Land. Amazingly, an additional 14,000 were airlifted from Addis Ababa to Israel during Operation Solomon on May 24 and 25, 1991, under the direction of LaDena Schnapper. A few thousand Ethiopian Jews in outlying communities missed the Airbus and were rescued over the next seven years.

For this non-activist Christian scientist, heroics behind the monumental triumph of liberating Ethiopian Jews merit award of a Nobel Peace Prize!

An Inspirational Retelling of a Remarkable Grassroots Movement.......2007-04-10

What a remarkable retelling of the heroic efforts to save a Jewish community (Ethiopian Jewry) on the threshold of disappearing, or at a minimum, losing its identity. Many of us who were active in the movement to rescue the Ethiopian Jewish community can only marvel at the impact of the tenacity of the few had in galvanizing individuals, organizations, and governments.

Many kudos to Dr.Howard Lenhoff for his dedication to the movement and for recapturing the deeds of the many in saving an entire community through justifiable outrage, persistence, and single mindedness. This grassroots activism models how individuals coming together can make a difference and effect change. Thank you, Dr. Lenhoff.

Riveting and heart felt account.......2007-03-05

This important contribution to the story of the rescue of the Ethiopian Jews is told through the eyes of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews(AAEJ) and covers the period 1974 to 1991; including operations Moses in 1984 and Solomon in 1991. A few other accounts of these operations and the story of the Ethiopian Jews have been told but this one offers a unique and interesting perspective from the point of view of American Jewish activism and its relationship with Israel.

There are a number of tear-jerking and heartfelt stories in this riveting account. The first involved the recognition of the Ethiopian Jews as the lost tribe of Dan by then Chief Sephardie Rabbi of Israel, Ovadia Yosef. He declared that the Jews in Ethiopia should be "redeemed from assimilation." The other story surrounds operation Moses as told by Jerry L. Weaver, who was the Refugee Affairs Coordinator in the Sudan for the U.S. This material is presented in a first person account by Weaver and in many ways it offer a brilliantly told, action packed, insight into the rescue of the Ethiopian Jews from Sudan.

Probably the most fascinating insight told in these pages is the story of how a tiny group of dedicated individuals, the AAEJ, were able to single handedly raise enough funds to rescue some 1,239 Ethiopian Jews between 1972 and 1989. This story has not been told previously and it not only show that individuals can make a difference but it goes to show that the Hebrew maxim "to save one life is as if one saved the whole world" is indeed true. This has implications for efforts to alleviate the slaughter in the Sudan and other important aspects of Jewish activism in the U.S today. There are a number of interesting cases presented of problems between Jewish activists in the states and their Israeli counterparts as well as inter-Jewish feuding among organizations in the U.S and these stories are also interesting as are the accounts of networking among Ethiopian Jews and American activists in the 1970s.

Really an important and fascinating read, a real page turner.

Seth J. Frantzman

Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984

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Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984
William S. Simmons
Manufacturer: UPNE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0874513723

Book Description

Spanning three centuries, this collection traces the historical evolution of legends, folktales, and traditions of four major native American groups from their earliest encounters with European settlers to the present. The book is based on some 240 folklore texts gathered from early colonial writings, newspapers, magazines, diaries, local histories, anthropology and folklore publications, a variety of unpublished manuscript sources, and field research with living Indians.

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