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 |
The Nazi Officer's Wife : How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust |
List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50 |
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Product Info |
Reviews |
Rating:  Summary: You won't be able to put this book down Review: This is one of the most engrossing books I've read recently. I think it'd be an excellent book to add to high school or college curriculum. Not only does it portray the life of a Jewish woman's survival and struggles during the WWII holocaust, but it reminds us of the complexity of the human race.
Rating:  Summary: The story of a woman's triumph over despair Review: This is the true story of a woman's struggle for survival against powerful and sometimes seemingly unsurmountable circumstances. Unlike some holocaust stories, there is a relatively positive outcome - - not in the romantically sentimental sense of " she lived happily ever after" but in a real world sense of making some good things come out of a senseless morass. Although this is an account of a woman's life that is true as she sees it, most of the time the read is as compelling as a well constructed suspense novel. Even those who avoid holocaust literature as too depressing can find this absorbing.
Rating:  Summary: A deeply moving story Review: Though I consumed this book in a matter of hours, I found it so emotionally affecting that I had to stop and take a deep breath now and then, walk around the block, before I could continue reading. All the more compelling for its simple, honest style, this is a tale of extraordinary courage and perseverance on the part of Edith Hahn Beer. Would that more of her Austrian and German neighbors (of the "Aryan" stripe) had had a greater share of the integrity displayed by this woman. Her life irreparably fractured by events that remain utterly vivid and disturbing 50-some years after the fact, she somehow manages an astonishing degree of objectivity in her assessment of the evil forces arrayed against her and every other European Jew in those very dark decades. Definitely not a story for the fainthearted, this disturbing book and others like it need to be read and reread precisely to help prevent their repetition in the future.
Rating:  Summary: Edith Hahn Beer:War Hero Review: Throughout time, different cultures and groups of people have had varied ideas on what makes a hero. In Edith Hahn Beer's autobiography, The Nazi Officer's Wife, she tells what it was like to be the wife of a Nazi officer-and a Jewish woman with false identity papers at the same time. Some people have criticized Hahn for the manner in which she survived the Holocaust, by being married to the enemy while other Jews were dying in the Nazi concentration camps. Her inspiring autobiography, definitely worth reading, makes the reader admire in stead of criticize her. It tells the story of a young, afraid, hunted Jew living in Nazi Austria who overcomes adversity to become strong willed and brave, helpful to others, and hard working. These qualities are those of heroes, and are reasons why Edith Hahn Beer should be considered a hero or heroine. One heroic quality that Edith demonstrates is that of her bravery and strong will. She remained cool when Nazi officers questioned her parent's lineage during her marriage ceremony. This is important because when she filed for her marriage to Werner Vetter, her papers had her registered as Grete Denner, a Christian. If the government had found out about this, the lives of both Edith and Christl Denner (the original owner of the papers) would be in jeopardy. Another brave thing that Edith does is listen to the BBC, and other foreign radio stations. This is a brave thing to do, because "Anybody who [listens to foreign radio stations] will go to Dachau or Buchenwald or Orianenburg or God only knows where." Finally, one major thing Edith does to demonstrate her amazing self control and bravery is to give birth to her daughter without any anesthetic. After working as Reich nurse, she had discovered that people giving birth had said all kinds of things that could get them in trouble with the government. "I began to remember all the patients I had seen who had come out of surgery or had been sedated during childbirth, and who said things that could incriminate them and their loved ones." After she is done, she goes on to say that in all of World War II, giving birth to her daughter was the only part in the war where she wanted to die. Going through this much pain to protect the people you love is quite heroic. Throughout the course of the book, Edith proves herself to be very concerned about other people. She helps others even when it is potentially dangerous to her own self. In the beginning of the book, she becomes a nanny and tutor to a young woman named Christl Denner. As time goes by, Denner becomes like a little sister to Edith. Edith's mother goes on to say "When [Mr. Denner's] girls needed a substitute mother, someone to listen to them with a caring heart, you were there." The fact that Edith befriends Denner as a youth is crucial. Years later, Denner saves Edith's life. Christian Christl let Edith use her original identity papers, and reapplied for a set for herself. With these Christian papers, Edith could then function as an Aryan woman in Nazi Austria. Edith even helps complete strangers. A Nazi officer knocks on her door and says "... We have reason to believe there is a deserter hiding out in the vacant apartment.... Right above you. He would have been here last night. Did you hear any noise?" Even though she had heard footsteps, shuffling, and a creaking bed among other noises, she lied and said "No, Nothing." This act saved a complete stranger. If the government had found out that she lied about this, her whole cover as an Aryan housewife could have been blown. Finally, post war, Edith works shortly as a judge. People come to her requesting emigration papers, with custody battles, and with cases involving impoverished Russian children. She takes all these cases saying "Finally it was my turn to save someone's life." At the end of World War II, non-Aryan judges with proper credentials were in high demand. These people that Edith Hahn was among helped to restore order to the chaos that post-war Europe had become. Finally, one last heroic quality found to be true to Edith Hahn Beer is that of her hard work and determination. Throughout the course of the war, she is forced to work in at least 2 places: an asparagus plantation in Osterburg, and a factory in Aschersleben. At the asparagus plantation, her fingers "ached as though they were broken" and her back "would not straighten," yet she was still considered one of the plantation's best working. Her hard work was important here, because it showed her inner drive. Even though this was something she wasn't exactly thrilled to be doing, she was still doing her best at it. Life was similar at the factory in Aschersleben. There, she helped cut boxes. Her planning and pacing resulted in having her quota raised twice. A good friend, Mina, went on to say "You are clearly one of 'Bestehorn's best'!" Hard work was important here for the same reasons that it was in Osterburg. As long as Edith was working for the government, she and her family were safe and in the Reich. Edith lastly proves her inner drive and hard work by crepe making. With the end of the war, Bradenburg (the city in which she lived) fell to the Russians. She evacuated with her young, measles stricken daughter, to a nearby city. There, she lived briefly with a farming family and soldiers, all going hungry. She told everyone to go to nearby farmers and bring back milk, eggs, jam, bread, and flour for Crepes. "All day long, as the men streamed into the little house, I made hundreds of delicate Viennese crepes for the Wehrmacht [German for armed forces] and the woman and her daughter served them." This gesture not only represented her willingness to help others, but her hard work helped to feed these starving German soldiers. Since this occurred post-war, this also represents her making amends with the German armed forces, once considered enemies. At the end of the war, she saw that many of them were just tired, beaten down, hungry men and this gesture of her hard work shows that. There are many different kinds of heroes. There are political heroes, battle heroes, heroes who are innovators. Edith Hahn was none of the above. What made Edith Hahn Beer a hero was not one single deed, or necessarily one big achievement. Her persona, willingness to help others, bravery in hard times and her hard work left footprints in the hearts of those around her, and continues to touch those who read her autobiography. That is what makes Edith Hahn Beer a hero.
Rating:  Summary: Bringing The Horror of The Holocaust To A Personal Level Review: We will only have the surviving victims of the holocaust with us a short time longer. How important it is that as many as possible should write their own personal stories. In the case of this book, Edith Hanh Beer allows us to see her very normal life at first disrupted and then torn apart by the invasion of the Nazi's. We see what motivates her (saving her mother's life, staying near the man she loves) and how both those decisions lead her into difficulties in one case and possibly into saving her own and her child's life in the other. We see the price one pays for concealing an identity so carefully that the concealer doesn't really know who she is anymore. We see how one can live with a mate and play a role for survival, and how those roles can turn around. It is an excellent and quick read, and I wish more of us would read these true stories to keep us from ever being in such a horrible situation ever again.
Rating:  Summary: The Ambiguity of Survival Review: While this story of survival in Nazi Germany is indeed, fascinating, as readers have attested, it leaves many questions unanswered. Why did the author pursue a law degree long after the Nazis had come to power and it was apparent that Jewish lawyers had a limited future, to say the least, in Germany? Why did the author remain in the country when she could have escaped, loyal to a selfish lover who refused to shelter her in her hour of greatest need? It is clear why she became involved with and married a Nazi officer, less clear why she chose to bear his child. The author's moral authority is weakened by her taking in, then abandoning, an orphan. She seems to have hardened her heart to compassion in the interests of saving herself and her own daughter. One moral can be drawn: When the chips are down, practical skills can save your life. The author, a trained lawyer, worked as a nurse's aide during the war and as a seamstress later. Her German law degree proved as useless to her as her worthless first lover.
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