An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Berlin (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiographies)

Rating:
Summary: A Triumph of the Gay Spirit
Review: Beck gives us a glimpse of a gay man's coming of age in Nazi Berlin. It is not only erotic but holds up a light by which all aspects of love should be measured. Once again, the Gay Spirit has triumphed over bigotry, intolerance, and in this case even the holocaust.

Rating:
Summary: It captured me the first few pages
Review: Gad Beck brought to life not only the cruelty to the jews but also the cruelty of the gay and lesbian people of the Nazi Era. I had to do a research paper for a Holocaust in Literature class I took my junior year in high school...and I was entralled the whole time I read this book. It shocked me, it horrified me...and I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Unparalleled love of life and indomitable spirit!
Review: That any Jews survived Hitler's holocaust in Germany is remarkable; that they did it in the capital of the Third Reich is astonishing and that some of them were gay is almost unbelievable. Gad Beck's book starts out a bit slow, not quite dull but you hope it picks up its pace. Indeed, it does. Living in the underground, sought by the Gestapo (just being a Jew became illegal and transport to death remained a priority with the Nazis even as their regime was invaded and bombed) helping one another and living and loving as they best could is a gripping story. Told with humor and frankness, it's an excellent story. I can't wait for the next set of memoirs from Beck to be published.