What They Didn't Burn, Mel Laytner's Search for His Father's Holocaust Secrets, Book Review

What They Didn't Burn: Uncovering My Father's Holocaust Secrets by Mel Laytner is an amazing, riveting story. Laytner, an extremely talented writer, reveals a lot as he tracks down his father's secrets. Laytner, the elder of two brothers, discovered that his quiet father was not only a Holocaust survivor, but he had been a canny and successful black market wheeler dealer

I must admit that the author and I first met in the mid-1960s when I joined Betar. We've seen each other very infrequently over the years, but when I heard that he had finally published his father's Holocaust story I wanted to read it. Laytner gave me and my husband a copy.

Among our Betar friends, there are two distinct types, those like me and my husband whose parents were American born and raised, and there were those whose parents were survivors, or had left just in time. We whose parents were American raised can never really imagine what our friends had lived with, which frequently meant that their parents kept many secrets from them. 

Laytner's quest to discover the truth about his father took him many years. By the time he had the time to devote to it, few sources were still alive. He had to travel a lot to talk to people and see old government records in Europe. A few times his brother accompanied him, but mostly he did it alone. Laytner used his journalist skills to interview and research. His success and the subsequent book couldn't have been accomplished by someone without those skills.

Laytner's parents were both Holocaust survivors who worked hard day and night at all sorts of jobs, trying all sorts of businesses, too, when they got to New York. At one point they owned a candy store open seven days a week. That was the same drive that got them through the Holocaust, but during the Holocaust Laytner's father even traded diamonds on the black market, among other things. I'd say that Laytner inherited that drive, since he needed similar smarts to discover his father's true story.

Think of What They Didn't Burn as an exciting treasure hunt, and Mel Laytner takes us along for the ride. I highly recommend the book for readers of all ages.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ SparkPress (September 21, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1684631033
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1684631032

Irma's Passport, A Book Review

Catherine Ehrlich wrote an amazingly compelling biography about her grandmother, Irma's Passport: One Woman, Two World Wars, and a Legacy of Courage. 

Irma Ehrlich's story is both profoundly personal and strongly historic. Irma's Passport can be enjoyed both by those who have a good knowledge of the Holocaust and also, those who haven't yet learned all that much about it. Catherine Ehrlich certainly did her grandmother proud in this very informative and moving book. 

Not only did Irma live through two world wars, but she was also twice widowed. Her second husband Jakob Ehrlich, a well-known Zionist activist, was one of the first Jewish victims of the Nazis, and she and her teenage son Paul, Catherine's father, successfully fled. The bureaucracy she faced and had to conquer was a cross between The Twilight Zone and Catch 22.

Paul and Irma made it to England where he was accepted into an elite boarding school, and she quickly became a successful spokesperson in Britain and North America warning about the dangers of Nazi Germany. Just as she was about to accept the position as Chaim Weitzman's secretary they received notice that they could emigrate to the United States. 

Irma accepted Paul's request that they start yet again in a new country. 

Irma's Passport also tells of Irma's earlier life. In many ways she was a feminist, being one of the only females in the university. Her life was full of challenges, which she managed to overcome with intelligence, determination and luck.

I definitely recommend Irma's Passport for all, young and old. Catherine's labor of love, her grandmother's biography is truly inspiring.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ She Writes Press (October 12, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1647423058
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1647423056

On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, Book Review

On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, by Dr. Ann Heberlein (Author), Alice Menzies (Translator) is a very readable book. I really must make a point of say that. I also have to admit that it is a much, much more interesting and compelling read than I had expected. I had feared it would be a heavy tome in weight and serious verbiage, but it's barely three hundred 300 pages including index and bibliography. And even more important, it's beautifully written and translated for ordinary people like myself. It doesn't read like an academic doctoral thesis. 

So before I tell you about Hannah Arendt as depicted in On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, I want to make it very clear that I highly recommend the book. Buy it for yourself and as gifts for others.

I must confess that besides Arendt's name being vaguely familiar, I knew absolutely nothing about her before reading this biography. Hannah Arendt was born 1906 in Germany and had to flee the Nazis as a young woman, already involved in academic life. At first she thought she could stay in Europe, but  was forced to finally make her way to New York. No doubt an adventurous suspense-filled movie could be made about that part of her life, which included finding her husband and mother after they had all been separated.

It's now the Passover Holiday, which celebrates the exodus from Egypt, though it is said that only one fifth of the Jewish People left with Moses and Aaron. It has always seemed so hard to believe. How could anyone prefer slavery? But, davka, Heberlein tells us that when Arendt and all the other prisoners had the opportunity to leave Camp Gurs, the internment camp in which she had been imprisoned, "only two hundred out of seven thousand" left when they had the opportunity. 

page 105

That's a lot less than one fifth. This fact in On Love and Tyranny is something I've been mentioning a lot when discussing the Haggadah and Passover. 

The prisoners seemed more afraid of freedom than they were of the approaching Nazis. Arendt was in a small minority. 

After trying to find refuge in Europe, she, her mother and husband fled to the United States. It wasn't an easy trip, but they finally arrived. In America they all had to learn a new language and build their careers from scratch. Yes, Hannah Arendt did the impossible and built a very successful life in America.

In  On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, you will learn of her private life, husbands, lovers, philosophical controversies and more. Arendt was a most fascinating woman who survived very dangerous and challenging times.

Product details

• Publisher : Anansi International; Translation edition (January 5, 2021)
• Language : English
• Paperback : 272 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1487008112
• ISBN-13 : 978-1487008116

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein's Narrow "Bridge," A Book Review

As I read Zev Chafets' fascinating biography of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, I kept on thinking of various titles to call the review I was to write, like "The Fine Line" or "Tightrope," but in the end played with the book's title, The Bridge Builder.

First of all I must say that Zev Chafets did a great job writing this book. My gut feeling all along, and before reading it, was not to like Eckstein. Even though I know a number of people who do a bit of what Eckstein does, and my husband and I have had dealings with Christian zionists for decades, I'm more negative than ambivalent about the dependence Israel and Jewish social/financial/charity funding has on Christian, especially evangelical money. I must admit that decades ago, many times I had hosted groups of Christians in my home and led them on tours of Tel Shiloh and very happily accepted their monetary thanks. But as time went on I became more and more uncomfortable with the close relations that were being established. Was this all one big, rich Trojan horse? Were they really out to buy our souls?

Apparently Eckstein, too, in the beginning felt that your ordinary Jew could not be expected to know how to counter the theology problem. It's one thing for Jews to accept the money, but there could be theological influences when getting too close to enthusiastic Christians. Too many Jews are too ignorant of Judaism to understand the nuances and protect their Jewish religious identity.

Eckstein confided a lot to Chafets, who wrote of Eckstein's difficult relationship with a cold, critical father. Eckstein found more warmth and acceptance in the Christian and especially evangelical leadership, though he keeps on insisting that he has always remained an Orthodox Jew, praying to Gd, keeping Shabbat and Kashrut.

Eckstein's close relations with Christians, also, caused the Kollel, Torah Study Center, which he had been attending to question his allegiance to Judaism, causing him great emotional and spiritual pain. This was before his stupendous financial fundraising success.

And all along, there have been Jewish groups that while being grateful for the money would refuse to allow it to be revealed that Eckstein's Christian donors were the source. When Eckstein made having a proper sign as recognition, some groups refused the money.  But many more accept and request more and more funds.  The numbers, the millions of dollars donated to Jews all over the world (and also Arabs in Israel) by Eckstein's various funds/organizations stagger the imagination.

Money speaks making Eckstein a very powerful man. He is not the only Jew raising money for Jewish, especially Israeli causes from Christians. Eckstein is the best connected with powerful evangelicals and media personalities.

Zev Chafets makes Yechiel Eckstein into a very likeable person and admits that if he was to have a rabbi, then Eckstein would be the one. There's no claim of objectivity from the author. Yechiel Eckstein is a success story. I know of so many people who tried to make a success at fundraising. Some did well, but nobody reached the volume that Eckstein did, even those who also targeted similar Christians and evangelicals. If you want to know more, then read the book.

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Witness to History, Sybil Kaplan

As I've said many times, for me and my peers what others call history is what we remember and have experienced. I've known Sybil Kaplan for half a century, starting in New York City when we both were involved with Israeli Folk Dance. And then later, we both made aliyah in 1970 by boat, though different sailings.

It was due to Sybil that my articles appeared for many years in the National Jewish Post & Opinion. And to prove that I'm not just bragging, my name (and my husband's) can be found in Sybil's recently self-published book, "Witness to History." You can purchase the book by contacting her directly.

Sybil concentrates her book on the ten years she had lived in Jerusalem throughout the 1970's. Her book is based on her hundreds of articles written during that time, when she was one of the most prolific free lance writers in Israel. Her specialties were food and the immigrant experience.

Sybil's most well-known and still requested book is "Wonders of the WonderPot," in which she explains how to use and gives recipes for that iconic Israeli stove-top cooking device.

One of the repeating themes in Witness to History is the difficulties Israelis once had getting phone lines and having them transferred from home to home, especially problematic for someone like Kaplan who was always renting.  Compare that to today's Israeli who has easily purchased and relatively inexpensive multiple phone lines.

Today Israel is one of the most modern and technologically advanced countries in the world. In 1970, when we made aliyah, there were many difficulties, and today's olim (new immigrants) should read Sybil's book just to see how quickly things have progressed here. Everyone with an interest in modern Jewish/Israeli history will find amazing facts that can't be found anyplace else. Yes, I did enjoy the book very much. It brought me back to those early days...

It's obvious that Witness to History is a book of love by Sybil and her husband Barry, who are both so happy to finally be living in their beloved Jerusalem.