THE GOOD ASSASSIN : HOW A MOSSAD AGENT AND A BAND OF SURVIVORS HUNTED DOWN THE BUTCHER OF LATVIA
by Stephan Talty
The Nazi hunters were beginning to get very nervous. May 8, 1965 would be the twentieth anniversary of World War II ending. Both German politicians and regular citizens wanted the pursuit of Nazi criminals to stop. A statute of limitations was about to expire. So, in other words all of these killers would be granted amnesty, come out of their hiding places and walk free. What to do? A mission was needed to annihilate one of the worst-of-the-worst monsters who'd escaped to South America, was never punished for his crimes against humanity, and then publicize it to the world to let them know how vile he and all the rest of them were. Amnesty needed to be blocked as much as possible.
The Nazi who was chosen was named Herbert Cukurs. His last name means sugar. How ironic since Cukurs was anything BUT sweet. He murdered thirty thousand Latvian Jews. Who would be the one(s) to accomplish this execution? Mossad, the Israeli national intelligence agency, jumped in. Jacob Medad (known as Mio) was chosen to lead the undercover operation. (He had helped kidnap Adolf Eichmann three years earlier.) Mio would become Anton Kuenzle, disguised as an Austrian businessman. He would go to Brazil, find Cukurs, befriend him enough to earn his trust, and then arrange the killing with the other agents.
Somehow I keep finding more stories on little-known Nazi war criminals. Kudos to all the authors who find out about them. Stephen Talty presents a heart-pounding tale of an extremely dangerous man known as the Butcher of Latvia. The writing, as usual, is superb. (I have read several of his previous books.) This is truly a riveting account by a master writer.
Highly recommended.
Monday, August 3, 2020
Friday, March 6, 2020
CITIZEN 865 : THE HUNT FOR HITLER'S HIDDEN SOLDIERS IN AMERICA
by Debbie Cenziper
After World War II, thousands of Nazi collaborators left Europe for other countries: Brazil, Argentina, the Middle East, Chile, and the United States. They slipped in hoping to make new lives. By the 1960s there was talk about these perpetrators on our shores. Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and others who sought justice spent years tracking them down. It was not enough. What was needed was a much bigger operation. In 1979, the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) was formed. Eventually they would have more than one hundred successful cases. The most lethal one was discovered in a long-hidden document that no Western investigator had ever seen until 1990 in a basement archive in Prague.
Trawniki is a tiny village in Poland. This is where the SS set up a training camp to help them commit mass murder. They recruited 5,000 men to obliterate the Jewish population who inhabited Poland. These scumbags became the foot soldiers who did most of the dirty work. How lucky for us that many of them came to America, living here with their diabolical secrets. Fortunately, OSI had a persistent, determined team who pursued these criminals until they were caught, and then prosecuted them.
Just when you think that there is nothing new about the Holocaust, another book comes out with something that I never heard about before. Author Debbie Cenziper is an investigative journalist, professor, and author who used her sleuthing skills to write an incredible story. Her impeccable research is based on hundreds of interviews with the lawyers, prosecutors, and historians involved with OSI, talking with Eli Rosenbaum, the original director of it, reading thousands of government documents, Nazi records, transcripts of trials, articles, delving into archives from the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., plus going to Prague, Warsaw, and Lublin, Poland (this is where Trawniki is) to research their archives.
Citizen 865 is a brilliant piece of detective work, and not to be missed.
Highly recommended.
by Debbie Cenziper
After World War II, thousands of Nazi collaborators left Europe for other countries: Brazil, Argentina, the Middle East, Chile, and the United States. They slipped in hoping to make new lives. By the 1960s there was talk about these perpetrators on our shores. Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and others who sought justice spent years tracking them down. It was not enough. What was needed was a much bigger operation. In 1979, the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) was formed. Eventually they would have more than one hundred successful cases. The most lethal one was discovered in a long-hidden document that no Western investigator had ever seen until 1990 in a basement archive in Prague.
Trawniki is a tiny village in Poland. This is where the SS set up a training camp to help them commit mass murder. They recruited 5,000 men to obliterate the Jewish population who inhabited Poland. These scumbags became the foot soldiers who did most of the dirty work. How lucky for us that many of them came to America, living here with their diabolical secrets. Fortunately, OSI had a persistent, determined team who pursued these criminals until they were caught, and then prosecuted them.
Just when you think that there is nothing new about the Holocaust, another book comes out with something that I never heard about before. Author Debbie Cenziper is an investigative journalist, professor, and author who used her sleuthing skills to write an incredible story. Her impeccable research is based on hundreds of interviews with the lawyers, prosecutors, and historians involved with OSI, talking with Eli Rosenbaum, the original director of it, reading thousands of government documents, Nazi records, transcripts of trials, articles, delving into archives from the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., plus going to Prague, Warsaw, and Lublin, Poland (this is where Trawniki is) to research their archives.
Citizen 865 is a brilliant piece of detective work, and not to be missed.
Highly recommended.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
AN UNCONVENTIONAL WIFE : THE LIFE OF JULIA SORELL ARNOLD
by Mary Hoban
Julia Sorell was the kind of woman that everyone admired and befriended. She was beautiful, outgoing, warm-hearted, and passionate of anything that was of interest to her. Julia was born during the Victorian Age in Tasmania. She was not one of those women who were silent. When she married Tom Arnold in 1850 it thrust her into one of the most eminent intellectual families in England. Her husband, Tom, was considered to be a cultivated scholar. They loved each other deeply. This would become the only good thing from their relationship. Tom tried to change her. They had differences of opinions when it came to the meaning of marriage. Julia stood firm in her beliefs. Discord between them began to grow, and it really exploded when Tom decided to become a Catholic. Julia was a staunch Protestant, and refused to convert with him. The conflicts of both religion and marriage would last over thirty years, and would affect the lives of their children, plus other people who knew them.
An Unconventional Wife is a magnificent biography. For too long Julia Sorell Arnold has been in the background, because there's been books written about Tom but not on her. Author Mary Hoban has a wonderful style of writing that draws you right in. She needs to write more books. Hoban brings to life all the nuances of both Julia and Tom with such understanding and empathy. It's very interesting to read about a woman who wanted to be independent (she struggled with that) but would instill in her daughters to think and be this way. Julia somehow rose above all the stress and friction. Very highly recommended.
by Mary Hoban
Julia Sorell was the kind of woman that everyone admired and befriended. She was beautiful, outgoing, warm-hearted, and passionate of anything that was of interest to her. Julia was born during the Victorian Age in Tasmania. She was not one of those women who were silent. When she married Tom Arnold in 1850 it thrust her into one of the most eminent intellectual families in England. Her husband, Tom, was considered to be a cultivated scholar. They loved each other deeply. This would become the only good thing from their relationship. Tom tried to change her. They had differences of opinions when it came to the meaning of marriage. Julia stood firm in her beliefs. Discord between them began to grow, and it really exploded when Tom decided to become a Catholic. Julia was a staunch Protestant, and refused to convert with him. The conflicts of both religion and marriage would last over thirty years, and would affect the lives of their children, plus other people who knew them.
An Unconventional Wife is a magnificent biography. For too long Julia Sorell Arnold has been in the background, because there's been books written about Tom but not on her. Author Mary Hoban has a wonderful style of writing that draws you right in. She needs to write more books. Hoban brings to life all the nuances of both Julia and Tom with such understanding and empathy. It's very interesting to read about a woman who wanted to be independent (she struggled with that) but would instill in her daughters to think and be this way. Julia somehow rose above all the stress and friction. Very highly recommended.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
LABYRINTH OF ICE : THE TRIUMPHANT AND TRAGIC GREELY POLAR EXPEDITION
by Buddy Levy
In July 1881, Lt. Adolphus W. Greely took a journey to the Arctic with a crew of twenty-four scientists and explorers via a two-hundred-foot-long steamship called Proteus. There couldn't have been a better man than Greely to serve as commander. He had been in the army for two decades working his way up, and had gained formidable leadership skills. Greely was tough, would demand that his men would follow orders, and stick to them. The mission's formal name was the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition honoring Lady Jane Franklin. She was the wife of the renowned Sir John Franklin. He and his crew of 129 had vanished trying to find the Northwest Passage in 1845. Before the voyage even took off, the name would morph into the Greely Expedition. The goal of this group was to attain Farthest North. It's an area that was unmarked on maps. It would become one of the most terrible voyages ever to be taken.
Greely and his crew were burdened by ferocious wolves, subzero temperatures, months of complete darkness while they set about exploring, doing scientific experiments, examining flora, doing measurements, foraging for food (hunting any wildlife), and setting up a camp where they could live. The following May 1882, they reached the northern most point ever obtained (the British had held it for three hundred years). They returned to their camp to wait for the resupply ship. It never came.
Labyrinth of Ice has to be one of the most nail-biting books I have ever read. You are literally on the end of your seat with every chapter.Why anybody would want to do this is beyond me. Yet, I so enjoy reading about these harrowing adventures (there's quite a few of them in this blog) that it seems as if each one is better than the one before. Author Buddy Levy is a phenomenal writer, and apparently has quite a following from his previous books. (I plan to check into these.) At the end of this monumental tale, Levy has a Note on the Text and Sources, which is a virtual goldmine on Arctic literature. But then, there's even more great stuff in the Bibliography.
The story, the details, the characters, the drama are all laid out brilliantly. This book is a MUST read.
Very highly recommended.
by Buddy Levy
In July 1881, Lt. Adolphus W. Greely took a journey to the Arctic with a crew of twenty-four scientists and explorers via a two-hundred-foot-long steamship called Proteus. There couldn't have been a better man than Greely to serve as commander. He had been in the army for two decades working his way up, and had gained formidable leadership skills. Greely was tough, would demand that his men would follow orders, and stick to them. The mission's formal name was the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition honoring Lady Jane Franklin. She was the wife of the renowned Sir John Franklin. He and his crew of 129 had vanished trying to find the Northwest Passage in 1845. Before the voyage even took off, the name would morph into the Greely Expedition. The goal of this group was to attain Farthest North. It's an area that was unmarked on maps. It would become one of the most terrible voyages ever to be taken.
Greely and his crew were burdened by ferocious wolves, subzero temperatures, months of complete darkness while they set about exploring, doing scientific experiments, examining flora, doing measurements, foraging for food (hunting any wildlife), and setting up a camp where they could live. The following May 1882, they reached the northern most point ever obtained (the British had held it for three hundred years). They returned to their camp to wait for the resupply ship. It never came.
Labyrinth of Ice has to be one of the most nail-biting books I have ever read. You are literally on the end of your seat with every chapter.Why anybody would want to do this is beyond me. Yet, I so enjoy reading about these harrowing adventures (there's quite a few of them in this blog) that it seems as if each one is better than the one before. Author Buddy Levy is a phenomenal writer, and apparently has quite a following from his previous books. (I plan to check into these.) At the end of this monumental tale, Levy has a Note on the Text and Sources, which is a virtual goldmine on Arctic literature. But then, there's even more great stuff in the Bibliography.
The story, the details, the characters, the drama are all laid out brilliantly. This book is a MUST read.
Very highly recommended.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
WHEN TIME STOPPED : A MEMOIR OF MY FATHER'S WAR AND WHAT REMAINS
by Ariana Neumann
In 1939 thirty-four members of the Neumann family were living in Czechoslavakia. Two years later one of them was arrested because he swam in a section of a river that was forbidden to Jews. He would be the first member to be transported to Auschwitz. Twenty-nine members would be deported to concentration camps; of these, twenty-five were murdered by the Nazis. There were four survivors. Two family members escaped the transports completely. One of these was the author's father, Hans.
Ariana Neumann really didn't know much about her father, especially about his life long before she was born. She had no idea that he was Jewish. He never shared any details with her and never talked about the past. All she knew was that he, and his brother, Lotar, came to Venezuela because where they came from was destroyed by the war. The two of them started a paint factory, and Hans became quite successful.
There were hints about him while she was growing up that she really didn't pay attention to or really think about. One of them was hearing him screaming waking up from a nightmare and speaking in a language that Ariana did not understand. She certainly couldn't talk to her father about it. Their relationship was difficult. It wasn't until Ariana found this photograph, in a box, of a man that looked like her father, but with a different name and birthday that she realized there was a whole other side about him. She would have to wait until after Hans died to find out and understand who her father really was.
When Time Stopped is a beautiful story that will totally blow you away. There's actually two stories here: her father's secret past and a long-lost history of his extended family. How she pieces everything together is simply marvelous. Ariana found relatives that she never knew she had (thank goodness for the Internet), who helped her with their memories, mementos, letters, documents, and photos. She was quite a tenacious sleuth in her research, never stopping, always searching. Her writing is superb. This is one brilliant book.
Very highly recommended.
by Ariana Neumann
In 1939 thirty-four members of the Neumann family were living in Czechoslavakia. Two years later one of them was arrested because he swam in a section of a river that was forbidden to Jews. He would be the first member to be transported to Auschwitz. Twenty-nine members would be deported to concentration camps; of these, twenty-five were murdered by the Nazis. There were four survivors. Two family members escaped the transports completely. One of these was the author's father, Hans.
Ariana Neumann really didn't know much about her father, especially about his life long before she was born. She had no idea that he was Jewish. He never shared any details with her and never talked about the past. All she knew was that he, and his brother, Lotar, came to Venezuela because where they came from was destroyed by the war. The two of them started a paint factory, and Hans became quite successful.
There were hints about him while she was growing up that she really didn't pay attention to or really think about. One of them was hearing him screaming waking up from a nightmare and speaking in a language that Ariana did not understand. She certainly couldn't talk to her father about it. Their relationship was difficult. It wasn't until Ariana found this photograph, in a box, of a man that looked like her father, but with a different name and birthday that she realized there was a whole other side about him. She would have to wait until after Hans died to find out and understand who her father really was.
When Time Stopped is a beautiful story that will totally blow you away. There's actually two stories here: her father's secret past and a long-lost history of his extended family. How she pieces everything together is simply marvelous. Ariana found relatives that she never knew she had (thank goodness for the Internet), who helped her with their memories, mementos, letters, documents, and photos. She was quite a tenacious sleuth in her research, never stopping, always searching. Her writing is superb. This is one brilliant book.
Very highly recommended.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
STOLEN : FIVE FREE BOYS KIDNAPPED INTO SLAVERY AND THEIR ASTONISHING ODYSSEY HOME
by Richard Bell
By 1825, slavery was pretty much either dead or dying in the northern states. Less than twenty thousand blacks were still in bondage, mostly in the rural parts of New Jersey and New York. Pennsylvania, though, was a free state. Philadelphia had a reputation of being a safe haven for people of color, and was the headquarters of the American antislavery movement. Unfortunately, it was one of the most dangerous places in the United States for a black person. Pennsylvania was separated by two slave states: Maryland and Delaware (the Mason-Dixon Line), and Philadelphia was just forty miles north of this border. Because it was so close to the South the black community were instant targets for kidnappers from slave states. Slavery was still very profitable in the South and thousands of free black people were stolen right off the streets to be sold to American settlers for a high amount of money. This black market network of human traffickers became known as the Reverse Underground Railroad.
Five very young (little kids), free black boys from Philadelphia would fall into the hands of one of the worst gangs of slavers by being lured onto a ship where they were promised food and payment. Instead they were greeted with blindfolds, ropes, and threatened with knives. Four grueling months would take them shackled to one another from the waterfront of Philadelphia to Mississippi and beyond. Since they only had each other for support, these children would struggle to survive while at the same time thinking of escape. Their parents would really suffer because being a person of color there was no legal recourse for them, and nobody cared. It was a terrible situation. Then, the mayor of Philadelphia decided to take the matter up.
Stolen is a very difficult and disturbing book to read, but it's important to know what went on decades before the Civil War. Author Richard Bell (he's also a historian) is a wonderful storyteller and encapsulates all the horrors, events, and nuances that happened during this time. His impeccable, detailed research took him all over the place.Even though this story has never been told before, and families back then didn't leave any kind of documentation, Bell was still able to masterfully bring everything together.
Highly recommended.
by Richard Bell
By 1825, slavery was pretty much either dead or dying in the northern states. Less than twenty thousand blacks were still in bondage, mostly in the rural parts of New Jersey and New York. Pennsylvania, though, was a free state. Philadelphia had a reputation of being a safe haven for people of color, and was the headquarters of the American antislavery movement. Unfortunately, it was one of the most dangerous places in the United States for a black person. Pennsylvania was separated by two slave states: Maryland and Delaware (the Mason-Dixon Line), and Philadelphia was just forty miles north of this border. Because it was so close to the South the black community were instant targets for kidnappers from slave states. Slavery was still very profitable in the South and thousands of free black people were stolen right off the streets to be sold to American settlers for a high amount of money. This black market network of human traffickers became known as the Reverse Underground Railroad.
Five very young (little kids), free black boys from Philadelphia would fall into the hands of one of the worst gangs of slavers by being lured onto a ship where they were promised food and payment. Instead they were greeted with blindfolds, ropes, and threatened with knives. Four grueling months would take them shackled to one another from the waterfront of Philadelphia to Mississippi and beyond. Since they only had each other for support, these children would struggle to survive while at the same time thinking of escape. Their parents would really suffer because being a person of color there was no legal recourse for them, and nobody cared. It was a terrible situation. Then, the mayor of Philadelphia decided to take the matter up.
Stolen is a very difficult and disturbing book to read, but it's important to know what went on decades before the Civil War. Author Richard Bell (he's also a historian) is a wonderful storyteller and encapsulates all the horrors, events, and nuances that happened during this time. His impeccable, detailed research took him all over the place.Even though this story has never been told before, and families back then didn't leave any kind of documentation, Bell was still able to masterfully bring everything together.
Highly recommended.
Friday, December 27, 2019
A CASTLE IN WARTIME : ONE FAMILY, THEIR MISSING SONS, AND THE FIGHT TO DEFEAT THE NAZIS
by Catherine Bailey
As World War II encroached upon all of Europe, a woman by the name of Fey von Hassell thought that she could resist the Nazis right where she lived. Fey was the daughter of Ulrich von Hassell, Hitler's Ambassador to Italy. She resided with her husband Detalmo Pirzio-Biroli, an Italian aristocrat, in a castle in the northern part of Italy. Because it was tucked away in the environs, the chaos of war left them untouched. But as soon as Fascism reared its ugly head, Ulrich and Detalmo decided to resist the Nazis. Detalmo joined an underground, anti-Fascist resistance group in Rome. Ulrich despised Hitler and assembled other like-minded souls to plot his assassination.
Fey ended up being stuck in the castle as SS soldiers moved in. As both Ulrich and Detalmo became ever more defiant and mutinous, the Gestapo soon showed up at Fey's doorstep. She was arrested and her two young toddlers (ages two and three) were taken away by the SS.
A Castle in Wartime is an incredible story. Apparently author Catherine Bailey is quite well-known (she has written two other books) because she has this incredible ability to weave family histories with immense historical events. She certainly has done that here. Bailey was able to use first-hand family accounts, documents from concentration camps, and even files from the SS.
It's very compelling, absorbing, and will keep you riveted.
Highly recommended.
by Catherine Bailey
As World War II encroached upon all of Europe, a woman by the name of Fey von Hassell thought that she could resist the Nazis right where she lived. Fey was the daughter of Ulrich von Hassell, Hitler's Ambassador to Italy. She resided with her husband Detalmo Pirzio-Biroli, an Italian aristocrat, in a castle in the northern part of Italy. Because it was tucked away in the environs, the chaos of war left them untouched. But as soon as Fascism reared its ugly head, Ulrich and Detalmo decided to resist the Nazis. Detalmo joined an underground, anti-Fascist resistance group in Rome. Ulrich despised Hitler and assembled other like-minded souls to plot his assassination.
Fey ended up being stuck in the castle as SS soldiers moved in. As both Ulrich and Detalmo became ever more defiant and mutinous, the Gestapo soon showed up at Fey's doorstep. She was arrested and her two young toddlers (ages two and three) were taken away by the SS.
A Castle in Wartime is an incredible story. Apparently author Catherine Bailey is quite well-known (she has written two other books) because she has this incredible ability to weave family histories with immense historical events. She certainly has done that here. Bailey was able to use first-hand family accounts, documents from concentration camps, and even files from the SS.
It's very compelling, absorbing, and will keep you riveted.
Highly recommended.
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