Hitler's Exiles: Personal Stories of the Flight from Nazi Germany to America [Hardcover]

Mark M. Anderson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1998

An extraordinary group portrait of the experiences of exiles from Hitler's Germany, told through contemporary, first-person accounts--many translated for the first time. Between 1933 and 1945, over 150,000 German-speaking refugees fled Hitler's persecution to resettle in the United States. Published to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Kristallnacht (November 9, 1998), Hitler's Exiles is a composite, firsthand account of this historic migration, focusing on the ordinary people who took this extraordinary voyage. From forgotten archives and little-known published sources, Mark M. Anderson has recaptured the voices of that perilous time. Hitler's Exiles reveals what it was like to leave everything behind, to risk the uncertainty of escape and exile, to start afresh in a country that had little interest and less need for these new exiles. The book features moving, personal stories of individuals such as Hertha Nathorff, a doctor's wife, who remembers her telephone ringing off the hook on Kristallnacht because so many of her husband's patients had suffered heart attacks; Ellen Schoenheimer, whose convoy of women and children gets bombed by the Nazis while evacuating through France; Max Korman, who recounts the harrowing tale of a month spent aboard the ship St. Louis, fleeing from Germany but not allowed to land in Cuba, Britain, or the United States; and Kate Frankenthal, a prominent doctor in Germany, who begins life anew in New York as an ice cream vendor. The book also includes reflections by famous intellectuals such as Hannah Arendt, Thomas Mann, and Bertolt Brecht, who offer a trenchant and bitter look at the life of exiles in Hollywood. Hitler's Exiles is a moving human document and a new classic of the literature of exile and persecution.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Half a million citizens fled Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945; of these, nearly 132,000 came to the United States. Among them were writers such as Thomas Mann and Alfred Döblin, scholars such as Hannah Arendt and Peter Gay, politicians such as Ernst Toller and Alice Salomon, scientists such as Albert Einstein and Elisabeth Freund, and thousands of ordinary citizens from all walks of life. This useful volume gathers some of their accounts of the perilous flight from Europe, documents their resistance to the Nazi regime, and recounts their impressions of America. Among the writings Anderson reproduces is an impassioned letter by Einstein, Arturo Toscanini, and others to President Franklin Roosevelt protesting these new immigrants being categorized as "aliens of enemy nationality," asking instead that they be recognized as "staunch and consistent defenders of democracy." Some of the men and women who figure in this book returned to Europe after the war. Many others remained; as political scientist Henry Pachter remarks in an essay included here, "Perhaps we can be better Europeans in the United States than anywhere in Europe." --Gregory McNamee

From Library Journal

Anderson (Germanic studies, Columbia Univ.) presents 50 selections illustrating the treatment of German Jews that caused them to emigrate, the numerous obstacles placed in their way (by a government that ostensibly wanted them to go), and their lives in exile, both in transit countries and the United States, where 130,000 German Jews eventually resettled during the Hitler years. Culled from both published and unpublished sources (including interviews, oral histories, and letters), the excerpts range in length from one to ten pages and include both people who emigrated owing to political reasons and those who were forced to flee because of "racial" issues. This book's value is that it includes writings not only from the prominent figures one would expect (e.g., Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht) but also ordinary people such as an anonymous wealthy housewife who rescued 38 people and an anonymous farmer from southern Germany who was arrested and whose land was confiscated. This book commemorates the 60th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Recommended for all libraries.AJohn A. Drobnicki, CUNY York Coll. Lib.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 354 pages
• Publisher: New Press; First edition. edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565843940
• ISBN-13: 978-1565843943
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,605,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vivid portraits, April 23, 2000

By 

L. Wells (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hitler's Exiles: Personal Stories of the Flight from Nazi Germany to America (Paperback)

This is an excellent set of personal reminiscences from some of the Jews who escaped Nazi Germany from the early 1930s up to beginning of the 1940s. The stories are so incredibly vivid. What really struck me was the incredible difficulties they faced - the perverse Nazi bureaucracy, friends who turned their back, the loss of both material goods and the psychological loss of family and friends in Germany, and what happened when they fled Europe . This book doesn't stop at the end of the WW2 - it examines the impact of exile, and the cost of making new lives in countries when all you escaped with was your life. Any person interested in background reading on WW2, and a vivid picture of what it was really like for the Jews, would find this a worthwhile book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Stories, April 4, 2005

By 

Prabal Guha Biswas "hmmm" (don't worry, I shall find you) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitler's Exiles: Personal Stories of the Flight from Nazi Germany to America (Hardcover)

Though I am still reading the book, I had to write this review as I enjoyed it very much - so much so that I did not go for my daily evening stroll. This book may be considered a compilation of stories by Jewish Germans waiting to emigrate from their( no longer) Nazi fatherland. Coming from a developing country the stories seems so modern. Germany seems to be such an advanced country but with a soul of a devil. I don't think things have improved much, I do remember having a bad time when I visited Germany in 1979 as a child ( not that the situation was good in Moscow, where I was based, or in UK). Xenophobia also exists in India and we must try to rise above such petty matters though sometimes it make life more interesting ( if you are not the victim). Well enjoy this book in your cosy bedroom and shed few crocodile tears for those long dead persons!