The Last Jews in Berlin [Paperback]

Leonard Gross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1983

In February 1943, four thousand Jews went underground in Berlin. By the end of the war, all but a few hundred of them had died in bombing raids or, more commonly, in death camps. This is the real-life story of some of the few of them - a young mother, a scholar and his countess lover, a black-market jeweler, a fashion designer, a Zionist, an opera-loving merchant, a teen-age orphan - who resourcefully, boldly, defiantly, luckily survived. In hiding or in masquerade, by their wits and sometimes with the aid of conscience-stricken German gentiles, they survived. They survived the constant threat of discovery by the Nazi authorities or by the sinister handful of turncoat Jewish "catchers" who would send them to the gas chambers. They survived to tell this tale, which reads like a thriller and triumphs like a miracle. "The author's skillful selection of detail and his narrative drive have created the type of footnote [to history] that illuminates an entire subject." - New York Times Book Review "A tour de force . . . A consummately suspenseful narrative . . . remindful, in [its] exquisite detail, of Capote's In Cold Blood" - Los Angeles Times "An historian's book, a storyteller's book, and - most of all - a reader's book . . . All the real-life stuff of a John le Carré novel" - Los Angeles Herald Examiner

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A tour de force . . . A consummately suspenseful narrative . . . remindful, in [its] exquisite detail, of Capote's In Cold Blood -- Los Angeles Times

"An historian's book, a storyteller's book, and - most of all - a reader's book . . . All the real-life stuff of a John le Carr novel" -- Los Angeles Herald Examiner --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm) (November 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553236539
• ISBN-13: 978-0553236538
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,914,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read this year, June 18, 2005

By 

Inger Watts (Trondheim, Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Jews in Berlin (Paperback)

I bought this book a short time ago, and I started to read it the day I found it in my post box. It is a very captivating book about how 18 Jews survived in the very heart of Nazi Germany during World War. Some managed to keep their families somewhat intact, while others were the only survivor among their entire family.

They survived in different ways, but all had at least one person helping them. One of the things I liked the most with this book; was the very fact that it tells the stories of brave and good Germans who risked their lives in order to help fellow citizens. Despite the fact that they had had to live with Hitler's propaganda and terror for more than a decade, they still aimed to do their best. Even though many survivors and rescuers often were lucky, I was amazed about how clever they were and how they managed to stay alive.

On the front cover of the book Los Angeles Times is quoted to have written: "[Reads] like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller", and I agree with them. The book was very well written, and it was very hard to put it down. I found myself reading until I went to sleep, and next morning I managed to read another chapter before I went to work. I read the book in no time, and I was only sorry I had finished it. I wanted to keep on reading.
The big difference between this book and a Hitchcock thriller is of course that: "The Last Jews in Berlin" is not fiction.

The only thing that I missed was photos of the people I read about. Still, the book is so good I find it really deserves five stars

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A riveting account of surviving the Holocaust, November 26, 1999

By 

Carmen Carter "Interface developer" (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Jews in Berlin (Paperback)

Gross is an exemplary writer, letting this story unfold through a spare, unembroidered narration of the harrowing events that affected the lives of a half-dozen different Jews. In this case, reality doesn't need any authorial florishes to create suspense and terror, and Gross's restraint as a writer highlights his subjects and lets them tell their stories in a very personal way. More than just a war history, this is an examination of the human spirit under seige.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ordinary Heroes, September 16, 2000

By 

Howard Horwitz (Portsmouth, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Jews in Berlin (Paperback)

Very worthwhile book. It was fascinating because it dealt with ordinary people in probably the most extraordinary circumstances. These multiple tales of survival explore what it took for persons who could easily be our friends, our neighbors, our familiy, to heroically survive in the midst of their hometown enemies while undergoing the privations of war. Substantively an excellent book.

I would caution you, however, that the tales are presented in a disjointed fashion, and I would recommend taking notes at the beginning on who's who in order to keep up with the players.