Customer Reviews

Mendelssohn Is on the Roof

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In short vignettes, the author explores the difficult choices faced by the people of World War II Prague, from Reinhard Heydrich (never named by name) to individual soldiers, civil servants and Czechs and Jews of all stripes. Some episodes are absurd and full of humor, particularly the moment when the workers try to identify which statue on the roof is actually Mendelssohn's (they choose the one with the largest nose and are about to make the maximum possible error when they are stopped in the nick of time). Others are almost painful to read, such as the choices of a Jewish scholar hired to work on the museum built to illustrate the lives of his people; he realizes the purpose is to describe a people who are to be eliminated from the face of the earth.

Unlike many Holocaust novels, this book presents its points in a subtle and wonderful manner. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This book opens with a black humor scene: how to remove the statue of Mendelssohn from the Prague concert hall during the Nazi occupation? From there, it shifts to short portraits of the gestapo, guards, ghetto residents, children, etc., all living in Pragu and trying to succeed/survive. It has been a long time since I have read a book so moving as this, and I highly recommend it

There isn't a "plot" per se. The book is a series of scenes involving a host of Jews, Czechs and Nazis in the Czech Republic during WW@ as the Nazis empty Prague of the Jews. The book is both darkly comic and deeply tragic. It is the best book about the holocaust I've read since it covers the sort of day-to-day lives of the Jews before the camps and also the very effortless translation. It is a quick and easy read but filled with a lot of poignant moments. In particualr what it does well is puts the reader into the mind and thought process of Jews who were victimized by the Nazis not just as victims but also as accomplices.

If there is a short coming, it is that Weil uses a lot of the Nazi nomenclature for places and groups and titles for people so readers without a strong knowledge of the Holocaust might be confused by the byzantine number of Nazi offices and organizations (this BTW is a real stregnth of the book for those familar with the system since it highlights how fragmented and fuedal the Nazi state was).

The main problem with this work is the confusing nature of the storyline. Weil clearly has the grandest of ambitions, and it is obvious that he is a capable, strong writer. The ideas for a remarkable story are certainly there, as is the character development - from the Jewish families, Nazi officials, and Czech citizens. The subtle nuances of each individual struggling to survive in Nazi-occupied Prague bring striking humanity to the most inhuman times; Weil manages to portray each individual character as complex, driven by myriad desires and emotions.

There are heavy allusions made towards certain members of the Nazi party - clearly Speer and Heydrich play substantial roles, though they are never really mentioned by name, only by behaviors, physical descriptions, and commentary on their positions in the Czechoslovakian Protectorate. The Czech characters are human, and trying to bump along and maintain their livelihood in light of the occupation.

In many ways, the complexities of the characters is reflective of contemporary postmodern literature. For a subject matter that is frequently a magnet for absolutist thought and behavior (one side being "all bad," the other side being "all good"), Weil deals thoughtfully and provocatively with the two 'sides' to the Nazi occupation. Neither side is portrayed absolutely: there are moments of kindness on both sides of the conflict. The complexity, however, can become an overriding theme in character development - a behavior not uncommon in 'Mendelssohn is on the Roof' - and prevents true character depth from developing throughout the story.

Some of my favorite writing of the book is included when one of the Nazi leaders (presumed, and heavily implied to be, Reinhardt Heydrich) thinks about the importation of German cultural behavior to Prague. The juxtaposition of his thoughts on Beethoven during the purges of the Nazi party members are remarkable, despite being basically absurd.

Weil's poetic descriptions of the beautiful city (which I have loved so well) are fitting and appropriate: they avoid heavy handedness, while still grasping at the deeply emotional connection many feel with the beauty, and cultural traditions of, Prague.

'Mendelssohn is on the Roof' becomes frustrating because clearly Weil has an excellent story idea. The Nazi occupation of Prague is not nearly as frequently discussed or explored through literature and history as many other aspects of World War II, so Weil successfully avoids cliche and triteness; he is able to bring a fresh outlook to a subject that has been, to some extent, overplayed and wrought with rigid intellectual and emotional behavior.

Weil is obviously confident in his ability to create a remarkable foundation for a story (he is extremely successful), but doesn't excercise control over how, precisely, to incorporate underlying themes and character leitmotifs to effectivelly *tell* the story.

Throughout the novel, it's evident that the author is straddling the line between trying to create a magical realist story (a la M. Kundera's tradition) and telling a linear, simple story of survival amongst Prague's residents. Either methodology would have worked equally well, but the indecision about literary methodology - which carries through to the end of the book - sporadically outshines the story's incredible potential as a masterpiece.

Overall, the work is quite excellent, but not without its flaws. Much like the characters of 'Mendelssohn is on the Roof,' the storytelling itself is courageously ambitious. However, Weil's storytelling wavers without a decisive literary behavior

This book is amazing in its realism and emotion. The symbolism takes time to understand but when you do the book takes you to another level. The courage of the Jews and Czech people is heartening and brings another diminsion to what is commonly thought about when you think of WW2. An excellent book that I encourage everyone to read.

The novel begins in Nazi-occupied Prague, soon after the invasion of Russia. There are the nine months when "the Butcher of Prague", Reinhardt Heydrich, as Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, ruled with naked terror. He saw Bohemia as an ancient German land, had utter contempt for the Czechs and was one of the main architects of the "Final Solution": the Jews were already herded into ghettoes; Theresienstadt had already been turned into a holding area from which many Jews were sent to the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Weil has Heydrich regret that in his present position he could only organize the liquidation of the Jews instead of being able, as before, to participate personally in the violence. After Heydrich was assassinated, the terror intensified even more.

The book portrays the brutality and bureaucracy of the regime; the infighting within the different Nazi authorities; how the Nazis terrify each other almost as much as they terrify the people of Prague, as when an order given by Heydrich could not be immediately carried out. One of these orders had been to remove the statue of Mendelssohn from the roof of the Prague Academy of Music when none of his underlings knew which of the many statues was that of Mendelssohn. Such situations are farcical; but we are left in no doubt that there was never anything funny in the outcome, as we follow the precarious lives of several Jews and Czechs. Many have perforce to collaborate with the Germans and even take some pride in it; others reproach themselves bitterly; a few courageously engage in resistance. As the book progresses, it becomes darker and darker as the farcical elements are left behind. We move to Theresienstadt, where the Germans forced Jews to select other Jews to do terrible things to yet other Jews. And the suffering, there and in Prague, continues right up to the time, in the last pages, when the Soviets drive the Germans out of Czechoslovakia. Some of the Nazis' victims had gone to their deaths bravely, knowing that, though they would not live to see it, the Germans would surely be defeated.

Weil wrote not only as a Jew, but also as a lover of Czechoslovakia.

"Mendelssohn is On the Roof" is a worthwhile read that follows the lives of persons (young and old, male and female on both 'sides' of the conflict) impacted by the Nazi 'invasion' of Prague and the country. At times, it is a 'danse macabre' as individuals endeavour to lead 'normal' lives under Nazi occupation. But, ever and always, death hovers about the people - we, the reader, can never shake this reality, and neither can the people whose lives we follow. At times, it is somewhat confusing in what 'locale' the story is taking place. However, this is a story that is well worth the effort it takes to read it. The reader will be moved by the poignancy of the people's struggle and, ultimately, by their resolve to not lose hope even in the face of death.

Jiri Weil has here a masterpiece, a series of events involving a host of characters. Children hiding in a closet, German soldiers of high and low rank, elderly Jewish council members and scholars. What really chills me was my visit to the Holocaust museum days after finishing this book. The identification papers you draw upon entering that I received were for a man in the exact region of my Slovak grandparents. Before leaving much later that day, I viewed newsreels in the library. They provided actual background for the description of Reinhard Heydrich's assassination, told in detail in Weil's book. I highly recommend this excellent book.