Customer Reviews

The Prison Called Hohenasperg: An American Boy Betrayed by His Government During World War II

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Art Jacobs, the author of "The Prison Called Hohenasperg" writes his story out of love. Love of life, country, friends, and family. Unfortunately, Art, at the age of 12 was separated from these very basic essentials of life.

He narrarates this true story detailing his youth in school, boy scouts, and support for his ball club, the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, life will soon change for young Art and his family as his father is illegally taken from them and interned at Ellis Island as a "Nazi criminal". This is just the beginning of the Jacob's family internment journey that takes them from Ellis Island, to the Crystal City Texas Internment Camp, then to Germany where Art spends his 13th birthday in the Hohenasperg prison.

I believe that his intention and motive for writing his story is NOT for compensation, revenge, or to denounce the United States. As I read his story, I felt his sincerity, compassion, and most importantly his intention to MAKE THE TRUTH KNOWN. Because of Art's story, The United States Government has an opportunity to acknowlege Art and other internees that wrongdoings to Americans of German decent did occur.

I recommend this hard to put down, well documented book to those who are interested in WWII history, post WWII Germany, internment life, as well as those interested in reading a boy's burning desire to overcome and succeed under any circumstance to come back to his "Country 'tis of thee".

... A young boy marched back and forth before the hangman's tree with his hands above his head, ordered not the speak, turn his head the wrong way, or even sit to eat - unless he wanted to be hanged - treated like the worst criminals the world has known - and called a little Nazi - He was an American Boy Scout! One day of such treatment, even if corrected immediately, is inexcuseable. We must stop thinking that the United States make mistakes, but the rest of the world makes criminal acts.

I believe this book should be an eye-opener. We need to be concerned that our government can give such power to one man such as Edward J. Ennis, that our military could treat even criminals the way this child was treated, and that most Americans still know nothing about the treatment of German Americans during World War II.

The eyes of the child on the cover tell the sad story of disillusionment, sadness and confusion. Bad enough that the members of this German-American family were interned, but to be treated the way they ultimately were is abominable. It actually defies belief, but surely it is true. Every American civics course should offer this book as proof of what can happen during wartime hysteria and how our government must guard against such antics. The book also stands as clear proof, as if enough didn't already exist, that not only Japanese were interned during WWII by the US, but Germans were, too. It remains a mystery why the government has yet to acknowledge this fact in any meaningful way. Beyond telling the overall internment story, this book is a fascinating eyewitness recital of life as it was for immigrants in Brooklyn, internees at Ellis Island and Crystal City (and the desperate families internees left behind) and for Germans living under the Allied occupation after the war. While military histories abound, it is unusual to find an account of life as it was for the "little guy" in Germany after the war, particularly in English. This book is most valuable for putting a human face on the trials of Germans in the US during the war and of German families after the war...and is definitely a good read.

I started the process of researching German-American internment for a English-101 assignment. I found the author's web site and various other materials on internment. My schooling consisted of learning about Japanese relocation, and as 40-year-old adult, I never knew of the internment of others, called enemy aliens of the United States.

Locating Mr. Jacobs' book in my library, I read a fascinating account of what the author and his family endured during World War II, and after the war with the expatriation and repatriation to Germany.

Interviewing Mr. Jacobs for my research paper, culminated in a better understanding of what our government did, and may do once again with Arab-Americans in the attempt to prevent future terrorism. It is tragic when a government does what it thinks right at the time, but then refuses to apologize for the injustices committed against its own citizens.

I recommend this book to every German-American, as well as all Americans who never learned the whole story during their formative education.

This is a revealing, sometimes intense, sometimes funny, always gripping, factual story of a young American citizen who was deprived of his rights during WWII just because he was of German heritage. It is the story of how he and his family were sent to Germany after the war under armed guard and how he fought to return to the United States he loved. This is one of those books you will not be able to put down. You will laugh and you will cry. You will be educated. You will cheer for this young underdog, who succeeded despite the many obstacles he faced. Mr. Jacobs is very adept at making you feel like you are "reliving a time in your own life." He paints pictures with words. If you were alive during these turbulent times, your memories will once again become vivid. I recommend this book to you most highly.

Mr. Jacobs' book is well written, tugs at the heart, and tells an interesting, but sad story of the internment and deportation of German Americans during and after WWII. Mr. Jacobs, an American citizen by birth, was fortunate to find his way back to America, thanks to some very special people, and his desire to return to the land that he loved. It is important that Americans should become aware of the events that took place in Mr. Jacobs' life, as well as to others in similar circumstance. What happened to Mr. Jacobs should never occur again.

A good read, I rate it highly. And it's important for reminding us that Japanese-Americans weren't the only internees. But the title is misleading; if you're looking for information about Hohenasperg, this is *not* the book for you. The author spent only one week at Hohenasperg, and that appears to have been due to an administrative error which was rectified fairly quickly. Hohenasperg appears as little more than a refrain in this story. And though his father appears to have been mistreated, and this of course had a negative impact on the entire family, the other family members were voluntary internees, choosing to remain with the father.

Don't be fooled by the title of this book...it is for everyone, no matter the age. This is a true story - with a happy ending. Try to imagine yourself at 13 going through these same events! This story is a true example of the price honest people paid to be called a citizen of the United States of America. A must read for those who love history and a must read for those who love America.

The unfolding of this true story touches every emotion. From tears and anger to shame and disgust. It is amazing what one person can endure. Mr. Jacobs has shared his life for one reason, awareness. This book is packed with facts yet doesn't read like a history book. It leaves you wondering and wanting answers. Once you start reading the first page, you won't want to put it down until you have finished the last page.

I hope that historians will become aware of this book and that it will spark some serious research into what has happened to many German-Americans who were unlawfully driven out of the United States during and after the Second World War. How many families were broken up or destroyed this way? How many died in cattle-car journeys at the ends of American bayonets? How many sweltered in American-run prisons and dungeons in postwar Germany?

This area of human experience remains an historical gap. Numerous works have appeared which document the fate of German refugees and expellees at war's end, and what happened to German POWs when they were re-categorized as DEPs (Displaced Enemy Persons) losing their rights and protections under the Geneva Conventions. A few works have shown what the harsh occupation of postwar Germany was like for its inhabitants. Some authors have also studied the internments of German-Americans and the fate of former Bundists. But so far as I know, very little is out there on the fate of Americans deported to Germany during or after the war.

The American author experienced the injustice of his own government and criminal treatment by its soldiers in a land foreign to him (postwar Germany). But he also experienced friendship, kindness, and compassion from other Americans, who in fact helped him return to America to receive an education and then go on to lead a good and worthwhile life.

It is surprising but also gratifying that the author, in spite of his sad experiences, continued to love America and its people and to be willing to serve it for decades after his return. That in itself reflects the good in the human spirit.