A Question of Belonging [Hardcover]

Ernst G. Beier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002

"A Question of Belonging" is Ernst Beier's modern odyssey of loss and survival in the maelstrom of World War Two. Beier was from an affluent German Jewish family; he escaped to America just before Hitler's Nazi juggernaut closed the borders and he lost contact with the first great love of his life. Beier earned a college degree ina year and one-half and joined the U.S. Army. He fought his way back across Europe, eventually becoming an interpreter for the U.S. Army. All the while Beier used Goethe's "Faust," (which he had virtually memorized) as a talisman and a guide. After the war, Beier returned to the United States and earned a doctorate in psychology. He went on to a distinguished academic career, first at Syracuse University and then at the University of Utah. Ernst Beier's memoir is an epic search for place in a shattered world and a stunning testament to the human spirit. Category: World War/ Two/ Holocaust/ memoirs

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: New Century Books (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093075140X
• ISBN-13: 978-0930751401
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,160,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where do I belong?, April 1, 2005

By 

C. Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Question of Belonging (Paperback)

Ernst was a secular Jew, a youth who considered himself a German, not a Jew. He and his family barely escaped the horror of Nazi Germany, came to the United States, where Ernst completed a college degree in two years and joined the U.S. Army. As an expert skier he wanted to be in the 10th Mountain Division, but was assigned instead to an intelligence unit in the 3rd Army.
His life takes a nasty turn when he is captured by the German Army at the Battle of the Bulge. He and other American soldiers are taken back to Germany to a POW camp. There a Gestapo officer becomes suspicious that he may be a native German Jew and interrogates him for 11 hours.
How Ernst escapes death and survives this interrogation is one of the most gripping stories ever. I highly recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written memoir, June 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Question of Belonging (Paperback)

A gripping and well written memoir by a Jewish man who barely escaped Nazi Germany, only to join the American Army and then be captured by the Germans and almost discovered and killed, this book is hard to put down. The author interweaves quotes from Goethe in an imaginative and evocative style. I recommend it highly.