Wallenberg Is Here! The True Story About How Raoul Wallenberg Faced Down the Nazi War Machine & the Infamous Eichmann & Saved Tens of Thousands of Budapest Jews [Paperback]

Carl L. Steinhouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 20, 2002

Armed only with a Swedish diplomatic passport, Raoul Wallenberg arrived in Budapest to stop the Nazi slaughter of Jews. It's the true story of the unarmed Swede successfully confronting SS Colonel Adolph Eichmann, the SS and Gestapo and German Army

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

During my career as an attorney, before I retired in 1994, I had been a top federal trustbuster and then a senior partner in a large Midwest law firm, litigating complex civil and criminal cases. I used my extensive investigative and research experience to tell and dramatize the amazing Holocaust story about a truly Righteous Gentile, Raoul Wallenberg.

The idea for the Wallenberg book germinated after vacationing in Budapest. While visiting the Main Synagogue and meeting many survivors of the Holocaust, these are some of the statements I heard: "This unarmed Swede pulled us off SS-guarded cattle cars bound for Auschwitz." "He shielded with his body children of an orphanage from the Nazi machine guns about to execute them." "He saved our lives by halting the planned carnage, threatening the German commanding general with war crimes if he carried out SS Colonel Eichmann's order to annihilate the hundred thousand Jews crammed into the ghetto."

The decision to write about the Holocaust was not easy. I had lost relatives in Minsk to the German death squads and the Nazis had murdered the entire family of a dear friend living in my parent's household. For many years the details of the Holocaust were so painful to me that I avoided books and movies on the subject. But after I heard from the Budapest survivors, I knew what I had to do.

About the Author

Carl Steinhouse, a retired lawyer, had been a federal prosecutor for the United States Department of Justice and then entered into private practice specializing in class actions, white-collar crime, RICO civil and criminal trials, and criminal and civil antitrust investigations and trials. He served in the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps, with a tour of duty overseas during the Korean War.

Mr. Steinhouse was Vice Chairman of the Antitrust Law Section of the American Bar Association, on the editorial boards of the Bureau of National Affairs’ (BNA) RICO REPORTER (which reports on and analyzes recent RICO court decisions) and the BNA’s ANTITRUST REPORTS (which does the same for antitrust criminal and civil court decisions). He also wrote and edited books on grand jury practice, criminal trial practice, criminal jury instructions and model criminal jury instructions, among other topics. He was a frequent lecturer and participant in ABA National Institutes and video courses on grand jury and criminal trial practice.

At the time of the crisis for Soviet Jewry, he was active on an international level for the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, making several trips to Jerusalem and Helsinki on fact-finding missions and to the Soviet Union, aiding Refusniks (those Jews the Soviets refused to let emigrate). A board member of the Cleveland Anti-Defamation League until 1999 and formerly on ADL’s National Legal Affairs and National Factfinding Committees, he remains active in ADL matters, including monitoring activities of hate groups.

Mr. Steinhouse, who had family in German-occupied territory during World War II, and had been personally affected by the Holocaust, had his interest in Raoul Wallenberg sparked by a visit to Budapest where he spoke with survivors of the Holocaust who related stories of how they were saved by the brave and fantastic actions of Wallenberg in an adventure rivaling those in the imagination of any fiction writer. Steinhouse used his considerable research skills, honed by thirty-five years in law enforcement and litigation practice, to marshal the facts surrounding this improbable savior of Jews.

The author is happily married and lives in Naples, Florida, where he does his writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: 1st Book Library (November 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403345597
• ISBN-13: 978-1403345592
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carl Steinhouse, a retired lawyer, was a federal prosecutor for the United States Department of Justice for 15 years after which he went into private practice specializing in class actions, white-collar crime, and civil and criminal trials. In the early fifties, he served as an intelligence analyst in the Army Counterintelligence Corps.
Mr. Steinhouse was Vice Chairman of the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association, and on the editorial boards of two Bureau of National Affairs publications. He also wrote and edited books on grand jury practice, criminal trial practice, and criminal juries and a frequent lecturer at ABA National Institutes and video courses on grand jury and criminal trial practice. In 1996, he won the best short story award from the Naples Writers' Conference.
In the 80's and 90's he was active on an international level for the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, making several trips to Jerusalem and Helsinki on fact-finding missions and to the Soviet Union to aid Refusniks (those Jews the Soviets refused to let emigrate). A board member of the Cleveland Anti-Defamation League until 1999 and formerly on ADL's National Legal Affairs and National Fact Finding Committees, he was active in ADL matters, including monitoring activities of hate groups.
Mr. Steinhouse, had lost family in German-occupied territory during World War II, and was personally affected by the Holocaust. He recently participated in a Genocide Prevention program on the site of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
He has published six books in his Holocaust series "Wallenberg is Here!", "Righteous and Courageous", "Improbable Heroes", "Barred", "Wily Fox", and "We Shall Be Called Israel!". The books received rave reviews from Holocaust scholars and authors.
The author is happily married and lives in Naples, Florida, where he does his writing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fiction/Non Fiction--A Subtle Metamorphosis, February 28, 2003

By 

Ronald M Grossman, M.D. (Naples, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wallenberg Is Here! The True Story About How Raoul Wallenberg Faced Down the Nazi War Machine & the Infamous Eichmann & Saved Tens of Thousands of Budapest Jews (Paperback)

If a reader is looking for a good factual, non-fictional account of the horrors of late 1944 Budapest and the efforts of a little known Swedish hero to save the last remaining Jewish community in Europe, then by all means pursue Carl Steinhouse's Wallenberg is Here! If, on the other hand, one wants to immerse one's self in an exciting World War II work of historical fiction, then by all means read Carl Steinhouse's Wallenberg is Here. Can these paradoxical recommendations be a misprint? Most assuredly not, as Mr. Steinhouse's moving portrayal of the true story of Raoul Wallenberg works extremely well on both levels. In fact, it is actually an excellent example of the increasingly popular genre of the fictionalized version of real events peopled by the actual figures, both famous and infamous, in the history of man's journey on this planet.

Carl Steinhouse places us in Budapest in late 1944 and early 1945 with a verisimilitude worthy of the better-known writers of World War II fiction, and his accurate historiography reflects what must have been a long and painstaking research process. The facts presented are reminiscent more of a post-graduate thesis than of a work of historical fiction and while the read is not the juicy stew of other books in this genre, it still remains a tasty consommé to lovers of these works.

The primary antagonists in this quintessential good versus evil tableau are Adolph Eichmann and Raoul Wallenberg. Eichmann and his brutal history are well known to the masses, but Wallenberg is known mostly to those interested in Holocaust studies and it is only in recent years that his leviathan efforts to rescued a doomed humanity have become more widely heralded. Steinhouse provides the reader with a brilliant portrayal of both these men, reinforcing the ignominy so well deserved by the Nazi and the honor due the little known Swedish diplomat. Even the more intense scholars of this global calamity will learn more about the Second World War from this well executed factual/fictional tract.

Mr. Steinhouse deserves praise for reinforcing the utter depravity of Hitler's war against the Jews by presenting it on a very personal, average-man level. By illustrating the work with individual criminal acts, the enormity of the bestial atrocities committed by the Third Reich and its willing accomplices are seared into the reader's consciousness. Obviously some of these victims are fictional, yet their suffering is all too real. The author has also included many lesser know villains in his treatise and by doing so further creates the travail suffered by the Jews of Budapest at the hands of their sadistic tormentors, the Nazis and their willing local fascist allies, the Arrow Cross of Hungary.

The six years of global conflict in the middle years of the twentieth century has provided a most fertile field for authors to cultivate, and the flow of true stories from this period that continue to amaze one seem infinite. Following in this tradition, Mr. Steinhouse has definitely both entertained and enlightened, The book lover in search of a World War Two thriller and the serious student of the history of this watershed in world history can both find intellectual satisfaction between the covers of his eminently readable work. It definitely deserves a place in the literary canon of this fascinating period.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wallenberg Is Here, January 17, 2003

By 

Isabel L. Penix (Hudson, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wallenberg Is Here! The True Story About How Raoul Wallenberg Faced Down the Nazi War Machine & the Infamous Eichmann & Saved Tens of Thousands of Budapest Jews (Paperback)

This is a novel of contrasts - cruelty with compassion, horror with human kindness, despair with hope. The author paints a rending picture of the life-and-death struggle between two men, Raoul Wallenberg, young Swedish diplomat, and Adolph Eichmann, Nazi exterminator. They were alike in their perseverance but vastly different in their values and goals. The fate of thousands of Hungarian Jews was in their hands. While fictionalized, the incidents in which Wallenberg and his associates prevented the deportation of Jews and a memorable debate between Wallenberg and Eichmann have the ring of authenticity. The major and minor characters seem very real. The format of the book, giving date and place of each incident, helps move the story forward.
This novel brings to light a less well known part of the terrible Holocaust epic and gives deserved attention to one of the great benefactors of the period. It is disturbing to read of the terrible Final Solution, and of the slowness of the U.S. government to get involved in extending aid to the victims of Nazi persecution. There is evidence of careful and painstaking research by the author. An excellent bibliography is included.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wallenberg is Here is great!, December 3, 2002

By 

Lois Carlson (Naples, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wallenberg Is Here! The True Story About How Raoul Wallenberg Faced Down the Nazi War Machine & the Infamous Eichmann & Saved Tens of Thousands of Budapest Jews (Paperback)

Wallenberg is Here transports you into wartime Budapest in a way puts you right in the middle of the action. You can feel the terror of the victims, the arrogance of the Nazis and the triumphs and frustrations of Raoul Wallenberg. It's like being right there in an an adventure far more exciting than fiction.

I loved the book.