My German Question : Growing Up in Nazi Berlin

In this poignant book, a renowned historian tells of his youth as an assimilated, anti-religious Jew in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939—“the story,” says Peter Gay, “of a poisoning and how I dealt with it.” With his customary eloquence and analytic acumen, Gay describes his family, the life they led, and the reasons they did not emigrate sooner, and he explores his own ambivalent feelings—then and now—toward Germany and the Germans. Gay relates that the early years of the Nazi regime were relatively benign for his family: as a schoolboy at the Goethe Gymnasium he experienced no ridicule or attacks, his father’s business prospered, and most of the family’s non-Jewish friends remained supportive. He devised survival strategies—stamp collecting, watching soccer, and the like—that served as screens to block out the increasingly oppressive world around him. Even before the events of 1938–39, culminating in Kristallnacht, the family was convinced that they must leave the country. Gay describes the bravery and ingenuity of his father in working out this difficult emigration process, the courage of the non-Jewish friends who helped his family during their last bitter months in Germany, and the family’s mounting panic as they witnessed the indifference of other countries to their plight and that of others like themselves. Gay’s account—marked by candor, modesty, and insight—adds an important and curiously neglected perspective to the history of German Jewry. “Not only a memoir, it’s also a fierce reply to those who criticized German-Jewish assimilation and the tardiness of many families in leaving Germany” (Publishers Weekly). In this poignant book, a renowned historian tells of his youth as an assimilated, anti-religious Jew in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939—“the story,” says Peter Gay, “of a poisoning and how I dealt with it.” With his customary eloquence and analytic acumen, Gay describes his family, the life they led, and the reasons they did not emigrate sooner, and he explores his own ambivalent feelings—then and now—toward Germany its people. Gay relates that the early years of the Nazi regime were relatively benign for his family, yet even before the events of 1938–39, culminating in Kristallnacht, they were convinced they must leave the country. Gay describes the bravery and ingenuity of his father in working out this difficult emigration process, the courage of the non-Jewish friends who helped his family during their last bitter months in Germany, and the family’s mounting panic as they witnessed the indifference of other countries to their plight and that of others like themselves. Gay’s account—marked by candor, modesty, and insight—adds an important and curiously neglected perspective to the history of German Jewry. “Not a single paragraph is superfluous. His inquiry rivets without let up, powered by its unremitting candor.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “[An] eloquent memoir.” —The Wall Street Journal “A moving testament to the agony the author experienced.” —Chicago Tribune “[A] valuable chronicle of what life was like for those who lived through persecution and faced execution.” —Choice In this poignant book, a renowned historian tells of his youth as an assimilated, antireligious Jew in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939 - "the story," says Peter Gay, "of a poisoning and how I dealt with it." Gay describes his family, the life they led, and the reasons they did not emigrate sooner, and he explores his own ambivalent feelings - then and now - toward Germany and the Germans. Even before the events of 1938-39, culminating in Kristallnacht, the family was convinced that they must leave the country. Gay describes the bravery and ingenuity of his father in working out the agonizing emigration process, the courage of the non-Jewish friends who helped his family during their last bitter months in Germany, and the family's mounting panic as they witnessed the indifference of other countries to their plight and that of others like themselves. Gay's account - marked by candor, modesty, and insight - adds an important and curiously neglected perspective to the history of German Jewry. In this poignant book, a renowned historian tells of his youth as an assimilated, anti-religious Jew in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939. With his customary eloquence and analytic acumen, Gay describes his family, the life they led, and the reasons they did not emigrate sooner, and he explores his own ambivalent feelings -- then and now -- toward Germany and the Germans. Gay's account -- marked by candor, modesty, and insight -- adds an important and curiously neglected perspective to the history of German Jewry.

peter Gay, A Biographer Of Freud And A Historian Of Victorian Culture, Examines His Life As A Teenager In Berlin In The 1930s. He Takes A Psychological Look At The Questions Many American Jews Have: Why Did You Stay After 1933? Didn't You See The Holocaust Coming? This Sensitive Profile Of Gay's Adolescence Years Makes A Remarkable Read.

chicago Tribune - Lucie Prinz

an Intensely Personal Document...[and] A Moving Testament.

In this truly remarkable book, a renowned historian tells of his youth as an assimilated, irreligious Jew in Nazi Germany from 1933-1939. Publisher Fact Sheet. Describes his family; the life they led; and the reasons they did not emigrate sooner. He explores his own ambivalent feelings--then and now--toward Germany and the Germans. This insightful account is a significant contribution to the history of German Jewry and to the art of autobiography Contents 7 Preface 9 ONE Return of the Native 15 TWO In Training 35 THREE The Opium of the Masses 62 FOUR Mixed Signals 71 FIVE Hormones Awakening 98 SIX Survival Strategies 106 SEVEN Best-Laid Plans 125 EIGHT Buying Asylum 152 NINE A Long Silence 169 TEN On Good Behavior 199 Acknowledgments 221 The author traces his youth as an assimilated, atheistic Jew during the early years of the Nazi regime, his family's emigration in 1939, and his lingering ambivalent feelings toward Germany and the Germans On June 27, 1961, we crossed the Rhine Bridge from Strasbourg to Kehl, and I was subjected to the most disconcerting anti-Semitic display I had endured since I left Germany twenty-two years earlier.