Wolfgang G. Schwanitz on Nazism in Syria and Lebanon. The Ambivalence of the German Option, 1933-1945
Hitler in the Levant: How Arabs Reacted to the Third Reich in Syria and Lebanon
Nazism in Syria and Lebanon. The Ambivalence of the German Option, 1933-1945 by Götz Nordbruch, Routledge, 2009, 209 pp.
Reviewed by Wolfgang G. Schwanitz
Reassessing Pope Pius XII’s Attitudes toward the Holocaust
Pope Pius XII was the most controversial pope in modern times. Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 visit to the Middle East raised new interest in the attitude of the wartime pope toward the Jews. This becomes even more important in light of the possible advancement of his beatification. The issue remains highly problematic, the more so as the Vatican has not yet opened all its archives on Pius XII.
Letter to Richard Goldstone
In a nutshell, your Report is a deeply flawed document that is not only unbalanced and inflammatory, but reflects a procedurally deficient rush to judgment incapable producing any meaningful findings, least of all charges as grave, politically loaded and emotionally laden as those of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”.
Michelle Mazel on Un nom imperissable. Israel, le sionisme et la destruction des Juifs d’Europe
A Dangerous Obsession
Un nom imperissable. Israel, le sionisme et la destruction des Juifs d’Europe (A name that cannot die: Israel, Zionism and the destruction of the Jews of Europe), by Georges Bensoussan. Editions du Seuil, 2008, 300pp. [French.]
Reviewed by Michelle Mazel
Elisabeth Kuebler on The Discursive Construction of History. Remembering the Wehrmacht’s War of Annihilation
Deconstructing the Myth of the Untainted Wehrmacht
The Discursive Construction of History. Remembering the Wehrmacht’s War of Annihilation edited by Hannes Heer, Walter Manoschek, Alexander Pollak, and Ruth Wodak, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008, 331 pp.
Reviewed by Elisabeth Kuebler
Rivkah Fishman-Duker on The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany
Nazis for Jesus/Jesus for Nazis
The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany by Susannah Heschel. Princeton University Press, 2008, 339 pp.
Reviewed by Rivkah Fishman-Duker
Swedish Reactions to the Anti-Israel Blood Libel Report
The Swedish daily Aftonbladet (AB) published an article suggesting that the Israeli army and medical establishment had colluded to harvest organs from Palestinians and sell them overseas. AB may have won the battle over what it is allowed to print, but it has most certainly lost the war over what should be written.
American Jewry’s Future as Seen Fifty Years Ago and Now
The twenty-first century has challenged if not shattered much of the prevailing optimism about the American Jewish future. Nevertheless, the United States continues to be the Diaspora society most welcoming of Jews and receptive to Jewish participation. Jewish renewal coexists alongside a larger narrative of Jewish assimilation. Jewish political influence may well have peaked, and its continuation should not be taken for granted.
Lawrence Kohn on Why We Watched: Europe, America, and The Holocaust
Spectators to a Civilization’s Destruction
Why We Watched: Europe, America, and The Holocaust, by Theodore S. Hamerow. WW Norton, 2008, 520 pp.
Reviewed by Lawrence Kohn
Michelle Mazel on 1940-1945 : Années érotiques, tome I: Vichy ou les Infortunes de la vertu
An Unsavory Tale
1940-1945 : Années érotiques, tome I: Vichy ou les Infortunes de la vertu [1940-1945: Erotic years, vol. 1: Vichy or the misfortunes of virtue], by Patrick Buisson, Paris: Albin Michel, 2008, 570 pp. [French]
Reviewed by Michelle Mazel
Manfred Gerstenfeld on Ajax, Holland vehamilhama [Ajax, Holland, and the war]
Interested in Football, Reading about the Holocaust
Ajax, Holland vehamilhama [Ajax, Holland, and the war], by Simon Kuper, Tel Aviv: Maariv, 2008, 240 pp. [Hebrew]
Reviewed by Manfred Gerstenfeld
Robert P. Barnidge, Jr. on Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy by Natan Sharansky
Identity as Indispensable for Democracy
Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy by Natan Sharansky, PublicAffairs, 2008, 259 pp.
Reviewed by Robert P. Barnidge, Jr._
Turning a Blind Eye to Hamas War Crimes
On August 14, 2009, “police” forces belonging to the Hamas de-facto administration and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, its military-terrorist wing, attacked the Ibn Taymmiyah mosque in Rafah, where operatives of the Jund Ansar Allah group (affiliated ideologically with Al-Qaeda) were located. Twenty-eight Palestinians were killed in the attack, at least 100 were wounded, and the mosque suffered heavy damages.
Gabriel A. Sivan on Faith against Reason: Religious Reform and the British Chief Rabbinate 1840-1990
Religious Unity – A Vain Pursuit?
Faith against Reason: Religious Reform and the British Chief Rabbinate 1840-1990, by Meir Persoff. Vallentine Mitchell, 2008, xxxi + 476 pp.
Reviewed by Gabriel A. Sivan
Howard M. Weisband on Created Equal, How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought
Creatively Presented
Created Equal, How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought, by Joshua A. Berman. Oxford University Press, 2008, 249 pp.
Reviewed by Howard M. Weisband
