Author Archive

Nazi Anti-Semitism Destroyed Berlin Fashion Industry

Atlanta Jewish Times

The Atlanta Jewish Times reported on the discussion panel for the opening night event launching the traveling exhibition “Fashioning a Nation: German Identity and Industry 1914-1945” curated by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and hosted by the German Cultural Center.

The discussion focused on how Jews had dominated German fashion before World War II.   As historian Uwe Westphal told the audience: creative and innovative fashion by Jewish-German designers created the Roaring Twenties.  The story of the Wolff family’s fur business and what happened was part of the event.

Between 1930 and 1939 the Nazis closed all Jewish fashion companies.  Sadly, as Westphal explained, today’s German fashion students are ignorant of  this sordid history.

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Something New and Fresh to Understanding the Nazi Era

logoJill Swenson starts her blog post with the words:  It’s no secret, I like history. It offers us lessons about the future.  You won’t be surprised then to hear this past year I’ve read a lot of books about the years in Europe leading up to WWII.

“Stolen Legacy” is amongst the new nonfiction books Ms Swenson reviews and recommends.

She is shocked at what she reads of the role of German insurance companies during the Third Reich.  Not only did they play a key role in the Aryanization of the German economy long before stormtroopers forced the removal of Jews from their homes and businesses, but they had insurance policies on the concentration camps and profited nicely from the Nazi policies.

 

She concludes:  This book is a testament to dogged determination to find the facts and determine the truth. 

 

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Fashioning a Nation

speakingAtlanta, GA.   Speaking this evening on a panel at the launch of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust’s traveling exhibit “Fashioning a Nation: German Identity and Industry, 1914-1945.”  This new exhibition explores the powerful history of German fashion from its international impact to its destruction by the Nazi regime. It honors the legacy of the Jewish Germans who contributed to its rise and commemorates the great cultural and economic loss resulting from its demise.  The exhibition will be on display at the Goethe-Centrum, Plaza Level of Colony Square Mall, Atlanta from January 9 – 23, 2017 and then moves on to the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust’s permanent exhibit Anne Frank in the World: 1929-1945 in Sandy Springs.

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Jewish Telegraph

jewish-telegraphAhead of the paperback edition of Stolen Legacy going on sale in the UK next week, the Jewish Telegraph has published this feature.

“A lot of people have told me that the book is crying out to be made into a film, which I think would be wonderful.”

Last month, the British government reaffirmed its commitment to help Holocaust survivors whose property was taken.

“I have done book tours in America and been mobbed, with people telling me their grandmother or uncle or some other relative died and that they have found papers which prove the family owned a property somewhere,” Dina said.

“I can only wish them well and hope they are as fortunate as I was in proving their claim.”

 

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Standpoint magazine

coverIn a glowing review of Anthony Rudolf’s book “Jerzyk” in the December/January edition of Standpoint Magazine, Michael Pinto-Duschinksy writes:

“Anthony Rudolf has produced a small jewel of a book. He tells a compelling, tragic story that brings the reader close not only to the realities of the Holocaust but also to its impact on the survivors and their children over many years.”

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Stolen Legacy is published by the American Bar Association and distributed by Ingram.

Paperback: 328 pages   |   Language: English
ISBN: 978-1634254274
Includes book club discussion questions.