Good Germans: A Child's Fateful Journey Through Hitler's Third Reich

by Hal Marienthal

Only rarely does an autobiographical manuscript become a breathtaking thriller However, the novel of American emigrant Hal Marienthal maintains its tension on a high level from the first to the last page and is, at the same time, a time-specific document of a terrifying reality.-Walter Gruenzweig, Vienna Standard"A soul-riveting, heart-shattering personal account of the Holocaust, from the 1920's to liberation under the Statue of Liberty. Absolutely spell-binding."-Kenneth Lincoln (UCLA), Men Down West, The Good Red Road, A Writer's China"Hal Marienthal writes with the assured rhythms of a gifted storyteller. This coming-of-age narrative carries us deep into the heart of Nazi Germany, where a wise child leads us through harrowing near-death tunnels into the expanse of a new life. Rich with cinematic vividness and the authenticity of a first-person witness, Good Germans makes a truly important contribution."-Elizabeth Rosner, The Speed of Light, Blue NudeGermany 1929: Horst, son of Jewish parents, is six years old when he runs away from an orphanage. For three years the desperate little boy survives by sheer determination and with the help of ordinary citizens. Unintentionally he witnesses the rise of Nazism on its most elemental level.Germany 1932: When Horst and his widowed father are reunited they accept proposed adoption plans by distant relatives in Chicago. The agonizing mechanism of getting Horst out of the country is the suspenseful core of the novel. Good Germans becomes an electrifying adventure story whose outcome remains uncertain until the book's final page.

262 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2005

Reviews

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read about 80 pages. It is a poignant, illuminating memoir written as a novel. A powerful description of the early Nazi years (up to 1936) seen mainly through the eyes of a young boy. Marienthal was adopted by a Chicago couple in 1936 and went on to a brilliant academic and film career in the U.S.

There are many insights into what was happening and why; here are two ...

... contempt, indignities and malice grew throughout the country, suffocated all hope, distorted everyone's daily life, stripped away personal identity

... the Nazis had gotten to him … it wasn't the uniforms or the parades or the trappings of power … what attracted him was the Nazi promise of knowing where one belonged in society … he shared an ethos in common with millions of Germans - he loved conformity, while idiosyncrasy was inimical to his sense of well being

I have put the book aside but will return. For now, it is a few years ahead of my timeline in researching and writing CHOOSING HITLER.

[Sharon Raphael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written as an autobiograhical novel by a former colleague (Professor of Theater) of mine named Hal Marienthal who used to be our campus theatrical director. It is about Hal's childhood growing up under Hitler's Nazi Germany. It took Hal until his much later years to attempt to put his mindnumbing and heartbreaking experiences Pre WWII into words. When I saw his name name of the book I knew it had to be a must read if not a good read though the title suggests some good can be found in the worst of times. I am more than half way through the pages and it has been quite a ride through another world, a nightmare filled with strange twists and turns and yes with a few good Germans mixed in there. You be the judge.

I finished the book last night, couldn't put it down. Amazing story about survival against more than just great odds. Very well written. The fact that Hal was able to survive at age six, alone in a hostile environment is testament to his courage and mental strength and to a few "good" Germans and also to timing; this all took place in the thirties not during the War years.