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Luneburg Remembered: A Time Before During and After Jews Were Germans Among Nazis
The story of Luneburg Remembered begins in 1995 when the town of Luneburg, Germany invites its Jewish former citizens back for a reunion entitled Shalom in Luneburg (Peace in Luneburg). Susan encouraged her parents to make the extremely difficult decision to return to Germany. Her parents, Edith, born in Luneburg and Werner, born in Hamburg, courageously, albeit with great trepidation, accepted the invitation to return to their ancestral homes and reflect upon the years they lived for many formative years as Jews among Nazis.
Believing that her family's existence along with its long history in Germany had been gladly extinguished, Susan set out to experience her family's former life in Germany through the eyes and memories of her parents.
Anxious to understand and research the past, Susan decided to video record the reunion as a family legacy and to hopefully, one day, be able to fully explain to her young children why they are Americans.
But during that one emotional week in 1995, Susan and her parents were amazed to discover that the Schicklers of Luneburg were not only not forgotten, but their memory had been revived and enshrined by Luneburg's post-war generation. A generation that was taught about the tragedy of Germany’s defeat in war, but not until 30 years had passed did they collectively confront the horrific crimes of Germany’s Third Reich. Crimes that now haunt Germans and bring about a thirst for many to understand the vanquished culture of Germany’s Jews and find ways to make amends. Most Luneburgers had never met a Jew let alone those who were victimized in their own beloved city.
Luneburg's politicians, clergy, teachers, students, and others who participated in “Shalom in Luneburg” owned up fully and unambiguously to Germany's Nazi past. They treated Susan's parents with great kindness, and supported Susan's quest to learn about her family as Germans in Germany. As a child Susan mostly heard stories of her family’s early days as immigrants. Amazingly, Luneburg had already memorialized the Schickler family, beginning with Susan's great grandparents Adolf and Hulda Schickler, in books, posters, school curriculums, newspaper articles, and plays.
"Luneburg Remembered" details the 7-day Shalom in Luneburg reunion, stories of Susan’s family in Germany and the effect of Nazi culture on four generations of Susan’s family. The book details the complicated ordeal of emigration out of Germany, new beginnings in America, the vitality and diversity of the German Jewish immigrant enclave of Washington Heights, New York, how they persevered, and how their children, Susan’s generation, were raised between two cultures in turbulent post war America.
Shalom in Luneburg was such a triumph of good will and had such a lingering positive effect on Susan and her parents that she believes the telling of how Luneburg Remembered them in 1995 could serve as an example of future possibilities in relations between Germans and Jews.
Believing that her family's existence along with its long history in Germany had been gladly extinguished, Susan set out to experience her family's former life in Germany through the eyes and memories of her parents.
Anxious to understand and research the past, Susan decided to video record the reunion as a family legacy and to hopefully, one day, be able to fully explain to her young children why they are Americans.
But during that one emotional week in 1995, Susan and her parents were amazed to discover that the Schicklers of Luneburg were not only not forgotten, but their memory had been revived and enshrined by Luneburg's post-war generation. A generation that was taught about the tragedy of Germany’s defeat in war, but not until 30 years had passed did they collectively confront the horrific crimes of Germany’s Third Reich. Crimes that now haunt Germans and bring about a thirst for many to understand the vanquished culture of Germany’s Jews and find ways to make amends. Most Luneburgers had never met a Jew let alone those who were victimized in their own beloved city.
Luneburg's politicians, clergy, teachers, students, and others who participated in “Shalom in Luneburg” owned up fully and unambiguously to Germany's Nazi past. They treated Susan's parents with great kindness, and supported Susan's quest to learn about her family as Germans in Germany. As a child Susan mostly heard stories of her family’s early days as immigrants. Amazingly, Luneburg had already memorialized the Schickler family, beginning with Susan's great grandparents Adolf and Hulda Schickler, in books, posters, school curriculums, newspaper articles, and plays.
"Luneburg Remembered" details the 7-day Shalom in Luneburg reunion, stories of Susan’s family in Germany and the effect of Nazi culture on four generations of Susan’s family. The book details the complicated ordeal of emigration out of Germany, new beginnings in America, the vitality and diversity of the German Jewish immigrant enclave of Washington Heights, New York, how they persevered, and how their children, Susan’s generation, were raised between two cultures in turbulent post war America.
Shalom in Luneburg was such a triumph of good will and had such a lingering positive effect on Susan and her parents that she believes the telling of how Luneburg Remembered them in 1995 could serve as an example of future possibilities in relations between Germans and Jews.
327 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 5, 2010
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6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 21, 2019
I read this, and I am not really sure that it is a real book, and not a scam. Every sentence had at least one punctuation and/or spelling error. Sometimes the same word would be spelled three different ways in the same paragraph. Words that no self-respecting author (much less a Jewish one) would mistake were misspelled in four languages, English, German, Hebrew and Yiddish. There seemed to be no sense to the editing, other than the basic calendar of the week spent in Germany.
That said, I liked the premise of the book, and if I thought any of it were real, it would be a good read if edited. However, I can find no mention of the Publisher on the internet, and the only mentions of the author (or the book) are on Goodreads or Amazon to sell it.
Therefore I think this is a joke, and a very bad one.
That said, I liked the premise of the book, and if I thought any of it were real, it would be a good read if edited. However, I can find no mention of the Publisher on the internet, and the only mentions of the author (or the book) are on Goodreads or Amazon to sell it.
Therefore I think this is a joke, and a very bad one.
March 14, 2019
On a personal note...
I enjoyed the personal narration as.It seemed to add a certain touch. The diary at the end was a good ending!!
I enjoyed the personal narration as.It seemed to add a certain touch. The diary at the end was a good ending!!
July 31, 2019
Educational
I thought this book to be well written and it was an honest assessment of the feelings of the author and her family.
I thought this book to be well written and it was an honest assessment of the feelings of the author and her family.
August 30, 2022
This book was interesting and in several cases quite moving. Importantly, it was also very honest on a subject that can be difficult to write about.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews