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Breaking the Silence
A story of the German industrialist who allegedly first warned the West of Nazi plans for the mass murder of Jews.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
61 people want to read
About the author
Walter Laqueur
154 books46 followersWalter Ze'ev Laqueur was an American historian, journalist and political commentator. Laqueur was born in Breslau, Lower Silesia, Prussia (modern Wrocław, Poland), into a Jewish family. In 1938, he left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust.
Laqueur lived in Israel from 1938 to 1953. After one year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he joined a Kibbutz and worked as an agricultural laborer from 1939 to 1944. In 1944, he moved to Jerusalem, where he worked as a journalist until 1953, covering Palestine and other countries in the Middle East.
Since 1955 Laqueur has lived in London. He was founder and editor, with George Mosse, of the Journal of Contemporary History and of Survey from 1956 to 1964. He was also founding editor of The Washington Papers. He was Director of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Wiener Library in London from 1965 to 1994. From 1969 he was a member, and later Chairman (until 2000), of the International Research Council of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington. He was Professor of the History of Ideas at Brandeis University from 1968 to 1972, and University Professor at Georgetown University from 1976 to 1988. He has also been a visiting professor of history and government at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Tel Aviv University and Johns Hopkins University.
Laqueur's main works deal with European history in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially Russian history and German history, as well as the history of the Middle East. The topics he has written about include the German Youth Movement, Zionism, Israeli history, the cultural history of the Weimar Republic and Russia, Communism, the Holocaust, fascism, and the diplomatic history of the Cold War. His books have been translated into many languages, and he was one of the founders of the study of political violence, guerrilla warfare and terrorism. His comments on international affairs have appeared in many American and European newspapers and periodicals.
(Wikipedia)
Laqueur lived in Israel from 1938 to 1953. After one year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he joined a Kibbutz and worked as an agricultural laborer from 1939 to 1944. In 1944, he moved to Jerusalem, where he worked as a journalist until 1953, covering Palestine and other countries in the Middle East.
Since 1955 Laqueur has lived in London. He was founder and editor, with George Mosse, of the Journal of Contemporary History and of Survey from 1956 to 1964. He was also founding editor of The Washington Papers. He was Director of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Wiener Library in London from 1965 to 1994. From 1969 he was a member, and later Chairman (until 2000), of the International Research Council of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington. He was Professor of the History of Ideas at Brandeis University from 1968 to 1972, and University Professor at Georgetown University from 1976 to 1988. He has also been a visiting professor of history and government at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Tel Aviv University and Johns Hopkins University.
Laqueur's main works deal with European history in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially Russian history and German history, as well as the history of the Middle East. The topics he has written about include the German Youth Movement, Zionism, Israeli history, the cultural history of the Weimar Republic and Russia, Communism, the Holocaust, fascism, and the diplomatic history of the Cold War. His books have been translated into many languages, and he was one of the founders of the study of political violence, guerrilla warfare and terrorism. His comments on international affairs have appeared in many American and European newspapers and periodicals.
(Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 27, 2018
This book was first written soon after discovery in the 1980's of the Riegner telegram reveled the role of German industrialist Eduard Schulte in brought the world the news of the plans by the Nazis to exterminate European Jewry, at great risk to himself.
He fled to Switzerland to escape Nazi vengeance and through Jewish Swiss community leader passed on the plans for genocide by Hitler, and the fact that the first killings in Auschwitz were already taking place.
This information was ignored by the Allies, who thence bear some responsibility for the mass murder of European Jewry.
Once news of the Nazi genocide had been passed on to the Allies, efforts were made by the leader and Rabbi Stephen Wise to the Allies to procure 1) a joint declaration by the United States and the United Kingdom censuring barbarism and promoting retribution; 2) Opening Palestine to the Jews; 3) Removing all barriers to the immigration of Jewish children; and 4) Exchanging Jews in occupied Europe for interned Axis nationals.
all of these pleas were ignored and rejected.
An interesting point is made in the book concerning Hitler's annexation of Austria and Sudetenland and invasion of Czechoslovakia, that Hitler regarded small states as an anachronism. Just like Leftists today, in the media, politics and universities etc, who see small nation-states as an anachronism, and ignore the rights of regional minorities.
So the next time you hear aleftist say the nation-state is an anachronism, i.e in trying to abolish Israel, remind them that this contempt for the small nation-state was Hitler's view.
This is the story of the life of Eduard Schulte, of the designs of the Nazis and of those courageous Germans who resisted Nazism.
He fled to Switzerland to escape Nazi vengeance and through Jewish Swiss community leader passed on the plans for genocide by Hitler, and the fact that the first killings in Auschwitz were already taking place.
This information was ignored by the Allies, who thence bear some responsibility for the mass murder of European Jewry.
Once news of the Nazi genocide had been passed on to the Allies, efforts were made by the leader and Rabbi Stephen Wise to the Allies to procure 1) a joint declaration by the United States and the United Kingdom censuring barbarism and promoting retribution; 2) Opening Palestine to the Jews; 3) Removing all barriers to the immigration of Jewish children; and 4) Exchanging Jews in occupied Europe for interned Axis nationals.
all of these pleas were ignored and rejected.
An interesting point is made in the book concerning Hitler's annexation of Austria and Sudetenland and invasion of Czechoslovakia, that Hitler regarded small states as an anachronism. Just like Leftists today, in the media, politics and universities etc, who see small nation-states as an anachronism, and ignore the rights of regional minorities.
So the next time you hear aleftist say the nation-state is an anachronism, i.e in trying to abolish Israel, remind them that this contempt for the small nation-state was Hitler's view.
This is the story of the life of Eduard Schulte, of the designs of the Nazis and of those courageous Germans who resisted Nazism.
January 18, 2009
A ground-breaking book when it was published; well written & well researched.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews