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Perfidy [Illustrated Edition]
An exploration of the Kastner affair: a conspiracy, a violation of conscience, criminal betrayal.
Picture those early days when the new nation of Israel was being formed in the region of Palestine European Jews had just endured history’s ultimate holocaust. Allied governments such as Great Britain had refused to take action to block the trains from carrying thousands of them to certain death. In those final days before the end of the war, the epicenter of the Nazi extermination effort was Hungary. Jews had fled there from Germany and Poland, but they could not outrun the shadow of death. That is the obvious truth, but was there more? Was there collaboration with the enemy that resulted in these murderous acts?
Can you really trust governments and leaders to do what is right and best for those they represent?
As Edmund Burke declared, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." But what happens when those who are trusted as good join forces with evil?
Underlying this story is a bizarre tapestry of deception at the highest levels of government with the lives of many innocents in the balance. The libel trial of Rudolf Kastner, a prominent journalist representing the new government and supported by its Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, establishes the outline of that hidden past, protected by the political interests of some of Israel’s early leaders.
A true classic…History that reads like a mystery novel when villains parade themselves as heroes and the real heroes are targets of evil.-Print ed.
Includes 204 photos, plans and maps illustrating The Holocaust
Picture those early days when the new nation of Israel was being formed in the region of Palestine European Jews had just endured history’s ultimate holocaust. Allied governments such as Great Britain had refused to take action to block the trains from carrying thousands of them to certain death. In those final days before the end of the war, the epicenter of the Nazi extermination effort was Hungary. Jews had fled there from Germany and Poland, but they could not outrun the shadow of death. That is the obvious truth, but was there more? Was there collaboration with the enemy that resulted in these murderous acts?
Can you really trust governments and leaders to do what is right and best for those they represent?
As Edmund Burke declared, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." But what happens when those who are trusted as good join forces with evil?
Underlying this story is a bizarre tapestry of deception at the highest levels of government with the lives of many innocents in the balance. The libel trial of Rudolf Kastner, a prominent journalist representing the new government and supported by its Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, establishes the outline of that hidden past, protected by the political interests of some of Israel’s early leaders.
A true classic…History that reads like a mystery novel when villains parade themselves as heroes and the real heroes are targets of evil.-Print ed.
Includes 204 photos, plans and maps illustrating The Holocaust
294 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1997
41 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
About the author
Ben Hecht
205 books55 followersBen Hecht, an American, wrote short stories, novels, such as
Erik Dorn
in 1921, dramas, including
The Front Page
in 1928 with Charles MacArthur, and screenplays, such as
Gunga Din
in 1938.
Ben Hecht, a journalist, directed and produced movies. A journalist in his youth, he went to 35 books and entertained most people. He received credits alone or in collaboration for seventy films.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hecht
Ben Hecht, a journalist, directed and produced movies. A journalist in his youth, he went to 35 books and entertained most people. He received credits alone or in collaboration for seventy films.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hecht
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 11, 2011
This is Israel 101. No one can say he truly understands how the State of Israel came to be if they have not read this book. The people that form Israel's government, and have been in control since its inception in 1948, will tell you that this book in no accurate. One of the most powerful tools of today's deceivers is their ability to rewrite history and then accuse those speak the truth of being either extremists or insane.
Do not skip over this title.
Do not skip over this title.
January 31, 2014
A book like this, which is clearly meant to critique respected figures and accepted historical narratives, needs to be read critically in its own right.
This book explores historical events but doesn't do so with the objectivity of academic research. There are facts in this book, and there is also interpretation. Hecht does not always distinguish between the two. This book, therefore, should be read as a polemic. Nothing more, nothing less.
Here is a small, early example of the difference between academic research and Hecht's polemic. "[Chaim] Weizmann's [first president of Israel] Anglophilism never wavered until his death," says Hecht. His footnote explains: "Weizmann was appointed president of Israel...in June, 1948...Weizmann hung on to his status as a citizen of Great Britain until a week after taking office..."
Hecht's footnote here is not exactly what I would call clear proof. Weizmann may have waited to revoke his British citizenship for any number of reasons. Hecht is quick to ascribe motive and draw conclusions in this way, which in my view diminishes his credibility.
Furthermore, if I were writing the earlier paragraph in Hecht's florid style, it might have read something like this: "Hecht supports his spurious conclusions with the following statement, clearly meant to convince us beyond a reasonable doubt with its unassailable proof..." Perfidy is filled with sentences like these. A careful reader is reminded that what we are reading is not pure, unadulterated fact, but rather, Ben Hecht's opinions and interpretations of events. A less careful reader could easily be taken in by this sort of rhetoric, which may explain the incredibly high goodreads rating given to what is basically a book-length blog post.
Okay, maybe that's not fair. In fact, Hecht is discussing actual events and uses a variety of source material. Let's unpack the events that Hecht is analyzing.
The book begins by describing Malchiel Greenwald, an aging Holocaust survivor in the early 50s. Greenwald publishes a pamphlet accusing Rudolf Kastner of not only testifying on behalf of Kurt Becher, a Nazi war criminal, and contributing to his exoneration, but collaborating with the Nazis in facilitating the deaths of over 400,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. Kastner, a journalist and public figure with close ties to the Israeli government, served as a major leader of the Jewish Agency Rescue Committee in Hungary during the Holocaust and was instrumental in rescuing a few hundred Hungarian Jews from the Nazis. Greenwald's accusations are surprising, and the Israeli government sues him for slandering Kastner.
The first point of contention is whether Kastner testified on Becher's behalf. Kastner initially denies this but is forced to acknowledge it when confronted with evidence of his having given an affidavit in support of Becher. Can there be any justification for a Jew testifying in support of a Nazi?
According to a Jerusalem Post article, Tommy Lapid (the late Hungarian Holocaust survivor and Israeli political figure, a contemporary of Kastner's) states that Kastner's testifying for Becher was in fulfillment of a promise he'd made when Becher agreed to help Kastner save some of the Jews. While some might argue that Kastner was under no obligation to fulfill this promise, Lapid feels that keeping his promise was part of Kastner's moral code. Additionally, I wonder if an argument may be made that in a future Holocaust-like situation, a Nazi figure might be more receptive to disobeying orders and rescuing victims if he believes there's something in it for him. Lapid also stated that Kastner's initially lying about this was because "in 1950s Israel it would have been impossible to publicly justify his actions."
The second argument is murkier. Kastner is accused of deliberately deluding Hungarian Jews about the truth of the Holocaust in order to prevent their resistance. Kastner was motivated, allegedly, by his deal with Eichmann which allowed him to save a few hundred Jews in exchange for his silence. Kastner is painted as a Nazi favorite, walking around with Nazis, put up as a guest in their hotels, etc. He's also painted as using this small opportunity to rescue his friends and family and a few others at the expense of the vast majority of Hungarian Jews who were deliberately entrapped by Kastner's misrepresentations of Nazi intent.
This particular accusation is initially upheld and later overturned on appeal in a split verdict. Hecht's embracing of the damning nature of this accusation rests on Hecht's apparently entrenched belief that, had the Hungarian Jews known the fate awaiting them, they surely would have successfully protested, rebelled, aroused world sympathy, etc., and that Kastner is responsible for preventing these otherwise inevitable outcomes. Personally, I'm a bit less convinced of this view than Hecht seems to be. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising notwithstanding, I'm not at all sure that any form of successful protest was feasible in that context and that all that was missing for the Hungarian Jews was accurate information. I believe the true picture was far more complex, and I'm not sure that we see the same reality that Kastner saw when he made his choices.
But Perfidy is not only an indictment of Kastner. Hecht accuses Ben Gurion's Mapai party of collaborating with the British and deliberately obstructing attempts to rescue Jews during the Holocaust in order to stay in Britain's good graces. Similar to his allegations against Kastner, Hecht believes that Ben Gurion and his cronies withheld information from the Jews of pre-state Israel so that they would not bother the British with protests and lobbies on behalf of their European brethren. He claims that Joel Brand's failed "Trucks for Blood mission" (Joel Brand worked out a deal with Eichmann to rescue Hungarian Jews in exchange for supplies provided to the Nazis; Brand's mission failed because he was arrested by the British and could not return to Hungary in time to complete the deal) was deliberately sabotaged by representatives of Ben Gurion's group.
These are certainly damning accusations. I'm not a historian, and I have neither the knowledge nor access to the necessary source material to rebut them. Still, I don't feel I can take them at face value. Given Hecht's general polemical tone, sarcasm, dubiously supporting footnotes, etc., I can't take this book entirely seriously. Certainly several serious works have contested Hecht's interpretation of events, according to the Jerusalem Post article.
Overall, I feel this is an important book for a Jew to have read. But it shouldn't be the only one. And it certainly needs to be read with the same degree of criticism that Hecht himself imparts.
This book explores historical events but doesn't do so with the objectivity of academic research. There are facts in this book, and there is also interpretation. Hecht does not always distinguish between the two. This book, therefore, should be read as a polemic. Nothing more, nothing less.
Here is a small, early example of the difference between academic research and Hecht's polemic. "[Chaim] Weizmann's [first president of Israel] Anglophilism never wavered until his death," says Hecht. His footnote explains: "Weizmann was appointed president of Israel...in June, 1948...Weizmann hung on to his status as a citizen of Great Britain until a week after taking office..."
Hecht's footnote here is not exactly what I would call clear proof. Weizmann may have waited to revoke his British citizenship for any number of reasons. Hecht is quick to ascribe motive and draw conclusions in this way, which in my view diminishes his credibility.
Furthermore, if I were writing the earlier paragraph in Hecht's florid style, it might have read something like this: "Hecht supports his spurious conclusions with the following statement, clearly meant to convince us beyond a reasonable doubt with its unassailable proof..." Perfidy is filled with sentences like these. A careful reader is reminded that what we are reading is not pure, unadulterated fact, but rather, Ben Hecht's opinions and interpretations of events. A less careful reader could easily be taken in by this sort of rhetoric, which may explain the incredibly high goodreads rating given to what is basically a book-length blog post.
Okay, maybe that's not fair. In fact, Hecht is discussing actual events and uses a variety of source material. Let's unpack the events that Hecht is analyzing.
The book begins by describing Malchiel Greenwald, an aging Holocaust survivor in the early 50s. Greenwald publishes a pamphlet accusing Rudolf Kastner of not only testifying on behalf of Kurt Becher, a Nazi war criminal, and contributing to his exoneration, but collaborating with the Nazis in facilitating the deaths of over 400,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. Kastner, a journalist and public figure with close ties to the Israeli government, served as a major leader of the Jewish Agency Rescue Committee in Hungary during the Holocaust and was instrumental in rescuing a few hundred Hungarian Jews from the Nazis. Greenwald's accusations are surprising, and the Israeli government sues him for slandering Kastner.
The first point of contention is whether Kastner testified on Becher's behalf. Kastner initially denies this but is forced to acknowledge it when confronted with evidence of his having given an affidavit in support of Becher. Can there be any justification for a Jew testifying in support of a Nazi?
According to a Jerusalem Post article, Tommy Lapid (the late Hungarian Holocaust survivor and Israeli political figure, a contemporary of Kastner's) states that Kastner's testifying for Becher was in fulfillment of a promise he'd made when Becher agreed to help Kastner save some of the Jews. While some might argue that Kastner was under no obligation to fulfill this promise, Lapid feels that keeping his promise was part of Kastner's moral code. Additionally, I wonder if an argument may be made that in a future Holocaust-like situation, a Nazi figure might be more receptive to disobeying orders and rescuing victims if he believes there's something in it for him. Lapid also stated that Kastner's initially lying about this was because "in 1950s Israel it would have been impossible to publicly justify his actions."
The second argument is murkier. Kastner is accused of deliberately deluding Hungarian Jews about the truth of the Holocaust in order to prevent their resistance. Kastner was motivated, allegedly, by his deal with Eichmann which allowed him to save a few hundred Jews in exchange for his silence. Kastner is painted as a Nazi favorite, walking around with Nazis, put up as a guest in their hotels, etc. He's also painted as using this small opportunity to rescue his friends and family and a few others at the expense of the vast majority of Hungarian Jews who were deliberately entrapped by Kastner's misrepresentations of Nazi intent.
This particular accusation is initially upheld and later overturned on appeal in a split verdict. Hecht's embracing of the damning nature of this accusation rests on Hecht's apparently entrenched belief that, had the Hungarian Jews known the fate awaiting them, they surely would have successfully protested, rebelled, aroused world sympathy, etc., and that Kastner is responsible for preventing these otherwise inevitable outcomes. Personally, I'm a bit less convinced of this view than Hecht seems to be. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising notwithstanding, I'm not at all sure that any form of successful protest was feasible in that context and that all that was missing for the Hungarian Jews was accurate information. I believe the true picture was far more complex, and I'm not sure that we see the same reality that Kastner saw when he made his choices.
But Perfidy is not only an indictment of Kastner. Hecht accuses Ben Gurion's Mapai party of collaborating with the British and deliberately obstructing attempts to rescue Jews during the Holocaust in order to stay in Britain's good graces. Similar to his allegations against Kastner, Hecht believes that Ben Gurion and his cronies withheld information from the Jews of pre-state Israel so that they would not bother the British with protests and lobbies on behalf of their European brethren. He claims that Joel Brand's failed "Trucks for Blood mission" (Joel Brand worked out a deal with Eichmann to rescue Hungarian Jews in exchange for supplies provided to the Nazis; Brand's mission failed because he was arrested by the British and could not return to Hungary in time to complete the deal) was deliberately sabotaged by representatives of Ben Gurion's group.
These are certainly damning accusations. I'm not a historian, and I have neither the knowledge nor access to the necessary source material to rebut them. Still, I don't feel I can take them at face value. Given Hecht's general polemical tone, sarcasm, dubiously supporting footnotes, etc., I can't take this book entirely seriously. Certainly several serious works have contested Hecht's interpretation of events, according to the Jerusalem Post article.
Overall, I feel this is an important book for a Jew to have read. But it shouldn't be the only one. And it certainly needs to be read with the same degree of criticism that Hecht himself imparts.
January 23, 2011
I am changed after reading this book. Hecht's skill as a writer is on full display here, you forget you're reading a book and instead are transformed into a witness for this inhumane tragedy. All I can say is that it is acutely painful, at times beautiful ( the portraits of inhumanity are balanced by the few acts of true bravery and heroism) and all in all very necessary reading. To conclude, from this book, all I have left to add is that I love Israel. The land, the people. But the Israeli government, then and now, has no right, moral or otherwise to call itself any thing other than a pack of soulless animals. History may be at times malleable; but they are not justified, excused or exonerated. May they pay the ultimate price for their depravity and viciousness in dealing with their 'brothers' their fellow Jews. Please read this book.
May 11, 2014
The author uses the Kastner trial to document how many of the most important and esteemed Zionist founders of Israel collaborated with the Nazis to send millions of European Jews to their deaths. Among these notables are many who falsely claimed to have "saved Jews," or at least to have worked towards saving Jews, when they had actually murdered Jews who had spoken the truth and attempted to intervene.
Can this be true? I know with every fiber of my being that it is. Although I no longer consider myself a Jew, I was born to Jewish parents and was raised as a Jew. My parents spoke often of The Holocaust and that we had relatives who had died in concentration camps. As a child, and for a long time afterward, I read everything I could find about The Holocaust, trying to figure out how such a thing could happen, how millions of Jews could have been killed, and I worried that it might happen again and that I could be a victim.
It wasn't until decades later that I began to question what I'd been told. Since my parents lived here in the USA, if we had relatives in Europe, why hadn't they brought them here to save them from certain death? And no sooner had I framed the question, than I knew the answer.
You see my parents were first generation Americans, born to immigrant parents. As they grew up, they went to US schools and learned English and American ways. Often they were called upon to translate for their parents, who didn't speak English very well. This sort of thing gave them a sense of superiority. They felt nothing but shame for and contempt of their parents. They themselves managed to move out of Brooklyn and to achieve the American dream, a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Visits from our grandparents were rare, and it was clear even to a child that our parents and grandparents didn't get along.
So, when my parents learned that our relatives in Europe were pleading for their lives, what could they do? They certainly weren't going to sponsor them. Spending money just to bring them here might have meant forfeiting their house in the suburbs and moving back to Brooklyn where immigrants lived. They certainly weren't going to bring immigrants, people who were poor, who didn't know how to properly wear American clothes, who didn't even speak English, into their suburban home. Perhaps they gave a few dollars to the Jewish agencies that claimed to be rescuing Jews, the agencies that I now know were actually collaborating with the Nazis and sending Jews to their deaths.
I know in my heart that the words the author quotes are true, that the great Jewish Zionist leaders were elitists like my parents, only even worse. They did rescue some of their own families, and some of the Jews they felt were superior people like themselves, wealthy, educated, powerful, etc. But they wanted nothing to do with ordinary Jews and were quite happy to, if it helped them advance their political careers, collaborate with the Nazis to send millions of innocent Jews to their deaths.
Yes, the Nazis, the Israelis, the Zionists, and the world's most influential Jews will deny the truths in this book. How could they not? Does anyone think that people who collaborate with mass murderers wouldn't lie to save their own skins?
I bought the Kindle edition, and I suspect that the print edition may also be full of typographical errors. But this is not a book of fiction and it wasn't meant to be pretty. It was meant to shine a light on truths that the world needs to know. These are universal truths that do not just apply to Nazis and Jews. How could billions of Native Americans have been exterminated while the whole world either did nothing or took part in the genocide? How could genocides have happened in Guatemala, Cambodia, and still be going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
I used to ask how anyone in Germany could have voted for Hitler, until I saw millions of Americans vote for a government that had killed millions of innocents in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and then vote for a "new" government that was pledged to expand those wars, and did so, killing more innocents in Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and now Syria and the Ukraine.
Humanity is a misnomer. There is nothing humane about our species. There are a few who manage to resist the brainwashing, but they are called dissidents, shunned, and punished for their dissent. Most people go along to get along, care little for others, and try to better their own situations as best they can. Offer a sweet, well-mannered, seemingly intelligent boy or girl a college education and they'll happily volunteer to kill innocent people they've never met. Offer a politician a big campaign donation, and the opportunity to invest in the defense stocks they know will increase in value, and they'll happily vote for wars that will kill millions of innocent people.
I consider myself one of the most fortunate people to have ever lived on this planet. I have never experienced war and I am 74 years old. With any luck at all, the next war will be nuclear and I'll be close enough to ground zero to die quickly without suffering. Perhaps that's too much to ask for, but it is painful enough for me just to know the agonies that others have suffered and are suffering, and to see those responsible basking in their wealth, power, and glory. I have no wish to see more.
If you wish to understand genocide, read Perfidy. Here are the humans who sacrifice others for their own personal gain, and who shrug the atrocities in which they are complicit off as merely unfortunate. It is the fortunate who are responsible. People respect, admire, and obey those who deceitfully send them to their deaths--otherwise they would never go. It is respect for authority that causes people to become mass murderers and to become victims. Of course there are also elements of greed, but without respect for authority, all the global destruction, the wars, and the genocides would cease. There would be no authorities to order them, and no gullible fools to obey those orders.
One small trial, mostly denied and hidden from history, but, at least for a moment, pulling back the curtain on the wizards of Ozymandias. Ignore the typos and read the book.
Can this be true? I know with every fiber of my being that it is. Although I no longer consider myself a Jew, I was born to Jewish parents and was raised as a Jew. My parents spoke often of The Holocaust and that we had relatives who had died in concentration camps. As a child, and for a long time afterward, I read everything I could find about The Holocaust, trying to figure out how such a thing could happen, how millions of Jews could have been killed, and I worried that it might happen again and that I could be a victim.
It wasn't until decades later that I began to question what I'd been told. Since my parents lived here in the USA, if we had relatives in Europe, why hadn't they brought them here to save them from certain death? And no sooner had I framed the question, than I knew the answer.
You see my parents were first generation Americans, born to immigrant parents. As they grew up, they went to US schools and learned English and American ways. Often they were called upon to translate for their parents, who didn't speak English very well. This sort of thing gave them a sense of superiority. They felt nothing but shame for and contempt of their parents. They themselves managed to move out of Brooklyn and to achieve the American dream, a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Visits from our grandparents were rare, and it was clear even to a child that our parents and grandparents didn't get along.
So, when my parents learned that our relatives in Europe were pleading for their lives, what could they do? They certainly weren't going to sponsor them. Spending money just to bring them here might have meant forfeiting their house in the suburbs and moving back to Brooklyn where immigrants lived. They certainly weren't going to bring immigrants, people who were poor, who didn't know how to properly wear American clothes, who didn't even speak English, into their suburban home. Perhaps they gave a few dollars to the Jewish agencies that claimed to be rescuing Jews, the agencies that I now know were actually collaborating with the Nazis and sending Jews to their deaths.
I know in my heart that the words the author quotes are true, that the great Jewish Zionist leaders were elitists like my parents, only even worse. They did rescue some of their own families, and some of the Jews they felt were superior people like themselves, wealthy, educated, powerful, etc. But they wanted nothing to do with ordinary Jews and were quite happy to, if it helped them advance their political careers, collaborate with the Nazis to send millions of innocent Jews to their deaths.
Yes, the Nazis, the Israelis, the Zionists, and the world's most influential Jews will deny the truths in this book. How could they not? Does anyone think that people who collaborate with mass murderers wouldn't lie to save their own skins?
I bought the Kindle edition, and I suspect that the print edition may also be full of typographical errors. But this is not a book of fiction and it wasn't meant to be pretty. It was meant to shine a light on truths that the world needs to know. These are universal truths that do not just apply to Nazis and Jews. How could billions of Native Americans have been exterminated while the whole world either did nothing or took part in the genocide? How could genocides have happened in Guatemala, Cambodia, and still be going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
I used to ask how anyone in Germany could have voted for Hitler, until I saw millions of Americans vote for a government that had killed millions of innocents in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and then vote for a "new" government that was pledged to expand those wars, and did so, killing more innocents in Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and now Syria and the Ukraine.
Humanity is a misnomer. There is nothing humane about our species. There are a few who manage to resist the brainwashing, but they are called dissidents, shunned, and punished for their dissent. Most people go along to get along, care little for others, and try to better their own situations as best they can. Offer a sweet, well-mannered, seemingly intelligent boy or girl a college education and they'll happily volunteer to kill innocent people they've never met. Offer a politician a big campaign donation, and the opportunity to invest in the defense stocks they know will increase in value, and they'll happily vote for wars that will kill millions of innocent people.
I consider myself one of the most fortunate people to have ever lived on this planet. I have never experienced war and I am 74 years old. With any luck at all, the next war will be nuclear and I'll be close enough to ground zero to die quickly without suffering. Perhaps that's too much to ask for, but it is painful enough for me just to know the agonies that others have suffered and are suffering, and to see those responsible basking in their wealth, power, and glory. I have no wish to see more.
If you wish to understand genocide, read Perfidy. Here are the humans who sacrifice others for their own personal gain, and who shrug the atrocities in which they are complicit off as merely unfortunate. It is the fortunate who are responsible. People respect, admire, and obey those who deceitfully send them to their deaths--otherwise they would never go. It is respect for authority that causes people to become mass murderers and to become victims. Of course there are also elements of greed, but without respect for authority, all the global destruction, the wars, and the genocides would cease. There would be no authorities to order them, and no gullible fools to obey those orders.
One small trial, mostly denied and hidden from history, but, at least for a moment, pulling back the curtain on the wizards of Ozymandias. Ignore the typos and read the book.
August 12, 2013
Ben Hecht, along with Peter Bergson, sounded the calls of alarm in the period leading up to, and during, the implementation of Hitler's Final Solution for the "Jewish Problem". The only problem was, very few in positions of power (be they Jewish or not) listened until it was too little, too late.
This is the kind of book that can shake your fundamental beliefs to the core... and sometimes, that's a good thing. Rudolf Kastner's "rescue" of a trainload of Jews from Nazi-occupied Hungary would normally stand out as a tale to be commemorated, but... as you read more and more, you realize that what started as heroic turned to horrific. Illusions will be shattered.
This is the kind of book that can shake your fundamental beliefs to the core... and sometimes, that's a good thing. Rudolf Kastner's "rescue" of a trainload of Jews from Nazi-occupied Hungary would normally stand out as a tale to be commemorated, but... as you read more and more, you realize that what started as heroic turned to horrific. Illusions will be shattered.
October 24, 2010
A good book for anyone who is interested in seeking out real history and not just the mainstream lies. This speaks of the perfidy, or wickedness, that the founders of the state of Israel allowed to be perpetrated upon their fellow Jews. This book was kind of hard to get into because it is so pro-Zionist and I'm so anti-Zionist. To that point, Ben Hecht gushed numerous times about the brave patriots fighting for a Jewish homeland, but he has nothing to say about the Palestinians whose land is being usurped. One word. . .racism.
November 19, 2022
So. . . I feel like me reading this book requires a lot of background. 😄 My dad thinks I’m a die-hard Zionist. I mean my views of the Zionism movement are something I’m happy to explore in a non-book-review setting, but suffice it to say, his understanding of my opinions, especially in opposition to his very intense ones, are far more extreme than they actually are.
Anyway, whenever I mention anything about Israel or the Zionist movement or anything to my dad, he tells me I wouldn’t feel that way if I only read Perfidy. I found that hard to believe, considering it’s about World War II and most of the founders of the Zionist movement were long dead by then, but, you know, I can’t argue until I read this book. So finally, after years of him saying that, I read the book.
So. . . background to why I read this over with, and lo and behold, I was right! This book is pretty much about a few later figures in the state of Israel. . . it has little to nothing to do with the birth of the Zionist movement and Israel as a nation. And even if you take everything at face value, which you probably shouldn’t (more on that later), it’s a critique against two or three individuals in the Israeli government during World War II.
As for whether or not you should take everything this book says as truth. . . I mean, it did make some pretty jarring claims that, if true, are horrifying on many levels. And perhaps they are true. . . but it was terribly one-sided and really didn’t even make an attempt to discuss the other side’s defense or provide any context. It just painted a bunch of people as cruel murderers motivated by nothing, and I think even if they are responsible, there’s got to be more to the story, and it really provided none of that. It was also extremely biased, with a very clear agenda, and its sourcing was shoddy. So I felt like it was hard to trust it.
In summary, should you read this book? I mean if you need to read it to counter arguments on Theodor Herzl’z character, fine. But other than that, I felt like it lacked context or nuance or really any balance.
Anyway, whenever I mention anything about Israel or the Zionist movement or anything to my dad, he tells me I wouldn’t feel that way if I only read Perfidy. I found that hard to believe, considering it’s about World War II and most of the founders of the Zionist movement were long dead by then, but, you know, I can’t argue until I read this book. So finally, after years of him saying that, I read the book.
So. . . background to why I read this over with, and lo and behold, I was right! This book is pretty much about a few later figures in the state of Israel. . . it has little to nothing to do with the birth of the Zionist movement and Israel as a nation. And even if you take everything at face value, which you probably shouldn’t (more on that later), it’s a critique against two or three individuals in the Israeli government during World War II.
As for whether or not you should take everything this book says as truth. . . I mean, it did make some pretty jarring claims that, if true, are horrifying on many levels. And perhaps they are true. . . but it was terribly one-sided and really didn’t even make an attempt to discuss the other side’s defense or provide any context. It just painted a bunch of people as cruel murderers motivated by nothing, and I think even if they are responsible, there’s got to be more to the story, and it really provided none of that. It was also extremely biased, with a very clear agenda, and its sourcing was shoddy. So I felt like it was hard to trust it.
In summary, should you read this book? I mean if you need to read it to counter arguments on Theodor Herzl’z character, fine. But other than that, I felt like it lacked context or nuance or really any balance.
Read
June 12, 2022קריאה נעימה ואינפורמטיבית.
הסופר מתחיל בוידוי שהעמדה שלו מוטית כלפי צד אחד, וממלא את הבטחתו לאורך כל הספר, אי אפשר להאשים אותו כי הוא לא מתיימר לייצג את שני הצדדים.
אם המטרה של הספר היתה לשכנע את הקורא בצדקת הנאשם והרשעת התובע, המטרה לא הושגה בקריאתי. כל מה שהשתכנעתי היא בכישוריו המופלאים של הסנגור שמואל תמיר (לו הוקדש הספר), אין ספק שהוא עשה עבודה נפלאה, ואכן ברבות הימים הפך לפוליטיקאי מצליח במפלגת הליכוד.
הספר אינו עוסק במשפט קסטנר, הספר עוסק בסנגוריה של המשפט, ובכך - המחבר עושה עבודה נפלאה.
בקשר לפרשה עצמה, אני מרגיש שחסר לי ידע, אך נדהמתי לראות איך סוגיה פנים יהודית עלתה לכותרות עוד לפני משפט אייכמן, אנחנו היהודים הלקינו את עצמנו על חוסר מוסריות בדקויות.
אני אישית הייתי מעדיף לעזוב את דילמת הקרונית ולהתעסק במפעילי הקרונות עצמם, להפיל את האחריות עליהם ורק עליהם.
Pleasant and informative reading.
The author begins by confessing that his position is biased towards one side, thereby fulfilling his promise throughout the book. at least he cannot be blamed for not pretending to represent both sides.
If the purpose of the book was to convince the reader of the righteousness of the defendant and the viciousness of the plaintiff, the purpose was not achieved in my reading. All I was convinced was of the wonderful skills of defense attorney Shmuel Tamir (to whom the book was dedicated). There is no doubt that he did a wonderful job, and indeed in time, he became a successful politician in the Likud party.
The book does not deal with the Kasztner trial. The book deals with the defense of the trial, and thus - the author does a wonderful job.
Regarding the affair itself, I feel I lack knowledge, but I was amazed to see how a Jewish internal issue made headlines even before the Eichmann trial. We Jews have punished ourselves for immorality in subtle dilemmas.
I personally would have preferred to leave the trolley problem and deal with the wagon operators themselves, placing the responsibility on them and only on them.
הסופר מתחיל בוידוי שהעמדה שלו מוטית כלפי צד אחד, וממלא את הבטחתו לאורך כל הספר, אי אפשר להאשים אותו כי הוא לא מתיימר לייצג את שני הצדדים.
אם המטרה של הספר היתה לשכנע את הקורא בצדקת הנאשם והרשעת התובע, המטרה לא הושגה בקריאתי. כל מה שהשתכנעתי היא בכישוריו המופלאים של הסנגור שמואל תמיר (לו הוקדש הספר), אין ספק שהוא עשה עבודה נפלאה, ואכן ברבות הימים הפך לפוליטיקאי מצליח במפלגת הליכוד.
הספר אינו עוסק במשפט קסטנר, הספר עוסק בסנגוריה של המשפט, ובכך - המחבר עושה עבודה נפלאה.
בקשר לפרשה עצמה, אני מרגיש שחסר לי ידע, אך נדהמתי לראות איך סוגיה פנים יהודית עלתה לכותרות עוד לפני משפט אייכמן, אנחנו היהודים הלקינו את עצמנו על חוסר מוסריות בדקויות.
אני אישית הייתי מעדיף לעזוב את דילמת הקרונית ולהתעסק במפעילי הקרונות עצמם, להפיל את האחריות עליהם ורק עליהם.
Pleasant and informative reading.
The author begins by confessing that his position is biased towards one side, thereby fulfilling his promise throughout the book. at least he cannot be blamed for not pretending to represent both sides.
If the purpose of the book was to convince the reader of the righteousness of the defendant and the viciousness of the plaintiff, the purpose was not achieved in my reading. All I was convinced was of the wonderful skills of defense attorney Shmuel Tamir (to whom the book was dedicated). There is no doubt that he did a wonderful job, and indeed in time, he became a successful politician in the Likud party.
The book does not deal with the Kasztner trial. The book deals with the defense of the trial, and thus - the author does a wonderful job.
Regarding the affair itself, I feel I lack knowledge, but I was amazed to see how a Jewish internal issue made headlines even before the Eichmann trial. We Jews have punished ourselves for immorality in subtle dilemmas.
I personally would have preferred to leave the trolley problem and deal with the wagon operators themselves, placing the responsibility on them and only on them.
August 12, 2016
Self serving grandstanding with little regard for historical facts or the reality of the time.
August 1, 2020
"Perfidy" is a very powerful book. It must be read with the understanding that it is Ben Hecht's response to an Israel founded and dominated by the Mapai party and its leaders. Hecht, clearly a part of the Jabotinsky camp, had many issues with Ben Gurion, Moshe Sharett, and other leaders of Mapai. He uses the trial of Malchiel Gruenwald to put forth his perspective. Malchiel Gruenwald published a page accusing Rudolf Kasztner of collaborating and with the Germans to help liquidate the Jews of Hungry. Kasztner was able to save 600 Jews; however, there is a controversy over whether he did aid in the liquidation of the rest of the Jews. He was also give special treatment by several high ranking Nazi for whom he, in turn, wrote to the Nuremberg commission which aided in freeing Kurt Bechler.
The most damning evidence offered in the book was not against Rudolf Kasztner but against Moshe Sharett himself. Adolf Eichmann approached Joel Brand, a member of Kasztner's team, and offered to save 1 million Jews if the Jewish Agency would agree to deliver hard goods that the Germans desperately needed. Many historians believe this was an attempt by Hitler and his highest officers to end the war with the US, France, and the west so he could in fact concentrate all his efforts on Russia. There are many historians who believed Hitler could not understand why the US, UK, and others would ally with a Communist Russia.
The bottom line for Hecht's plot was that Joel was never allowed to carry out his mission. Under suspicious circumstances, he was arrested by the British and held in captivity for many months to prevent him from returning to Budapest and completing negotiations with Eichmann.
Ben Hecht portrays the leaders of the Jewish Agency and the Mapai party as a bunch of spineless people willing to do the British bidding. For those who know the history of the creation of Israel, they are familiar with the fact that there were many disputes and disagreements, especially between Ben Gurion and leaders of other factions. In "Revolt" Menachem Begin disputes accounts of Deir Yassin, the bombing of the King David Hotel, and the battle of the Altalena. Despite the denials by Ben Gurion and the Jewish Agency for having anything to do with the first two incidents, Menachem Begin claims they were coordinated with Haganah and thus the leadership of the Jewish Agency. As for the Altalena, Ben Gurion portrayed it as a civil struggle; however, when attacked, Menachem Begin did not allow the people on the boat to fire back.
And of course, there was the "The Saison." This was Ben Gurion instructing the Haganah to hunt down and turn in the members of the Irgun and the Lechi to the British. There are many historians who note that the British might not have been willing to give up their mandate if it were not for the attacks by these other groups. And when it was convenient for Ben Gurion, he cooperated and also attacked the British.
There, of course, is some truth to Ben Hecht's attack on the Mapai leaders; however, that was not the issue that struck me the most. The issue that struck me the most was how the world reacted to the killing of Jews. This is not the only incident that Jews were abandoned; not only by the rest of the world but by their fellow Jews. There were many Nazi demonstrations such as the "Voyage of the Damned" or this offer to save 1 million Jews where the rest of the world did not take action. The Americans and the British knew what was going on in Auschwitz. They knew the train lines leading up to the camp. And yet, they never bombed them. By simply bombing the train lines or the crematoria they could have saved hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives; Jewish and otherwise. The Nazi's took these lack of actions as proof positive that the world does not care about the Jews.
I cannot sit and judge the action of the people in that era. I am certain that the situations and facts surrounding these issues are very complicated. All I can do are two things. The first is to speak out when I see injustice, racism, and antisemitism today. And the second is to make sure my children know and understand these issues and will speak out against tyranny in the future.
As for the State of Israel, and it's leaders, all I can say is that they, like leaders all around the world, are human. I do not look at David Ben Gurion, Moshe Sharett, or the leaders from that time through rose-colored glasses. I understand they had hard choices to make which eventually led to the formation of the State of Israel. And for that, I am forever grateful. I also recognized all of them as human, and as I study their history, I find many incidents that I find very troubling.
The bottom line of "Perfidy" for me understanding that we can never again tolerate such atrocities and the Holocaust.
The most damning evidence offered in the book was not against Rudolf Kasztner but against Moshe Sharett himself. Adolf Eichmann approached Joel Brand, a member of Kasztner's team, and offered to save 1 million Jews if the Jewish Agency would agree to deliver hard goods that the Germans desperately needed. Many historians believe this was an attempt by Hitler and his highest officers to end the war with the US, France, and the west so he could in fact concentrate all his efforts on Russia. There are many historians who believed Hitler could not understand why the US, UK, and others would ally with a Communist Russia.
The bottom line for Hecht's plot was that Joel was never allowed to carry out his mission. Under suspicious circumstances, he was arrested by the British and held in captivity for many months to prevent him from returning to Budapest and completing negotiations with Eichmann.
Ben Hecht portrays the leaders of the Jewish Agency and the Mapai party as a bunch of spineless people willing to do the British bidding. For those who know the history of the creation of Israel, they are familiar with the fact that there were many disputes and disagreements, especially between Ben Gurion and leaders of other factions. In "Revolt" Menachem Begin disputes accounts of Deir Yassin, the bombing of the King David Hotel, and the battle of the Altalena. Despite the denials by Ben Gurion and the Jewish Agency for having anything to do with the first two incidents, Menachem Begin claims they were coordinated with Haganah and thus the leadership of the Jewish Agency. As for the Altalena, Ben Gurion portrayed it as a civil struggle; however, when attacked, Menachem Begin did not allow the people on the boat to fire back.
And of course, there was the "The Saison." This was Ben Gurion instructing the Haganah to hunt down and turn in the members of the Irgun and the Lechi to the British. There are many historians who note that the British might not have been willing to give up their mandate if it were not for the attacks by these other groups. And when it was convenient for Ben Gurion, he cooperated and also attacked the British.
There, of course, is some truth to Ben Hecht's attack on the Mapai leaders; however, that was not the issue that struck me the most. The issue that struck me the most was how the world reacted to the killing of Jews. This is not the only incident that Jews were abandoned; not only by the rest of the world but by their fellow Jews. There were many Nazi demonstrations such as the "Voyage of the Damned" or this offer to save 1 million Jews where the rest of the world did not take action. The Americans and the British knew what was going on in Auschwitz. They knew the train lines leading up to the camp. And yet, they never bombed them. By simply bombing the train lines or the crematoria they could have saved hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives; Jewish and otherwise. The Nazi's took these lack of actions as proof positive that the world does not care about the Jews.
I cannot sit and judge the action of the people in that era. I am certain that the situations and facts surrounding these issues are very complicated. All I can do are two things. The first is to speak out when I see injustice, racism, and antisemitism today. And the second is to make sure my children know and understand these issues and will speak out against tyranny in the future.
As for the State of Israel, and it's leaders, all I can say is that they, like leaders all around the world, are human. I do not look at David Ben Gurion, Moshe Sharett, or the leaders from that time through rose-colored glasses. I understand they had hard choices to make which eventually led to the formation of the State of Israel. And for that, I am forever grateful. I also recognized all of them as human, and as I study their history, I find many incidents that I find very troubling.
The bottom line of "Perfidy" for me understanding that we can never again tolerate such atrocities and the Holocaust.
May 21, 2015
Very interesting narrative, differs completely from others in dealing with the Jews Holocaust, and complicity of the so called Jews Agency.
May 5, 2025
מתוך גב הספר:
"זה שלוש שנים אני מחכה לרגע זה כדי להביא לדין ולשפוך את ביזיון הציבור על רודף קריירה זה, הנהנה ממעשי השוד והרצח של היטלר. על יסוד תחבולותיו הפליליות ובגלל שיתוף פעולה עם הנאצים, אני רואה אותו כרוצח בעקיפין של אחיי היקרים."
האשמה זו, אשר פורסמה ע"י יהודי זקן ואלמוני בעלון מס' 51, הציתו את המשפט הדרמטי בתולדות מדינת ישראל. זהו סיפור שהחל בתביעת דיבה של מדינת ישראל נגד מלכיאל גרינוולד - קשיש שאיבד את משפחתו בשואה - והפכה, בזכות סניגור אמיץ אחד, לכתב אישום כואב וחותך נגד ההנהגה הציונית בארץ ובעולם, שהעדיפה לשמור על מעמדה ועל קשריה הטובים עם הבריטים על פני הצלת היהודים המובלים למשרפות.
זהו סיפורו המדהים של ישראל רודולף קסטנר, מנהיג ציוני שנשבה בקסמו של אייכמן והפך לחוליה מרכזית בהשמדת שמונה מאות אלף יהודי הונגריה ולסניגורם של מנהיגי הנאצים. ביצירה קלאסית זו, מחזיר אותנו הכט בזמן לעלילה הנשכחת שהסעירה את המדינה הצעירה, הפילה את ממשלתו של בן גוריון וחוללה מחלוקת שלא נפתרה עד עצם היום הזה על אחריותנו לגורל העם היהודי. בלהט מוסרי ובכשרון סיפורי נדיר מחזיר אותנו בן הכט למשפט דרך קטעים מתוך הפרוטוקול, נאומים ועדויות מטלטלות וקשות מנשוא, עדויות אשר משרטטות דיוקן מזוויע של דמותם של קסטנר - ושולחיו.
ועכשיו אלי:
בתקופה לא פשוטה זו מבין השורות נשקפות התובנות: "עטוף את הרשע במילים צדקניות ומי יטרח לבחון את הצרור העטוף מקרוב?" (עמ' 30) " האמונה בשררה היא עמוד השדרה של כל ציווליזציה…אם מחר יעלה עולמנו בעשן, לא יפחת מעמדה של השררה…בטוחני כי מאה המיליונים האחרונים בבני האנוש שינפחו את נשמתם…יעשו כן תוך אמונה בלתי מעורערת בצדקת מנהיגיהם".
כשם שהשתמשו בטרמינולוגיה של "ועד ההצלה" ובפועל סייעו להשמדה, כך נשמעות לי הקריאות "דמוקרטיה" שבשמם מאיימים להחריב את הארץ היום. משסים את מעמד העבדים אלו באלו, באמונה בצדקת דרכם, יותירו אדמה חרוכה.
"הם יודעים היטב מה הדבר הטוב ביותר עבור העם-המשך השררה שלהם. הם יודעים נאמנה מה צודק - התחבולות והתעלולים העוזרים לקיים את השלטון בידיהם. והם יודעים מהו הרע - כל דבר המסכן את שלטונם." (עמ' 31)
"לא לעצמם הם דואגים…לעתיד הציונות הם חרדים. הם אינם נאחזים בכסאותיהם, בשולחנותיהם, בשמם ובתואר שעל הדלת כהיאחז בקרנות המזבח. לא. את הציונות הם מבקשים להציל" (עמ' 43)
ואולי כאן התחיל השבר במערכת המשפט.
ב"חרות" כתב ניצול השואה חיים לזר-ליטאי:
והנה בא יהודי עממי פשוט, אחד ממיליונים, והכואב את כאב עמו, ובעזרת שופט בישראל אמיץ לב, בהיר מחשבה ובעל אבחנה למופת, ובעזרת פרקליט עז נפש אשר אש האמת לוהטת בליבו – הסירו את ערמות אבק השכחה שהערימו בזדון על השואה הגדולה... אכן, לא בכדי גדול הרעש וגדולה המהומה במחנה שלהם, כי על כן לא העריכו כראוי את כוחה של אמת עתיקת יומין זו המונחת ביסודו של המוסר היהודי: "קול דמי אחיך צועקים אלי מן האדמה!"
ובמקום להמשיך במגמת הצדק בחרו להכשיר את השרץ, כי אנשי שלומך מעל הצדק, ולזכות את קסטנר למרות שהאמת ברורה. אך אשמתו היא אשמתם.
"זה שלוש שנים אני מחכה לרגע זה כדי להביא לדין ולשפוך את ביזיון הציבור על רודף קריירה זה, הנהנה ממעשי השוד והרצח של היטלר. על יסוד תחבולותיו הפליליות ובגלל שיתוף פעולה עם הנאצים, אני רואה אותו כרוצח בעקיפין של אחיי היקרים."
האשמה זו, אשר פורסמה ע"י יהודי זקן ואלמוני בעלון מס' 51, הציתו את המשפט הדרמטי בתולדות מדינת ישראל. זהו סיפור שהחל בתביעת דיבה של מדינת ישראל נגד מלכיאל גרינוולד - קשיש שאיבד את משפחתו בשואה - והפכה, בזכות סניגור אמיץ אחד, לכתב אישום כואב וחותך נגד ההנהגה הציונית בארץ ובעולם, שהעדיפה לשמור על מעמדה ועל קשריה הטובים עם הבריטים על פני הצלת היהודים המובלים למשרפות.
זהו סיפורו המדהים של ישראל רודולף קסטנר, מנהיג ציוני שנשבה בקסמו של אייכמן והפך לחוליה מרכזית בהשמדת שמונה מאות אלף יהודי הונגריה ולסניגורם של מנהיגי הנאצים. ביצירה קלאסית זו, מחזיר אותנו הכט בזמן לעלילה הנשכחת שהסעירה את המדינה הצעירה, הפילה את ממשלתו של בן גוריון וחוללה מחלוקת שלא נפתרה עד עצם היום הזה על אחריותנו לגורל העם היהודי. בלהט מוסרי ובכשרון סיפורי נדיר מחזיר אותנו בן הכט למשפט דרך קטעים מתוך הפרוטוקול, נאומים ועדויות מטלטלות וקשות מנשוא, עדויות אשר משרטטות דיוקן מזוויע של דמותם של קסטנר - ושולחיו.
ועכשיו אלי:
בתקופה לא פשוטה זו מבין השורות נשקפות התובנות: "עטוף את הרשע במילים צדקניות ומי יטרח לבחון את הצרור העטוף מקרוב?" (עמ' 30) " האמונה בשררה היא עמוד השדרה של כל ציווליזציה…אם מחר יעלה עולמנו בעשן, לא יפחת מעמדה של השררה…בטוחני כי מאה המיליונים האחרונים בבני האנוש שינפחו את נשמתם…יעשו כן תוך אמונה בלתי מעורערת בצדקת מנהיגיהם".
כשם שהשתמשו בטרמינולוגיה של "ועד ההצלה" ובפועל סייעו להשמדה, כך נשמעות לי הקריאות "דמוקרטיה" שבשמם מאיימים להחריב את הארץ היום. משסים את מעמד העבדים אלו באלו, באמונה בצדקת דרכם, יותירו אדמה חרוכה.
"הם יודעים היטב מה הדבר הטוב ביותר עבור העם-המשך השררה שלהם. הם יודעים נאמנה מה צודק - התחבולות והתעלולים העוזרים לקיים את השלטון בידיהם. והם יודעים מהו הרע - כל דבר המסכן את שלטונם." (עמ' 31)
"לא לעצמם הם דואגים…לעתיד הציונות הם חרדים. הם אינם נאחזים בכסאותיהם, בשולחנותיהם, בשמם ובתואר שעל הדלת כהיאחז בקרנות המזבח. לא. את הציונות הם מבקשים להציל" (עמ' 43)
ואולי כאן התחיל השבר במערכת המשפט.
ב"חרות" כתב ניצול השואה חיים לזר-ליטאי:
והנה בא יהודי עממי פשוט, אחד ממיליונים, והכואב את כאב עמו, ובעזרת שופט בישראל אמיץ לב, בהיר מחשבה ובעל אבחנה למופת, ובעזרת פרקליט עז נפש אשר אש האמת לוהטת בליבו – הסירו את ערמות אבק השכחה שהערימו בזדון על השואה הגדולה... אכן, לא בכדי גדול הרעש וגדולה המהומה במחנה שלהם, כי על כן לא העריכו כראוי את כוחה של אמת עתיקת יומין זו המונחת ביסודו של המוסר היהודי: "קול דמי אחיך צועקים אלי מן האדמה!"
ובמקום להמשיך במגמת הצדק בחרו להכשיר את השרץ, כי אנשי שלומך מעל הצדק, ולזכות את קסטנר למרות שהאמת ברורה. אך אשמתו היא אשמתם.
April 22, 2019
This book is a necessary read for anyone who cares about the State of Israel, the Holocaust and the righteousness of humanity and the perils contained within unrestricted trials. Hecht opens up the book with an admission that he is offering a subjective perspective— he was a staunch supporter of Irgun, and his ideology is reflected in the work.
Perfidy is at times horrifying, while certain moments are inspiring or empowering but there is a riveting aura throughout. I went into the book believing it to be a hard read, one I would struggle through to glean knowledge of history, but upon concluding I found myself enlightened but also shocked at the profound interest I held all through the read.
Hecht humanizes his characters and offers different voices to portray the viciousness of both Kastner and the Mapai Party who remained by his side throughout. In Perfidy the story of the Kastner Trials is told clearly and exceptionally eloquently but it tells many other stories as well. Hecht describes Joel Brand and the deal Eichmann offered him to save Hungarian Jewry (1 million people!) and the efforts of the Jewish Agency to prevent this from taking place. They were tragically successful. I found this to be a terrifying antidote to the many other Holocaust books I’ve read which tell a single story and mostly place the blame directly on the shoulders of the Nazis and their counterparts. Hecht scatters the responsibility less selectively, allocating a not insignificant amount of blame to the Jews and especially their leaders who did not help those being murdered by the thousands.
Perfidy is vital for anyone interesting Israeli history and politics who wants to hear the unvarnished truth told against the will of the government. Once banned in Israel, it should be a bestseller. I’m not certain why it is not. I definitely recommend it.
Perfidy is at times horrifying, while certain moments are inspiring or empowering but there is a riveting aura throughout. I went into the book believing it to be a hard read, one I would struggle through to glean knowledge of history, but upon concluding I found myself enlightened but also shocked at the profound interest I held all through the read.
Hecht humanizes his characters and offers different voices to portray the viciousness of both Kastner and the Mapai Party who remained by his side throughout. In Perfidy the story of the Kastner Trials is told clearly and exceptionally eloquently but it tells many other stories as well. Hecht describes Joel Brand and the deal Eichmann offered him to save Hungarian Jewry (1 million people!) and the efforts of the Jewish Agency to prevent this from taking place. They were tragically successful. I found this to be a terrifying antidote to the many other Holocaust books I’ve read which tell a single story and mostly place the blame directly on the shoulders of the Nazis and their counterparts. Hecht scatters the responsibility less selectively, allocating a not insignificant amount of blame to the Jews and especially their leaders who did not help those being murdered by the thousands.
Perfidy is vital for anyone interesting Israeli history and politics who wants to hear the unvarnished truth told against the will of the government. Once banned in Israel, it should be a bestseller. I’m not certain why it is not. I definitely recommend it.
December 14, 2017
I knew nothing about what had happened to the Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. I think this book should be required reading for anyone who cares about the subject. But be prepared for some nasty revelations about people you (and I) have probably always thought of as honorable and even heroic. Everything is well documented and personally, I believe every word.
Even if you have no interest in Jews or the Holocaust or Israel, I think it is worth reading because when he describes what Ben Gurion and his cohorts did and how they got away with it, I understood exactly how our own politicians and leaders have gotten away with lying for so long and on such a grand scale to the people they are supposed to represent. The same kind of stuff has probably happened in every country; it wasn't that hard to pull off and it was kept quiet for decades, although reprinted in 1999. I'm glad Hecht chose to tell this story. He was just about the only person in Hollywood who actively tried to do something about what everyone knew was happening but didn't want to talk about.
I've always admired his talent as a writer, best known for "The Front Page" and screenplays like Notorious. I admire him even more for having the guts to speak the truth and trying so hard to help the victims. The victims change but the modus operandi never does.
Even if you have no interest in Jews or the Holocaust or Israel, I think it is worth reading because when he describes what Ben Gurion and his cohorts did and how they got away with it, I understood exactly how our own politicians and leaders have gotten away with lying for so long and on such a grand scale to the people they are supposed to represent. The same kind of stuff has probably happened in every country; it wasn't that hard to pull off and it was kept quiet for decades, although reprinted in 1999. I'm glad Hecht chose to tell this story. He was just about the only person in Hollywood who actively tried to do something about what everyone knew was happening but didn't want to talk about.
I've always admired his talent as a writer, best known for "The Front Page" and screenplays like Notorious. I admire him even more for having the guts to speak the truth and trying so hard to help the victims. The victims change but the modus operandi never does.
March 11, 2024
Wow! I don't often leave a five star rating, but this story of the slander trial of Malchiel Greenwald in an Israeli courtroom kept me mesmerized as I kept reading page after page. The slander trial turns into a trial of treason against Rudolf Kastner who sold out the lives of millions of Hungary's Jews to the Nazis. I never knew of the perfidy of Jewish leaders of UK controlled Pakestine during WW 2. How and why they sacrificed millions of their own to smooth over telations with their British masters is explained in detail.
This is NOT an anti-semetic work. It is a story of political power at any cost.
This is NOT an anti-semetic work. It is a story of political power at any cost.
November 9, 2025
Interesting angles on late WW2, and the early years of the formation of Israel.
The book is a little strange, and was obviously written with a deep agenda, and so it’s hard to know what all the scientific truths are. I’d read this as a pair to other books on that period.
The book is a little strange, and was obviously written with a deep agenda, and so it’s hard to know what all the scientific truths are. I’d read this as a pair to other books on that period.
July 23, 2021
Engrossing, passionate book that made me feel and think about the state of the world today and made me want to rage against the perfidy.
Read
November 18, 2021....
December 4, 2021
Good book, but feels very biased and aggressive.
May 3, 2022
Very controversial and interesting book. Will make you think about what is and is not collaboration.
February 12, 2025
How have I not read this book before? It was excellent, eye opening and very disturbing. Must read for anyone interested in the beginning of the State of Israel and its relationship to the Shoah.
September 11, 2025
Very educational
October 31, 2017
Reading this book was painful -- and it can be potentially dangerous for anyone who lacks grounding in either Zionist or Holocaust history. The subject, Kastner, a bureaucrat living in pre- and early State of Israel, was accused basically of collaboration with the Nazis in 1944 Budapest: through a financial exchange, he managed to rescue a few hundred Hungarian Jews -- cherry-picking fellow Zionists, as per the wishes of future first Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion and other Mapai party members, while throwing the other 400,000 Jews under the bus by withholding information about Himmler's extermination plans. Kastner was tried in Israeli court in 1952, then acquitted. He was later murdered in revenge.
This book basically condemns Kastner without proper assessment or understanding of the situation in Nazi Hungary. The author, in fact, lacks all sympathy. His sarcasm throughout the pages reveals an attitude toward his subject -- painted here as an egotistical dupe who enjoyed being wined and dined by Nazi officers and staying at luxury hotels. There is no mention of the desperately few options Kastner faced.
Would refusal to deal with the Nazis have averted the fate of the Hungarian Jews? Or public revelation of the extermination plans? Probably not. What, really, could 400,000 helpless civilians have done? Where could they have run? Moreover, Kastner could not have brought so many Jews into Palestine, due to the British White Paper. And it is questionable that he was "living it up" at the European restaurants and hotels. The author made a lot of assumptions about Kastner's frame of mind at the time.
The author saves much of his venom for the Zionist leaders, whom he views as arrogantly blind-sighted and overeager to placate their British overlords. Here the book does have some currency, and he makes a valid point about the fatal flaw of secular Zionism, which made the land the focus -- in fact, the obsession -- as well as the desire to imitate the Gentiles. He paints Ben Gurion and the rest of Mapai as an inflated bunch, corrupted by power and elitism. This might be true, as the Zionists lauded the kibbutz warrior/farmer. The author quotes Chaim Weizman (later the first president of Israel) who compares European Jewry to a "withered branch." This view was justifiably shameful. But there were Zionists who tried to rescue whomever they could. They too were sadly limited in options and resources during a world at war. The author discusses Hannah Senesch, the brave poet and parachutist who was executed in Hungary after a failed rescue attempt. She is presented here not only as a martyr but a sort of lost cause.
As one of the earliest books on the Holocaust, this book is interesting for its contemporary mentality, as the postwar Jewish nation was healing and recovering. But it really does not do proper justice to Kastner, because it cannot; simply, he is difficult to judge by standards in peace and the safety of Western nations. It is a more an indictment of Zionism than on Nazism.
This book basically condemns Kastner without proper assessment or understanding of the situation in Nazi Hungary. The author, in fact, lacks all sympathy. His sarcasm throughout the pages reveals an attitude toward his subject -- painted here as an egotistical dupe who enjoyed being wined and dined by Nazi officers and staying at luxury hotels. There is no mention of the desperately few options Kastner faced.
Would refusal to deal with the Nazis have averted the fate of the Hungarian Jews? Or public revelation of the extermination plans? Probably not. What, really, could 400,000 helpless civilians have done? Where could they have run? Moreover, Kastner could not have brought so many Jews into Palestine, due to the British White Paper. And it is questionable that he was "living it up" at the European restaurants and hotels. The author made a lot of assumptions about Kastner's frame of mind at the time.
The author saves much of his venom for the Zionist leaders, whom he views as arrogantly blind-sighted and overeager to placate their British overlords. Here the book does have some currency, and he makes a valid point about the fatal flaw of secular Zionism, which made the land the focus -- in fact, the obsession -- as well as the desire to imitate the Gentiles. He paints Ben Gurion and the rest of Mapai as an inflated bunch, corrupted by power and elitism. This might be true, as the Zionists lauded the kibbutz warrior/farmer. The author quotes Chaim Weizman (later the first president of Israel) who compares European Jewry to a "withered branch." This view was justifiably shameful. But there were Zionists who tried to rescue whomever they could. They too were sadly limited in options and resources during a world at war. The author discusses Hannah Senesch, the brave poet and parachutist who was executed in Hungary after a failed rescue attempt. She is presented here not only as a martyr but a sort of lost cause.
As one of the earliest books on the Holocaust, this book is interesting for its contemporary mentality, as the postwar Jewish nation was healing and recovering. But it really does not do proper justice to Kastner, because it cannot; simply, he is difficult to judge by standards in peace and the safety of Western nations. It is a more an indictment of Zionism than on Nazism.
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