What do you think?
Rate this book
A Holocaust Trilogy #2
A Promise Kept: 1934 to 1946
Berthold and Anna pledged to risk their lives to warn the world of Hitler’s Holocaust against the Jews … and for 12 terrifying years they kept that promise in the face of unrelenting obstacles and their own deepening sense that the world didn’t care.
398 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 2, 2020
5 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Lewis M. Weinstein
13 books605 followersReading the reviews of my GR friends, and sometimes adding a comment, is a great way for me to start my day in a literary frame of mind. Then I turn to my own research and writing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 28, 2021
UPDATE ... I'm re-reading my novel to prepare for a book club appearance ... ps ... I like it
***
Berthold and Anna pledged to risk their lives to warn the world of Hitler’s Holocaust against the Jews … and for 12 terrifying years they kept that promise in the face of unrelenting obstacles and their own deepening sense that the world didn’t care. Two people deeply in love but immersed in a world of hate purposely put themselves in situations of unimaginable risk in order to honor their commitment to each other to inform the world about the Nazi atrocities.
***
Berthold and Anna pledged to risk their lives to warn the world of Hitler’s Holocaust against the Jews … and for 12 terrifying years they kept that promise in the face of unrelenting obstacles and their own deepening sense that the world didn’t care. Two people deeply in love but immersed in a world of hate purposely put themselves in situations of unimaginable risk in order to honor their commitment to each other to inform the world about the Nazi atrocities.
August 31, 2020
A fan of Weinstein's books, I couldn't wait to read the follow-up to his historical novel, A FLOOD OF EVIL. A PROMISE KEPT continues the story of Berthold and Anna who both strive to use their positions and lives to take on the Nazis' nefariously evil intentions right before and during WWII.
The first novel I read by Weinstein was THE HERETIC. It was one of the rare books our book club could all agree upon in favorable terms. Like that novel and all his historical novels, A PROMISE KEPT is written with a keen sense of history, setting, story, and characters. Through his adept writing, we can easily conceive we are in a different place and time from the past.
One of the more compelling aspects of A PROMISE KEPT is the way Weinstein is to challenge our own thoughts and contemplations of what led up to and became the Holocaust. At the end of the novel, Weinstein provides us with a bonus of referencing a true Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, a man who took on the weighty spiritual questions of God in relationship to the mass murder of Jews. While in-depth musings of faith are not the hallmark feature of the novel, those questions are still relevant and present within the book's pages. Indeed, there is certainly a hint of the spiritual struggles of his characters as they come to terms with the shortcomings of their and others' efforts to stop Hitler. As the book is about the persecution and murder of innocents on such a mass, colossal scale, it leaves us little room to wonder how we or Weinstein's characters could not ponder the spiritual implications of such a catastrophic occurrence in history.
A PROMISE KEPT is not only historically accurate, but compellingly so. Weinstein hits upon the key factors that went into not only the horrific steps the Nazis and their collaborators took to ensure their plans to totally annihilate the Jewish race were successful, but the heroic efforts of the 'righteous' who demonstrated great courage to see that those plans were thwarted.
Weinstein is a master historian and storyteller. He understands his subject matter to such a degree that he's rightly earned our trust as readers. He writes with conviction and with the backing of history. His writing style and use of prose are second to none. For these reasons, I highly recommend not only A PROMISE KEPT, but all of Weinstein's books.
The first novel I read by Weinstein was THE HERETIC. It was one of the rare books our book club could all agree upon in favorable terms. Like that novel and all his historical novels, A PROMISE KEPT is written with a keen sense of history, setting, story, and characters. Through his adept writing, we can easily conceive we are in a different place and time from the past.
One of the more compelling aspects of A PROMISE KEPT is the way Weinstein is to challenge our own thoughts and contemplations of what led up to and became the Holocaust. At the end of the novel, Weinstein provides us with a bonus of referencing a true Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, a man who took on the weighty spiritual questions of God in relationship to the mass murder of Jews. While in-depth musings of faith are not the hallmark feature of the novel, those questions are still relevant and present within the book's pages. Indeed, there is certainly a hint of the spiritual struggles of his characters as they come to terms with the shortcomings of their and others' efforts to stop Hitler. As the book is about the persecution and murder of innocents on such a mass, colossal scale, it leaves us little room to wonder how we or Weinstein's characters could not ponder the spiritual implications of such a catastrophic occurrence in history.
A PROMISE KEPT is not only historically accurate, but compellingly so. Weinstein hits upon the key factors that went into not only the horrific steps the Nazis and their collaborators took to ensure their plans to totally annihilate the Jewish race were successful, but the heroic efforts of the 'righteous' who demonstrated great courage to see that those plans were thwarted.
Weinstein is a master historian and storyteller. He understands his subject matter to such a degree that he's rightly earned our trust as readers. He writes with conviction and with the backing of history. His writing style and use of prose are second to none. For these reasons, I highly recommend not only A PROMISE KEPT, but all of Weinstein's books.
September 19, 2020
A Promise Kept is the second novel in a series of three which began with A Flood of Evil. Like its predecessor, it is a very good book indeed and takes the story of Berthold and Anna from 1934 to 1946.
The author has used the framework of memories from those terrible years; the Night of the Long Knives, the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, the Anschluss, Munich, the outbreak of war and so on to continue the love story of the young man who became a Nazi high flyer and the Jewish Polish journalist and activist. The result is a tale of passionate love, terror, anger and tragedy which sees both young people put their lives constantly at risk in an effort to undermine the Nazis and save Jewish lives.
Characterisation, dialogue, location description are very strong. There are moments of excitement, tension, tragedy and raw emotion. The ending is the most moving I've read in a Holocaust novel.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War, and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.
The author has used the framework of memories from those terrible years; the Night of the Long Knives, the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, the Anschluss, Munich, the outbreak of war and so on to continue the love story of the young man who became a Nazi high flyer and the Jewish Polish journalist and activist. The result is a tale of passionate love, terror, anger and tragedy which sees both young people put their lives constantly at risk in an effort to undermine the Nazis and save Jewish lives.
Characterisation, dialogue, location description are very strong. There are moments of excitement, tension, tragedy and raw emotion. The ending is the most moving I've read in a Holocaust novel.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War, and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.
March 24, 2020
Having been raised as a Jew, I've read a fair amount about the horrors of the holocaust, but only in the past few years have I actually read about events leading up to Hitler's rise to power. I believe Lewis Weinstein's book A Flood of Evil really brought home what this was like and the Trump presidency sort of brought it home because I began seeing many similarities between the two in how they twisted the truth, denied in one speech what they said in another, and accused the press of lying whenever they got caught. That book seemed very real to me, more real than the history books I'd read, and the same can be said of this one.
This book continued to show how Hitler and his minions perverted the truth and kept the citizens and even the party members in the dark - or at least in the shadows. Even when they knew or suspected what was happening, they didn't fully believe it. But the main characters knew very well what was going on, and did their best to fight against it - Berthold from the inside, and his girlfriend Anna as a news reporter. It was so sad how they sacrificed so much for so long, seemingly for no results. I can't imagine doing what they did; I would have been terrified. I suppose they were, too, but somehow they both had the strength of their convictions to follow though. Even though they were fictional characters, I'm sure there were real-life people performing similar acts of courage. Perhaps I would be so brave if I cared enough about the victims, such as if they were family. I'm not too sure I could do anything similar for a group of strangers, though.
This book continued to show how Hitler and his minions perverted the truth and kept the citizens and even the party members in the dark - or at least in the shadows. Even when they knew or suspected what was happening, they didn't fully believe it. But the main characters knew very well what was going on, and did their best to fight against it - Berthold from the inside, and his girlfriend Anna as a news reporter. It was so sad how they sacrificed so much for so long, seemingly for no results. I can't imagine doing what they did; I would have been terrified. I suppose they were, too, but somehow they both had the strength of their convictions to follow though. Even though they were fictional characters, I'm sure there were real-life people performing similar acts of courage. Perhaps I would be so brave if I cared enough about the victims, such as if they were family. I'm not too sure I could do anything similar for a group of strangers, though.
June 13, 2020
This is the sequel to "A Flood Of Evil" and we pick up the story in the year 1934, with Berthold and Anna doing everything they can to resist the Nazi terror. We feel the full effect of the Holocaust as the war winds down. The author is so good at painting word pictures the reader feels like he/she is a part of the action and feels the pain of those involved. This is not a fun read and I wiped more than one
tear from my eyes. It is, however, a very good read and I promise you will learn from it.
tear from my eyes. It is, however, a very good read and I promise you will learn from it.
March 12, 2020
A read Flood of Evil a couple of years ago and have followed the author ever since on GoodReads so know this latest offering has been very well researched. A work of fiction but there is so much truth in the book it might encourage readers to explore further as to how much resistance there actually was in Germany between 1934 to 1945 to the Nazi regime. I wish the author success when full publication takes place. I received my copy in the U.K. just a few days after printing in the U.K.
June 4, 2020
I have read so many novels, memoirs, autobiographies of this period of world history, you'd think I'd had enough. But this novel, built on the texts of many histories and personal memoirs, proves that there ARE new things under the sun. Which is to say that each person, or small group of people, has a story that needs to be told. I learned many specific facts and other knowledge was expanded.
There is nothing in this book to remind the reader that it is a novel. It is not full of clean and pretty dénouements. Horrible things happen to Anna, the primary woman; the primary man, Berthold, surprises himself with one and later repeated potentially deadly acts of kindness. While wearing a Nazi uniform.
In this pandemic period wherein I have had great difficulty focusing on a book-length text, I was kept in rapt attention throughout A Promise Kept. While some may think the subject already covered, I found that it made its own place in the World War II history section and in the study of the political persecution of minorities.. Funny thing how that last phrase rings loud and clear...
There is nothing in this book to remind the reader that it is a novel. It is not full of clean and pretty dénouements. Horrible things happen to Anna, the primary woman; the primary man, Berthold, surprises himself with one and later repeated potentially deadly acts of kindness. While wearing a Nazi uniform.
In this pandemic period wherein I have had great difficulty focusing on a book-length text, I was kept in rapt attention throughout A Promise Kept. While some may think the subject already covered, I found that it made its own place in the World War II history section and in the study of the political persecution of minorities.. Funny thing how that last phrase rings loud and clear...
March 24, 2020
Historical fiction, Holocaust, Poland, England, Germany, spies.
This is a sequel, but I didn’t read the first and never felt that I needed to know anything that wasn’t mentioned. If you want the whole experience, then grab A FLOOD OF EVIL and read it first.
The US didn’t officially enter WWII until many years of holocaust horror had already gone by. Perhaps that’s why most American children , because of our US-centered education, are unaware that atrocities in Europe began long before 1941. I’m still learning. Lewis Weinstein does his homework and writes amazing historical fiction once again.
Essential Back Materials for understanding: Ellie Wiesel’s Struggle with God, What happened to the real people?, Selected Bibliography.
There are great front materials as well: Fictional characters, Historical characters, Historical events, a Glossary, and more.
This is a sequel, but I didn’t read the first and never felt that I needed to know anything that wasn’t mentioned. If you want the whole experience, then grab A FLOOD OF EVIL and read it first.
The US didn’t officially enter WWII until many years of holocaust horror had already gone by. Perhaps that’s why most American children , because of our US-centered education, are unaware that atrocities in Europe began long before 1941. I’m still learning. Lewis Weinstein does his homework and writes amazing historical fiction once again.
Essential Back Materials for understanding: Ellie Wiesel’s Struggle with God, What happened to the real people?, Selected Bibliography.
There are great front materials as well: Fictional characters, Historical characters, Historical events, a Glossary, and more.
March 16, 2020
A real page turner
Lew Weinstein demonstrated again his ability to write a historical novel weaving the story of fictional characters in to an important time in human history. He wrote a very suspenseful novel that was difficult to put down.
Lew Weinstein demonstrated again his ability to write a historical novel weaving the story of fictional characters in to an important time in human history. He wrote a very suspenseful novel that was difficult to put down.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews