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A Past in Hiding: Memory and Survival in Nazi Germany
Winner of the Mark Lynton History Prize
A Los Angeles Times Best Book
A Koret Jewish Book Award Finalist
A Past in Hiding is a survivor story and historical investigation that offers new insight into daily life in the Third Reich and the powers and pitfalls of memory. At the outbreak of World War II, Marianne Strauss, the sheltered daughter of well-to-do German Jews, was an ordinary girl, concerned with her studies, friends, and romance. Almost overnight she was transformed into a woman of spirit and defiance, a fighter who, when the Gestapo came for her family, seized the moment and went underground. On the run for two years, Marianne traveled across Nazi Germany with false papers, aided by a remarkable resistance organization, previously unknown and unsung.
Drawing on an astonishing cache of photographs, letters, diaries, and documents, as well as interviews on three continents, historian Mark Roseman reconstructs Marianne's odyssey and the fortunes of her friends and family, revealing aspects of life in the Third Reich long hidden from view. Here are letters from Marianne's fiance, deported to the little-known Izbica ghetto; Gestapo records of the special protection that the Strausses and other well-placed Jews received from the Wehrmacht's intelligence division, and of Adolf Eichmann's decision to deport them nonetheless; Marianne's diary of her years on the run; and rare communications from Thereisenstadt and Auschwitz that track the fate of her parents.
As Roseman excavates the past, he puts forward a new and sympathetic interpretation of the troubling discrepancies between fact and recollection that so often cloud survivors' accounts. A detective story, a love story, a story of great courage and survival in the harshest conditions, A Past In Hiding is also a poignant investigation into the nature of memory, authenticity, and truth.
A Los Angeles Times Best Book
A Koret Jewish Book Award Finalist
A Past in Hiding is a survivor story and historical investigation that offers new insight into daily life in the Third Reich and the powers and pitfalls of memory. At the outbreak of World War II, Marianne Strauss, the sheltered daughter of well-to-do German Jews, was an ordinary girl, concerned with her studies, friends, and romance. Almost overnight she was transformed into a woman of spirit and defiance, a fighter who, when the Gestapo came for her family, seized the moment and went underground. On the run for two years, Marianne traveled across Nazi Germany with false papers, aided by a remarkable resistance organization, previously unknown and unsung.
Drawing on an astonishing cache of photographs, letters, diaries, and documents, as well as interviews on three continents, historian Mark Roseman reconstructs Marianne's odyssey and the fortunes of her friends and family, revealing aspects of life in the Third Reich long hidden from view. Here are letters from Marianne's fiance, deported to the little-known Izbica ghetto; Gestapo records of the special protection that the Strausses and other well-placed Jews received from the Wehrmacht's intelligence division, and of Adolf Eichmann's decision to deport them nonetheless; Marianne's diary of her years on the run; and rare communications from Thereisenstadt and Auschwitz that track the fate of her parents.
As Roseman excavates the past, he puts forward a new and sympathetic interpretation of the troubling discrepancies between fact and recollection that so often cloud survivors' accounts. A detective story, a love story, a story of great courage and survival in the harshest conditions, A Past In Hiding is also a poignant investigation into the nature of memory, authenticity, and truth.
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
63 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Mark Roseman
23 books7 followersMark Roseman is an English historian of modern Europe with particular interest in The Holocaust. He received his B.A. at Christ's College, Cambridge, M.A at Cambridge, and his PhD at University of Warwick. As of 2014 he is teaching history at the University of Indiana, Bloomington in the United States of America.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 29, 2017
I read and reviewed this book many years ago. It is as important now as then. It has taken a long time to bring the story back into the city where the story started.
A Past in Hiding is the story of Marianne Strauss-Ellenbogen and her extraordinary survival during the Holocaust. Presenting us with one young woman's real life story, Roseman does not paint a picture of a saint but that of a real flesh and blood person who, like us all, had great strengths and also weaknesses. She was, after all, in her teens when she was confronted with events too difficult for her to comprehend. She was only a couple of years older than Anne Frank, but what a different reality! Roseman's investigation into Marianne's history engages us deeply in the day-to-day life of herself, her family and friends. We can follow how and why they misjudged the increasingly dangerous environment they lived in.
The book has a lot more to offer than that. Given Roseman's extensive knowledge of modern German history, he is able to draw a multi-layered picture of every day life for the Jewish community in Germany during the Nazi period. The investigation into the role of the Abwehr in protecting selected Jewish Germans is pertinent for the recent debate around the complicity of the regular army with the SS and Gestapo. Moving between historical chronology and present day commentary and personal reflection on Marianne, the author pieces together a mosaic like a jigsaw puzzle. For most readers it will shed new light on the complexities of this period in recent history like very few other books I have read.
Roseman writes in a style that combines the historical with the intimate personal. He conveys his assessment of the characters and situations with empathy for their situation and struggles. At the time he reflects on discrepancies in their statements and recollections of the past. One of the most dramatic documents in the book is the diary of Marianne's fiancé, Ernst. He was able to smuggle it out of the concentration camp Izbica thanks to an unconventional courier. One of the family acquaintances with probable links to the Gestapo, was nevertheless willing to act as courier for parcels from Marianne to Ernst; he also brought back this very rare contemporary account of life in the camp.
Roseman digs into historical records to verify and complement the description. As part of his investigation, he interviewed the courier's widow as well as others who could add to the story.
I started reading A Past in Hiding primarily because, as a child growing up after the war, I knew some of the people connected with Marianne and the "Bund". It was Bund members who provided shelter to Marianne while she was on the run from 1943 to 1945, thus risking their own lives and security. The Bund was a small but committed group of humanitarians and socialists who helped numerous victims of the Holocaust. One of the survivors protected by the Bund, Lisa Jacob, became a friend of my family. She influenced my life more than she ever knew and also much more than even I understood for many years while growing up. However, my interest in this extraordinary book grew with each page that I was reading. It was difficult to put down.
A Past in Hiding has a lot to offer to the reader. Roseman's research into the life and times of Marianne brought him together with her and her family members as recent as the late 1990s. He also interviewed numerous other "witnesses" of her life and survival during the Nazi period. It was fortuitous that so many family documents as well as official records survived. Roseman studied diaries, correspondence and countless historical documents. His notes and the comprehensive bibliography reflect the thorough research that has gone into the book. As a result, at some level A Past in Hiding reads like a detective story, fully absorbing and dramatic. At another level, it is a very personal and critical account of Marianne and her contemporaries. At a third level, it is a study into the changed memory phenomenon, which can occur as a result of traumatic experiences. Last but not least, Roseman introduces the reader to the almost unknown movement of the "Bund" and their role in supporting victims of the Holocaust. An extraordinary book that should have a place in the mind and heart of many people.
A Past in Hiding is the story of Marianne Strauss-Ellenbogen and her extraordinary survival during the Holocaust. Presenting us with one young woman's real life story, Roseman does not paint a picture of a saint but that of a real flesh and blood person who, like us all, had great strengths and also weaknesses. She was, after all, in her teens when she was confronted with events too difficult for her to comprehend. She was only a couple of years older than Anne Frank, but what a different reality! Roseman's investigation into Marianne's history engages us deeply in the day-to-day life of herself, her family and friends. We can follow how and why they misjudged the increasingly dangerous environment they lived in.
The book has a lot more to offer than that. Given Roseman's extensive knowledge of modern German history, he is able to draw a multi-layered picture of every day life for the Jewish community in Germany during the Nazi period. The investigation into the role of the Abwehr in protecting selected Jewish Germans is pertinent for the recent debate around the complicity of the regular army with the SS and Gestapo. Moving between historical chronology and present day commentary and personal reflection on Marianne, the author pieces together a mosaic like a jigsaw puzzle. For most readers it will shed new light on the complexities of this period in recent history like very few other books I have read.
Roseman writes in a style that combines the historical with the intimate personal. He conveys his assessment of the characters and situations with empathy for their situation and struggles. At the time he reflects on discrepancies in their statements and recollections of the past. One of the most dramatic documents in the book is the diary of Marianne's fiancé, Ernst. He was able to smuggle it out of the concentration camp Izbica thanks to an unconventional courier. One of the family acquaintances with probable links to the Gestapo, was nevertheless willing to act as courier for parcels from Marianne to Ernst; he also brought back this very rare contemporary account of life in the camp.
Roseman digs into historical records to verify and complement the description. As part of his investigation, he interviewed the courier's widow as well as others who could add to the story.
I started reading A Past in Hiding primarily because, as a child growing up after the war, I knew some of the people connected with Marianne and the "Bund". It was Bund members who provided shelter to Marianne while she was on the run from 1943 to 1945, thus risking their own lives and security. The Bund was a small but committed group of humanitarians and socialists who helped numerous victims of the Holocaust. One of the survivors protected by the Bund, Lisa Jacob, became a friend of my family. She influenced my life more than she ever knew and also much more than even I understood for many years while growing up. However, my interest in this extraordinary book grew with each page that I was reading. It was difficult to put down.
A Past in Hiding has a lot to offer to the reader. Roseman's research into the life and times of Marianne brought him together with her and her family members as recent as the late 1990s. He also interviewed numerous other "witnesses" of her life and survival during the Nazi period. It was fortuitous that so many family documents as well as official records survived. Roseman studied diaries, correspondence and countless historical documents. His notes and the comprehensive bibliography reflect the thorough research that has gone into the book. As a result, at some level A Past in Hiding reads like a detective story, fully absorbing and dramatic. At another level, it is a very personal and critical account of Marianne and her contemporaries. At a third level, it is a study into the changed memory phenomenon, which can occur as a result of traumatic experiences. Last but not least, Roseman introduces the reader to the almost unknown movement of the "Bund" and their role in supporting victims of the Holocaust. An extraordinary book that should have a place in the mind and heart of many people.
January 18, 2008
I don't have alot to add to what has already been said about this gripping work. It is an amazing story that draws you in on several levels: as a case study of Jewish life in germany during the Nazi years; as a touching biographical account of an unique woman; as a reseachers detective story; etc. Genealogists might also be interested in the remarkable ways Roseman ferreted out data.
Bottom line: a remarkable story, very well told. Roseman is an incredible and tenacious researcher, and a pretty decent writer. It is a work out, and might have been better if condensed by maybe a 100 pages or so.
One pet point -- Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's small role in teh narrative comes up a few times. He was a brother-in-law to one of the Wehrmacht generals who wanted Hitler dead and tried to rescue Jews. Bonhoeffer's own story has been told many times -- how he escaped Germany to be a professor in New York, but chose to return to fight Hitler and ended up martyred in a concentration camp. Anyway, Bonhoeffer's name appears in the book more often than the index indicates (see also p. 251, for example), and Roseman never mentions the interesting fact that he was a Lutheran pastor and theologian.
Also, poersonally I was longing for more photos as I tried to visualize the cats of characters.
Anyway, one of the best things I have read in awhile. Makes Melissa Mueller's bio. of Anne Frank seem dull.
Bottom line: a remarkable story, very well told. Roseman is an incredible and tenacious researcher, and a pretty decent writer. It is a work out, and might have been better if condensed by maybe a 100 pages or so.
One pet point -- Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's small role in teh narrative comes up a few times. He was a brother-in-law to one of the Wehrmacht generals who wanted Hitler dead and tried to rescue Jews. Bonhoeffer's own story has been told many times -- how he escaped Germany to be a professor in New York, but chose to return to fight Hitler and ended up martyred in a concentration camp. Anyway, Bonhoeffer's name appears in the book more often than the index indicates (see also p. 251, for example), and Roseman never mentions the interesting fact that he was a Lutheran pastor and theologian.
Also, poersonally I was longing for more photos as I tried to visualize the cats of characters.
Anyway, one of the best things I have read in awhile. Makes Melissa Mueller's bio. of Anne Frank seem dull.
May 29, 2013
A tour de force of history writing by Mark Roseman, who proves to be an indefatigable sleuth in service of historical truth. Marianne Strauss's amazing survival story is brought to life by Roseman's compassionate, detail-filled writing. The story never bogs down, driven both by Roseman's esteem for his subject and by his conviction in his own necessary role as historian and witness. Beautiful.
August 10, 2022
This book tells the story of Marianne Ellenbogen, who was nineteen years old at the time of her escape to the underground. She managed to escape the Nazi regime's 1943 deportations, and spent the remainder of the war hiding in various places all over the country. I cannot begin to imagine how harrowing that must have been. The amount of stress you would have to live with, knowing what would happen to you or anyone helping you if you were caught, would be astronomical. This book really gives a detailed image of what life was like for people from all different situations, not just Marianne's. It really makes you think about how hard life is during war time, especially if you are part of a population who is being subjected to genocide.
November 18, 2020
A Past in Hiding stands out among works about the Holocaust. Mark Roseman traces nineteen-year-old Marianne Ellenbogen’s traumatic journey in 1943 when she managed to escape Nazi deportation and follows her ordeal for the two years she spent hiding out all over Germany. The once sheltered little rich girl turned heroic almost overnight, and not only survived Nazi persecution but did so with grace and maturity, able to show empathy even at her own lowest moments.
This alone would make the book a must read, but Roseman combines powerful story telling with creative research to portray German society under the Nazis at all levels, including assimilated German Jews, and an informal network of German resistance called the Bund, ordinary citizens united in extraordinary courage and a socialist inspired vision of a better world
Marianne’s story also inspires thoughts about the vagaries and complexities of memory. Following the full arc of her life during which her past itself went into hiding, Roseman addresses the delicate balance between memory and “relentless” forgetting,” collateral damage of her ordeal.
Roseman’s powerful, many faceted story will stay with readers for a long time.
This alone would make the book a must read, but Roseman combines powerful story telling with creative research to portray German society under the Nazis at all levels, including assimilated German Jews, and an informal network of German resistance called the Bund, ordinary citizens united in extraordinary courage and a socialist inspired vision of a better world
Marianne’s story also inspires thoughts about the vagaries and complexities of memory. Following the full arc of her life during which her past itself went into hiding, Roseman addresses the delicate balance between memory and “relentless” forgetting,” collateral damage of her ordeal.
Roseman’s powerful, many faceted story will stay with readers for a long time.
September 9, 2017
One of the most unusual books you will read about survival in NAZI Germany. This is the story of a young woman who managed to survive the reign of terror without being sent to a concentration camp. She lost her entire family yet managed to rely upon other German's who were against Hitler to live almost in plain sight. Amazingly well written and well worth the time you will spend reading this inspiring story of survival under the worst of conditions. I especially enjoyed the authors follow up about her life after the war and how not only her but the others who survived the war and death with the survivors guilt and that ultimate question of why did live and so many other did not.
June 5, 2021
I‘m extremely happy this book exists and I was able to learn so much about someone who lived just about where I live now.
April 11, 2011
Reads a little to factual for me. I could have done with far less references even though i understand the authors need for them.
July 5, 2020
The letters.
October 27, 2021
A remarkable true telling of a German Jewess that survived in hiding during the war. Her story is one of near danger and scary close calls. The brutality of the Germans during WW2 is hard to believe.
March 19, 2017
This is such an interesting story of a very brave woman who lost her family, but continued to survive in hiding during a dark time in our history. There are lessons to be learned about standing up for what you believe in, for not being afraid to speak out, and for trying to learn from the past even if it is brutal. There are many instances in this book that defy what we have already learned about the holocaust and the survivors.
November 26, 2024
Excellent scholarship and a fascinating narrative with some genuinely original insights into the Holocaust, but I honestly didn't care for the author's writing style, in particular the way he made himself part of the story.
March 23, 2015
Having read much on this subject in the way of diaries, memoirs, and historical works, I have to say this LA Times Best Nonfiction Book of 2001 was very, very well done. The author, Mark Roseman, is a history professor at the University of Southampton in England. His approach, taking one woman's life story including events during the Holocaust, and putting it through the rigorous verification process and analysis of a historian, is both illuminating and fascinating. The only book I'd compare it to might be Victor Klemperer's Diary "I Will Bear Witness." But that comparison would only be in terms of the subject matter: what it was like as a Jew to live in Nazi Germany. Because Klemperer had some protection, married to a non Jew, and thus was able to remain in his apartment. Marianne Strauss, the subject of this book, had no such protection, went underground impulsively, fleeing out the back door of her parents' house while the S.S. waited for her, her brother, and her parents to pack for a trip "East." She then sets off on a nonstop journey across Nazi Germany, much of the time in the open, and manages to survive. The degree of detail, the gripping story, the themes explored--courage, how one's memory works, and many more--make this book a must read for anyone seeking an in depth understanding of this unbelievable time.
April 6, 2025
Wie viele Überlebensgeschichten ist dies eine erfreuliche und zugleich schreckliche Geschichte ohne einwandfreies happy end.
Sie handelt von einer couragierten jungen Frau, einem Cast von stillen Heldinnen und Helden in Nazi-Deutschland und einem akribisch recherchierenden Historiker.
Nebenbei erfahren wir von einem sensationellen Dokument, das die mörderischen Zustände im Transitlager Izbica beschreibt, in das 1942 unzählige europäische Juden deportiert wurden, so auch Ernst Krombach, der Verlobte von Marianne Strauß.
Mark Roseman macht uns zu Kompliz*innen seiner durchgängigen Abwägung vom Schutz der Privatsphäre bei gleichzeitiger Quellenkritik. In keinem Moment driftet er dabei in Holocaust-Kitsch ab.
Der Titel der deutschsprachigen Ausgabe ist unsubtil und völlig daneben. Er weckt falsche Erwartungen. "A past in hiding" trifft's besser und ist zudem eleganter.
Sie handelt von einer couragierten jungen Frau, einem Cast von stillen Heldinnen und Helden in Nazi-Deutschland und einem akribisch recherchierenden Historiker.
Nebenbei erfahren wir von einem sensationellen Dokument, das die mörderischen Zustände im Transitlager Izbica beschreibt, in das 1942 unzählige europäische Juden deportiert wurden, so auch Ernst Krombach, der Verlobte von Marianne Strauß.
Mark Roseman macht uns zu Kompliz*innen seiner durchgängigen Abwägung vom Schutz der Privatsphäre bei gleichzeitiger Quellenkritik. In keinem Moment driftet er dabei in Holocaust-Kitsch ab.
Der Titel der deutschsprachigen Ausgabe ist unsubtil und völlig daneben. Er weckt falsche Erwartungen. "A past in hiding" trifft's besser und ist zudem eleganter.
February 28, 2014
This is a biography of Marianne who survived WWII by hiding out. We hear of the bravery of those who risked everything to provide her with a place to live, ration cards. We hear how she missed being deported with her family by sneaking out while the Gestapo was giving them a few minutes.
Based on interviews with Marianne, finding letters and documents and interviewing people who knew her, the author was able to piece together a remarkable story. While the horror of living in a concentration camp were not part of her story, the dangers she went through affected the rest of her life.
Based on interviews with Marianne, finding letters and documents and interviewing people who knew her, the author was able to piece together a remarkable story. While the horror of living in a concentration camp were not part of her story, the dangers she went through affected the rest of her life.
July 21, 2011
I couldn't decide on a 3 or a four star so I went with a three. lol I thought most of the book was very intriging, but I didn't like the end of it. I was kind of saddened how she lived her life during hiding and after the war. You would think one would be very grateful for someone to hide you when you are jewish and I felt like she didn't care and it was her right to be hidden. I don't know her attitude was just to strong for me I guess.
March 23, 2015
The moving story of an admirable, exceptionally intelligent and perceptive German woman's life before, during and after WWII. Well researched and recounted, with the only lowlight coming from the author who, often incredulous, seemed unable or unwilling to take the heroin at her word, making unnecessary inferences better left to the reader. Other than those few instances of projection, a terrifically inspiring read.
July 10, 2016
Fascinating story of Holocaust survival. Opportunity to learn more about those who survived and what they went through then and continued to go through as their lives proceeded. I agree with many other reviewers that there was probably more details and archival information than I needed which made it hard to get through at times, but as the author is a historian I get his need to include all that, and certainly appreciated all the hard work and research he did to make this tome happen.
August 29, 2015
The beginning of the book captivated me.
Later on in this story of how Marianne survived the author became very wordy and lost my interest. I plowed through this as the mystery of this remarkable woman peeked interest. The author was able to research due to saved letters and interviews.
Later on in this story of how Marianne survived the author became very wordy and lost my interest. I plowed through this as the mystery of this remarkable woman peeked interest. The author was able to research due to saved letters and interviews.
January 15, 2012
A fascinating story, but told in such drawn out anddrys way I couldbarelygetthroughit.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews