The last Jews in Berlin

"The Last Jews In Berlin" by Leonard Gross and published by Open Road Media is another e-book I purchased from Amazon.com.

This nonfiction work follows the lives and the families of a small and diverse group of Jews who managed to escape the Gestapo and Nazi SS during the 1930s through 1945 and the Nazi surrender. The story of the roundup, the transporting and the murder of millions is both depressing and inspiring. The ingenuity, the strength and the determination of these people makes for a story of which few are aware.

The stated Nazi goal was to make Berlin "Judenfrei" ("free of Jews") and the plan almost succeeded.

At first the Jews relied on each other to deal with the Nazi plan, but as their numbers shrank, this support and assistance became harder to obtain and finally became almost nonexistent.

What did continue was the assistance provided by anti-Nazi Germans. These people risked their own lives and those of their families simply because it was the right and moral thing to do. Had they been caught, they, too, would have faced deportation to one of the concentration camps or faced immediate execution.

Most of the Jews were constantly moving, as staying in one place for too long would risk their discovery. False identification documents provided limited security when moving, but the best strategy was to simply remain invisible.

One fact that struck me was the amount of personnel and the cost of the searches the Nazis expended even at the very end, when the Soviets were about to invade the city.

One case where a Jew risked exposure was when the Nazis were without fuel and were moving equipment and weapons in horse-drawn carts. Many of the horses were killed in the bombardments and the citizens would risk death to rush out and cut meat from the dead animals. Marushka, a Jewish veterinarian, came out of hiding to efficiently butcher the horses with her surgical instruments and distribute the meat to all.

During the horrors of World War II, the courage and humanity of Jewish and Christian Germans stands in stark contrast to the Nazis.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He resides in Chaffee, Missouri.