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Archive for the ‘*** Uncategorized’ Category
* Lew’s novels
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 17, 2015
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* Lew’s comments on “The Jewish King Lear” by Jacob Gordin
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 8, 2015
This is a wonderful introduction to Yiddish theater in eastern Europe and New York, seen through the prism of the playwright Jacob Gordin and his play “The Jewish King Lear,” written in 1891 when it was not unusual to adapt plays from the European repertoire into Yiddish. The play was first performed on the New York stage in 1892, during the height of a massive emigration of 2.5 million Jews from eastern Europe to America.
Gordin’s setting is the celebration of Purim and the plot shows the shifting of fortune between the older and younger generation, between traditionalism and modernity, between religion and secularism. In Gordin’s view, the transition taking place on the stage is also taking place in the audience, as parents are suffering when their children no longer honor them.
Notes by Ruth Gay and Sophie Glazer convey Yiddish secular theater as a thrilling seductive experience, arousing passionate responses from audiences who saw portrayals of tension-filled situations presented in everyday language.
Also described is “Sappho,” another play by Gordin, which presents out-of-wedlock pregnancy and a proud statement by the heroine Sophia: “I made a mistake; it is nobody’s business; I take full responsibility; if I am to be a mother, I can care for my child by myself; I will be free and honorable in my actions, honorable the way I understand it, not Aunt Frade’s way and Uncle Melekh’s and all the rest.”
In my new novel, I’m hoping to show the impact of Gordin’s modern thinking and the spectacle of a riveting performance in the shtetl of Ciechanow, when a play written and first produced in America returns forty years later to its roots in eastern Europe.
***
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* a poem by Chaim Nahman Bialik
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 5, 2015
Chaim Nahman Bialik
I extracted several lines from one of C. N. Bialik’s poems, written in the early 1900s, that beautifully express the feelings of the young Polish girl who is one of the two major fictional characters in my novel-in-progress …
Distant islands, lofty worlds
of our dreams,
they made us into strangers
wherever we went.
They made our lives hell.
Golden islands we thirsted for
as for a homeland,
all the stars hinted
at them
with trembling light.
And on these islands we remain
friendless, like two flowers
in a desert, two lost souls searching
for an eternal loss
in a foreign land.
***
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Lew’s comments on David Vital’s “A People Apart”
Posted by Lew Weinstein on March 27, 2015
I have only read a small part of Vital’s book, those chapters dealing with Jewish life in the years between Versailles (1919) and the invasion of Poland (1939), but there were several important insights in those chapters that have great relevance for my novel-in-process. In particular, Vital describes a change in the way European Jews were viewed …
- the norms of political behavior set by the (19th c) Enlightenment had dissolved
- post-Versailles antisemitism had a great deal to do with what had been decided at Versailles
- two related sets of conflicts spread across Europe
- (1) between those who wished to preserve the Versailles settlement versus those who wished to destroy it
- (2) between extreme nationalists who promoted the interests of their country to the status of a self-serving moral imperative and their more moderate opponents
- very little was now heard of a need to bring the Jews into accord with other citizens … of ridding the Jews of their faults of superstition, dress and customs
- what was now wanted was
- (1) removal of Jews from the societal, economic, academic and political structures into which Jews had already been admitted
- (2) removal from society
- (3) physical removal from the country altogether
- for Jewish leaders … the problem was not (as had been expected) to build on the foundations established at by the Enlightenment and enhanced at Versailles … but how to keep these foundations from being completely washed away
I don’t think Vital says it exactly this way, but it seems to me that the changes he describes were very much a backlash against the progress Jews had made after gaining civil rights throughout Europe. Increased Jewish competition with the Christian population in all economic spheres was feared and resented.
This is precisely what happened in Spain after the forced conversion of Jews around 1400 unleashed Jewish competition and then a backlash that led to the Spanish Inquisition and the Expulsion. I have written about these times in Spain in my novel THE HERETIC
The Heretic (Hereje)
***
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* Lew’s comments on “The King of Children” by Betty Jean Lifton
Posted by Lew Weinstein on March 25, 2015
There are many tears to be shed for the way Janusz Korczak died, marching at the head of his final group of orphans off to a German death camp, but one cannot fail to be thrilled by the way he lived. For 30 years, he ran an orphanage in Warsaw, out of love for the children he was able to care for and as a means to study what worked and what didn’t in the interaction with children. His ideas – a court system run by the children, a newspaper written and largely managed by the children – are astonishingly on target, even today.
Betty Lifton did a superb job of capturing the emotion and the quality of Korczak’s work.
I have already written one scene in my novel-in-progress where Anna Gorska (my main fictional Polish character) shares a pre-Hanukah play session at the orphanage, and I have now outlined another 3-4 scenes involving Korczak and the children that I think will help me communicate the great richness of the world of Polish Jewry, the memory of which has survived even the German attempt to eradicate it.
Here are some of my notes …
… children’s court … not an instant success … children did not want to tattle … finally got going … counselors as prosecutor and defense attorney; three children as judges .. any child could bring a suit against another child … Korczak learning as he watched
… using the orphanage as a laboratory, Korczak wanted to work out an educational diagnostic system … children to run their own parliament, court and newspaper … a moral education based on respect for others as a prelude to self-respect
… Korczak launched an orphanage newspaper … each Saturday, he would read aloud his special column of the week … “do you remember, when you first came here, you didn’t have any friends, and you felt sad and lonely”
Korczak’s books, fiction and non-fiction, are all worth reading, especially these … King Matt the First …Kaytek the Wizard … Loving Every Child: Wisdom for Parents
***
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* Lew’s comments on “There Once Was a World” by Yaffa Eliach
Posted by Lew Weinstein on March 23, 2015
This is an absolutely marvelous compendium of detailed insights into Jewish life in Polish shtetls before the holocaust. Although focused on Eishyshok, much applies to other shtetls as well.
I am well along in my new novel set in Germany and Poland during the Nazi years. Recently, though, in re-reading some of what I had written, and comparing it with scenes from my earlier novel The Heretic, I began to feel that I was not adequately capturing the emotion that is my goal. I realized that I had been (necessarily) immersed in scenes about Hitler’s rise to the Chancellorship and I understood what I was feeling, which I can summarize as “too many Nazis, not enough Jews.” It is the Jews who bring the emotion to my story, as they watch from Poland, fearful, hopeful, uncertain and confused.
Yaffa Eliach’s book is my cure. Its 800+ pages captures the sense of the shtetl, facing the future that was never to be. Without a trace of hyperbole or any hint of the maudlin, Eliach paints a warm and enduring picture of people who did not live to paint it themselves. A vibrant culture for centuries, Polish Jewry struggled with the dilemmas of the 20th century, balancing Haskalah and Zionism, secular studies and Talmud, open lives and closed. So much potential, which we all know was never to be realized.
Eliach captures it all, the mind and the heart. Now my job is to weave aspects of the lives that created that emotion into my story
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* Hubert Wolf’s chapter on the Reich Concordat is more apologetics than history
Posted by Lew Weinstein on March 15, 2015
Rarely have I been so angry about a book as I now am with this one. After earlier chapters with which I had no quarrel (praised in my earlier comments previously posted) I have now read the chapter dealing with the Concordat signed by the German Reich and the Vatican in 1933. The following sequence of events seems not to be in controversy.
- The Vatican (Cardinal Pacelli) had been seeking a Reich Concordat for almost a decade before Hitler became Chancellor
- Pacelli had concluded there was no chance of reaching an agreement with the democratic parliament (Reichstag); only a dictator like Hitler could offer such a deal
- Hitler was appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933
- Hitler failed, in elections held on March 5, 1933, to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to pass an Enabling Act which would make him an absolute dictator
- the Enabling Act thus required the votes of the Catholic Center Party to become law
- the Center Party, and the German bishops, had adamantly opposed the Nazis for years, including in the March 5 elections
- on March 23, 1933, the Enabling Act was passed, with all Center Party delegates voting for it, a stunningly sudden reversal of their earlier position
- a few days later, the German bishops reversed their long-standing admonitions against the Nazi Party. A Party whose principles had been judged completely incompatible with Catholicism was now viewed quite differently … “Catholic Christians, for whom the opinion of their Church is sacred, need no particular admonition to be loyal to the legally constituted authorities, to fulfill their civic duties conscientiously, and to reject absolutely any illegal or revolutionary activity.” … in other words, it is now permissible for Catholics to be Nazis and to support the Nazi Party
- shortly thereafter, a Concordat was entered into between Germany and Rome
- a few months later, the Center Party was dissolved, leaving the Nazi Party the only legal political party in Germany
Wolf does not disagree with any of the above facts.
However, he asserts that Cardinal Pacelli was NOT involved in the Center Party’s consent to the Enabling Act, or in the declaration by the bishops, or even with the idea of a Concordat.
Wolf asserts that all initiative for those fateful decisions came from the Center Party delegates or the German bishops. He supports this assertion by stating that there is no evidence in Church archives that the initiative for any of these events came from Rome.
Wolf is correct that there is no documentation so far released by the Vatican to implicate Pacelli in the actions of the Center delegates or the bishops.
There is voluminous evidence from other sources, however, that Pacelli was continually negotiating with Hitler regarding the proposed Concordat, through Prelate Kaas for sure and perhaps directly with Goering.
There is also considerable evidence that the last minute votes by the Center delegates, and the recanting of the German bishops’ fierce admonitions against Nazism, were ordered by Pacelli and were carried out by obedient Catholics for whom the option to disobey Rome did not exist.
Wolf actually cites some of this evidence, before reaching his opposing and unsupported conclusion that Pacelli was not involved, which he bases solely on Pacelli’s later, self-serving statements to that effect, which statements I believe are blatant lies.
Wolf’s chapter is not history. It is apologetics, perhaps with the intent of trying to preserve a portion of the unsavory reputation of Pacelli, later Pius XII, who is even now being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.
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* Lew’s comments on “Fists of Steel”
Posted by Lew Weinstein on January 18, 2015
An excellent source book on illegal German rearmament, begun immediately after their defeat in WWI and clearly aimed at rebuilding an offensive war-making capability.
Consider this chilling description of a protocol for panzer attacks, developed in 1932 before Germany had the tanks to carry it out.
“Guderian envisioned a panzer thrust … led by reconnaissance troops on motorcycles probing for weak spots in the enemy line … reporting by radio to a command post … tanks would roll up for the breakthrough … once they penetrated they would keep going, plunging deep into enemy territory to strike at command, communication and supply centers … infantry would follow in trucks to secure the flanks as the tanks forged ahead … a sharp surgical strike at the foe’s central nervous system, designed to paralyze.”
Guderian led the panzer assault on Poland in 1939.
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* Lew’s comments on Mommsen’s WEIMAR DEMOCRACY … research for Lew’s novel in progress
Posted by Lew Weinstein on January 5, 2015
***
Mommsen provides outstanding detail, especially about the undermining of the Weimar Republic by those who could have made it work and thus kept Hitler from power.
Democracy is always difficult, and conditions in Germany after WWI made it particularly hard to sustain the compromise and cooperation needed for a democracy to be governed well. The details and the situations are very different, but still there are many frightening parallels to the US today. Consider these excerpts from Mommsen …
… neither (President) Hindenburg nor (Chancellor) Bruning was ever prepared to invite the SPD (Socialists) to join the government … thus precluding a return to parliamentary government
… Strasser failed to recognize that Hitler was determined to avoid clear political positions and sought instead to commit the party (and Germany) to a messianic faith in his own leadership abilities
… those social groups that supported the Nazis were those who felt threatened with a loss of social status … they were not succeeding in middle class careers and were insecure
… Goebbels was intent on portraying Hitler as “our last best hope” … decisive for party cohesion … pounded into public consciousness at every opportunity … Nazi election campaigns were conducted with energy and professionalism
… (by mid 1932) the Nazi Party had exhausted its voter potential … the lack of visible achievements was causing an erosion of support … a growing number of resignations form the party … reduced financial contributions … mounting internal criticism of Hitler’s political course
… Fritz Gerlich and Ingbert Naab, editors of Der gerade Weg, criticized the confusion of the Catholic parties … which failed to take Hitler’s “absolute will to evil” seriously … the Catholic Center Party made it clear that it would not support a presidential cabinet led by Papen
… Hindenburg met with all party leaders except SPD, since Papen categorically refused to deal with SPD
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* this wonderful Princeton Alumni Weekly article about John McPhee captures many of the feelings that make writing such a satisfying pleasure for me
Posted by Lew Weinstein on November 26, 2014
https://paw.princeton.edu/issues/2014/11/12/pages/3295/index.xml
John McPhee
***
Writing with the Master
By Joel Achenbach ’82 … Published in the November 12, 2014, issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly
***
For Princeton journalists, praise from John McPhee was — and is — the ultimate reward
John McPhee ’53 has many moves as a writer, one of which he calls a “gossip ladder” — nothing more than a stack of quotations, each its own paragraph, unencumbered by attribution or context. You are eavesdropping in a crowd. You take these scraps of conversation and put them in a pile. Like this:
“A piece of writing needs to start somewhere, go somewhere, and sit down when it gets there.”
“Taking things from one source is plagiarism; taking things from several sources is research.”
“A thousand details add up to one impression.”
“You cannot interview the dead.”
“Readers are not supposed to see structure. It should be as invisible as living bones. It shouldn’t be imposed; structure arises within the story.”
“Don’t start off with the most intense, scary part, or it will all be anticlimactic from there.”
“You can get away with things in fact that would be tacky in fiction — and stuck on TV at 3 o’clock in the morning. Sometimes the scene is carried by the binding force of fact.”
The speaker in every instance is John McPhee. I assembled this particular ladder from the class notes of Amanda Wood Kingsley ’84, an illustrator and writer who, like me, took McPhee’s nonfiction writing class, “The Literature of Fact,” in the spring of 1982. In February, McPhee will mark 40 years as a Princeton professor, which he has pulled off in the midst of an extraordinarily productive career as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of more than two dozen books.
When the editor of this magazine asked me to write something about McPhee’s class, I knew it would be the easiest assignment ever, though a little nerve-wracking. It was, because most of McPhee’s former students have saved their class notes and marked-up papers (Marc Fisher ’80: “I’ve never lived anywhere without knowing where my notes from his class are”).
When I meet Rick Klein ’98 at a coffee shop down the block, we examine forensically Rick’s class papers and the McPhee marginalia, the admonitions and praise from a teacher who keeps his pencils sharp. McPhee never overlooked a typo, and when Rick (now the hotshot political director at ABC News) wrote “fowl” instead of “foul,” the professor’s pencil produced a devastating noose.
McPhee’s greatest passion was for structure, and he required that students explain, in a few sentences at the end of every assignment, how they structured the piece.
(McPhee noted on a piece Rick wrote about his father: “This is a perfect structure — simple, like a small office building, as you suggest. The relationship of time to paragraphing is an example of what building a piece of writing is all about.”)
Rick reminds me that the class was pass/fail.
“You were competing not for a grade, but for his approval. You were so scared to turn in a piece of writing that John McPhee would realize was dirt. We were just trying to impress a legend,” he says.
Which is the nerve-wracking part, still. He is likely to read this article and will notice the infelicities, the stray words, the unnecessary punctuation, the galumphing syntax, the desperate metaphors, and the sentences that wander into the woods. “They’re paying you by the comma?” McPhee might write in the margin after reading the foregoing sentence. My own student work tended toward the self-conscious, the cute, and the undisciplined, and McPhee sometimes would simply write: “Sober up.”
He favors simplicity in general, and believes a metaphor needs room to breathe.
“Don’t slather one verbal flourish on top of another lest you smother them all,” he’d tell his students. On one of Amanda’s papers, he numbered the images, metaphors, and similes from 1 to 11, and then declared, “They all work well, to a greater or lesser degree. In 1,300 words, however, there may be too many of them — as in a fruitcake that is mostly fruit.”
When Amanda produced a verbose, mushy description of the “Oval with Points” sculpture on campus, McPhee drew brackets around one passage and wrote, “Pea soup.”
That one was a famously difficult assignment: You had to describe a piece of abstract art on campus. It was an invitation to overwriting. As McPhee put it, “Most writers do a wild skid, leave the road, and plunge into the dirty river.”
Novice writers believe they will improve a piece of writing by adding things to it; mature writers know they will improve it by taking things out.
Another standard McPhee assignment came on Day One of the class: Pair up and interview each other, then write a profile. It was both an early test of our nonfiction writing skills and a clever way for McPhee to get to know his students at the beginning of the semester.
McPhee’s dedication to his students was, and is, remarkable, given the other demands on his time. One never got the sense that he wished he could be off writing a magazine story for The New Yorker rather than annotating, and discussing face-to-face, a clumsy, ill-conceived, syntactically mangled piece of writing by a 20-year-old.
He met with each of his 16 students for half an hour every other week. Many of his students became professional writers, and he lined up their books on his office shelf, but McPhee never has suggested that the point of writing is to make money, or that the merit of your writing is determined by its market value. A great paragraph is a great paragraph wherever it resides, he’d say. It could be in your diary.
“I think he loves it when students run off and become field biologists in Africa or elementary school teachers,” Jenny Price ’85 tells me. She’s now a writer, artist, and visiting Princeton professor.
McPhee taught us to revere language, to care about every word, and to abjure the loose synonym. He told us that words have subtle and distinct meanings, textures, implications, intonations, flavors. (McPhee might say: “Nuances” alone could have done the trick there.)
Use a dictionary, he implored. He proselytized on behalf of the gigantic, unabridged Webster’s Second Edition, a tank of a dictionary that not only would give a definition, but also would explore the possible synonyms and describe how each is slightly different in meaning. If you treat these words interchangeably, it’s like taping together adjacent keys on a piano, he said.
Robert Wright ’79, an acclaimed author and these days a frequent cycling companion of McPhee, tells me by email, “I’d be surprised if there have been many or even any Ferris professors who care about words as much as John — I don’t mean their proper use so much as their creative, deft use, sometimes in a way that exploits their multiple meanings; he also pays attention to the rhythm of words. All this explains why some of his prose reads kind of like poetry.”
Just to write a simple description clearly can take you days, he taught us (once again I’m citing Amanda’s class notes): “If you do it right, it’ll slide by unnoticed. If you blow it, it’s obvious.”
We had to learn to read. One of his assignments is called “greening.” You pretend you are in the composing room slinging hot type and need to remove a certain amount of the text block to get it to fit into an available space. You must search the text for words that can be removed surgically.
“It’s as if you were removing freight cars here and there in order to shorten a train — or pruning bits and pieces of a plant for aesthetic and pathological reasons, not to mention length,” McPhee commanded. “Do not do violence to the author’s tone, manner, style, nature, thumbprint.”
He made us green a couple of lines from the famously lean Gettysburg Address, an assignment bordering on sadism. A favorite paragraph designated for greening was the one in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness that begins, “Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine.” (McPhee, in assigning this, wrote: “Caution: You are approaching what may be my favorite paragraph in a lifetime of sporadic reading.”)
One time the young Bob Wright used the word “minced” in an assignment. In their bi-weekly office conference, McPhee challenged Bob to justify the word. Bob offered his reasoning. McPhee looked up “minced” in the hulking Webster’s. “You found the perfect word,” McPhee declared.
McPhee’s career coincided with the rise of “New Journalism,” but he never was really part of that movement and the liberties it took with the material. A college student often feels that rules are suffocating, that old-school verities need to be obliterated, and so some of us were tempted, naturally, to enhance our nonfiction — to add details from the imagination and produce a work of literature that’s better than “true” and existed on a more exalted plane of meaning. We’d make things up. McPhee wouldn’t stand for it.
Amanda remembers being called into his office one day: “I could tell something was wrong because he wasn’t his usual smiling self. He had me sit down and glared at me a moment. Then he asked me very sternly whether I had made up the character I had allegedly interviewed for my paper that week about animal traps and snares — I’d talked to an elderly African American friend of my grandparents, whose snare-building skills helped him survive the Depression. Once I convinced him that Oscar was a real person, McPhee sat quietly a moment, then smiled and said it was one of the best papers he had received. Those were some of the finest words I’ll ever hear.”
Perhaps there are writers out there who make it look easy, but that is not the example set by McPhee. He is of the school of thought that says a writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than for other people.
Some people joke about lashing themselves to the chair to get a piece of writing done, but McPhee actually has done it, with the belt of his bathrobe.
Here’s David Remnick ’81, the McPhee student who is now McPhee’s editor atThe New Yorker: “You were working with a practicing creative artist, a writer of ‘primary texts,’ as the scholars say, but one who was eloquent, detailed, unfancy, and clear in the way he talked about essential things: description, reporting, structure, sentences, punctuation, rhythm, to say nothing of the emotional aspects of writing — anxiety, lostness, frustration. He didn’t sugarcoat the difficulty of writing well. If anything, he highlighted the bitter-tasting terrors, he cherished them, rolled them around on his tongue. But behind all that was an immensely revealing, and rewarding, glimpse of the writing life. Not the glamour or the readings or the reviews. No, he allowed you to glimpse the process, what it meant to write alone in a room.”
Marc Fisher, my Washington Post colleague, points out that part of McPhee’s magic was getting students to slow down. “He catches adolescents at exactly the moment when we’ve been racing to get somewhere in life, and he corrals our ambition and raw skills and somehow persuades us that the wisdom, the power, and the mystery of telling people’s stories comes in good part from pressing down on the brakes, taking it all in, and putting it down on paper — yes, paper — in a way that is true to the people we meet and the lives they lead.”
I doubt many of us ever took a class that resonated so profoundly over the years. Part of it was that McPhee felt invested in our later success, regardless of our vocations. You could knock on his door years later and confer with him about your writing, your personal issues, your hopes and dreams. How many teachers are willing to be Professor For Life?
These are tough times in my business, which the people in suits now refer to as “content creation.” Revolutionary changes in how we consume information have created challenges for anyone who is committed to serious, time-consuming writing, the kind that involves revision and the search for that perfect word.
But I don’t think anyone can obliterate the beauty of a deftly constructed piece of writing. This is particularly the case if you’ve written it yourself. It’s like hitting a great golf shot; you forget the shanks and slices and remember the one exquisite 3-iron.
One day in McPhee’s class, he praised a sentence I’d written about the Louise Nevelson sculpture “Atmosphere and Environment X,” near Firestone Library. He had me read it aloud. The hook was set. I don’t always think about it consciously, but that’s pretty much what I’ve been trying to do for more than three decades — write another sentence that might win the approval of John McPhee.
***
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* Lew’s review (and thoughts for new novel) after reading Legacies of Dachau
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 30, 2014
Marcuse provides an excellent detailed study of Dachau when it was a concentration camp from 1933-45, and its continuing role as a reminder of the German depravity.
There were several points regarding the postwar use that fit well with the observations my wife and I made at the “Terror and Fascination” exhibit in Nuremberg, which to our eyes was in many ways a glorification of Hitler. I am still frustrated that I have not been able to induce any reputable historian or journalist to visit the exhibit and see if they agree with the serious deficiencies I summarized on my author blog at … https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/201…
One quote from Marcuse regarding Dachau is almost identical to a video we saw in Nuremberg … one housewife exonerated Hitler … most Germans weren’t involved … Der Fuhrer couldn’t have know about it … he would not have permitted such suffering.
Marcuse also reports how the 1979 TV documentary HOLOCAUST brought challenges and changes to the three German myths of IGNORANCE, VICTIMIZATION & RESISTANCE … making possible a change in West German’s recollection of their Nazi past … the impact of HOLOCAUST reflected changes that had been building for several years as younger Germans increasingly questioned their parents and doubted their rationalizations.
RELEVANCE to my new novel …
Thoughts provoked by Marcuse’s book have turned into potential scenes and conflicts involving the characters in my novel-in-progress. Although the “story” of my book takes place between 1923 and 1945, the main characters are also involved in 1990 through what I am calling “interludes.” These interludes allow knowledge beyond the story and reflection by the characters on what they, Germany and the world learned from the Nazi experience.
***
Posted in * A FLOOD OF EVIL ... Lew's novel-in-progress, ** NAZI CENTER - Nuremberg, *** Uncategorized | Tagged: Harold Marcuse, Legacies of Dachau | Leave a Comment »
* Chuck’s Goodreads review of THE HERETIC
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 3, 2014
THE HERETIC … English & Spanish editions
Chuck’s review …
The author, Lewis Weinstein, is one of my Goodreads friends. Outstanding job, Lew.
Historical fiction is my favorite genre and this is historical fiction of the first order. It is very well written, exhaustively researched and historically accurate. This book increased my knowledge of the religious conflict in 15th century Spain by one hundred fold.
The folks writing positive acknowledgements about the book include Elie Wiesel, Alan Dershowitz and Faye Kellerman.
The Heretic tells the story from the viewpoint of Gabrel Catalan, a Jewish goldsmith whose ancestors were forced to convert to Christianity under threat of death and, as a result, were known as Conversos. The story lays out the events leading to the infamous Spanish Inquisition.
Mr. Weinstein does a great job of introducing his characters and making them into real people. I heartily recommend it.
THANK YOU, CHUCK!
Posted in * THE HERETIC, *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* “Case Closed” Author Discusses FBI Anthrax Cover-up and Possible Al-Qaeda Involvement
Posted by Lew Weinstein on March 6, 2014
Here is an interview I did in 2010 regarding
the FBI’s failed case against Bruce Ivins
and the need for the American people to know the truth.
***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zI69unuq6A
***
My novel CASE CLOSED, a fictional scenario I invented in 2008
with no research and no special knowledge, seems each day
to move closer to the truth than the FBI’s unprovable assertions.
purchase CASE CLOSED at …
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Tagged: 2001 anthrax attacks, CASE CLOSED by Lew Weinstein, FBI anthrax investigation | Leave a Comment »
* Father Edward Flannery: Christians must come to full recognition of the huge crime committed by Christianity against the Jews (research for Lew’s novel-in-progress)
Posted by Lew Weinstein on February 25, 2014
***
Father Edward Flannery, who died in 1998, was a Catholic priest who was the first director of Catholic-Jewish Relations for the U.S. Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, a position he held from 1967 to 1976. His book was published in 1965.
Flannery’s famous statement … “it is little exaggeration to state that those pages of history Jews have committed to memory are the very ones that have been torn from Christian history books” … was quoted by Dr. Eugene J. Fisher, his successor at the U.S. Bishops’ Committee, in Dr. Fisher’s comments praising my novel THE HERETIC for bringing those pages back to Christian view.
***
Father Flannery pulls no punches in his denunciation of the Catholic Church for its role in promulgating antisemitism and providing the foundation for Hitler’s Holocaust …
*** Pope Pius XII’s silence during the Holocaust rested on the acquiescence of the German episcopacy, which in turn rested on the still wider apathy or collusion with Nazism of German Catholics, themselves so ill prepared for any better response by accustomed antisemitic attitudes so often aided and abetted in the past by the Church itself … the Pope’s “subjects” in Germany were little prepared to heed any denunciations of Hitler and Nazism
*** Judaism lived on as a theological challenge to the Christian claim to be a new and true Israel … the threat of that challenge can hardly be overestimated
*** in the minds of the Church Fathers the only solution to the appeal of the old Israel was to discredit the Jew theologically … to depict the Jew as rejected, even cursed, by God … diabolical, the slayer of God Himself … antisemitism based on theological rivalry
*** modern racial antisemitism – as exemplified by the Nazi regime – would not have been possible without centuries of anti-Judaic and antisemitic precedents … from the beginning, Hitler had his target, the Jews, already set up, defenseless, and discredited
***
Flannery’s conclusion sets a monumental challenge
for contemporary Christians …
*** Christians must come to full recognition of the preponderant role played by the Christian churches in the development of antisemitism … and the huge crime committed by Christianity against the Jews … deplorable … should stain the souls of all Christians … antisemitism is a denial of Christian faith, a failure of Christian hope, a malady of Christian love.
***
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Tagged: Christianity & the Holocaust, Father Edward Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews, The Heretic by Lewis Weinstein | Leave a Comment »
* the questions in this 4 year old video remained unanswered … the scenario of the 2001 anthrax attacks presented in my novel is still “more plausible” than the one asserted by the FBI … why do we still not know who perpetrated the 2001 anthrax attacks?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on February 13, 2014
I first posted these questions to YouTube 4 years ago. The questions have not been answered. Meanwhile, the FBI’s case against Dr. Bruce Ivins has been totally demolished on my Case Closed blog (over 323,000 clicks so far) …
http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/
… but the FBI has never responded to any of these issues, continuing to assert an impossible set of allegations. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says it is conducting a review of the FBI’s investigation, but they are years behind their initially communicated completion date. Nobody seems to care.
My novel CASE CLOSED presents a scenario which many, including a highly placed member of our Intelligence Community, say is “more plausible” than the one still put forward by the FBI.
I can imagine three reasons for the FBI’s failure to adjust its views
in the face of overwhelming refutation of its position …
- The FBI has more evidence against Dr. Ivins but is, for some undisclosed reason, withholding that evidence … POSSIBLE BUT NOT SO LIKELY
- The FBI, despite the most expensive and extensive investigation in its history, has not solved the case and has no idea who prepared and mailed the anthrax letters that killed 5 Americans in 2001 … EVEN LESS LIKELY
- The FBI knows who did it (not Dr. Ivins) but is covering up the actual perpetrators, for undisclosed reasons … THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO
This case is definitely not closed!
***
purchase CASE CLOSED at amazon
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Tagged: 2001 anthrax attacks, al qaeda & anthrax, CASE CLOSED by Lew Weinstein, FBI anthrax investigation, gao review of FBI anthrax investigation | Leave a Comment »
* talking about books at DUVAL lunch
Posted by Lew Weinstein on February 7, 2014
***
I had the privilege today of addressing the DUVAL lunch group, of which I am a member, as part of our ongoing authors’ series. Out of 16 members of DUVAL, 8 are published authors, so this group always presents a humbling challenge. I talked briefly about my 4 published novels and then about my work in process. Our venue today was the deck at the Pier House, a longtime Key West locale for authors and drinkers.
Posted in *** Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
* Thank you Goodreads & Facebook friends … one more week for special ebook prices
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 24, 2013
***
The Heretic and the sequel The Pope’s Conspiracy …
available together as a single kindle edition
The Catalan Family Saga … $3.99
A Good Conviction … $3.99
Cased Closed … $2.99
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* my review of ANGRY DAYS is published in the Key West Citizen
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 23, 2013
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* great prices on all kindle editions until Dec 31
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 16, 2013
***
Thank you, Goodreads and Facebook friends
To express my appreciation for all the pleasure I get from interacting with you on Goodreads and Facebook, I have instituted special kindle pricing for my Goodreads and Facebook friends, from now (as soon as amazon processes my pricing updates)
***
Special kindle pricing will end 12/31/13 …
if my books are on your “to read” list, now is the time to buy
***
The Heretic and the sequel The Pope’s Conspiracy …
available together as a single kindle edition
The Catalan Family Saga … $3.99
***
A Good Conviction … $3.99
***
Cased Closed … $2.99
***
Read what others say about my novels …
***
The Heretic
the secretly Jewish Catalan family seeking to avoid the persecution of the Church
Elie Wiesel …
“The Heretic is deeply absorbing … it helps Jews and Christians better understand their complex and often painful relationship.”
Alan M. Dershowitz …
“The historical novel that is both true to the past and relevant to the present is rare indeed. The Heretic humanizes the tragic history of religious persecution.”
Laura (on Goodreads) … “Thank you Lewis Weinstein for this fabulous book! It moved me so deeply… I admire your art and your research. The Heretic educated me, and the Catalan family now lives in my heart.”
***
The Pope’s Conspiracy
the surviving Catalan family in the Florence of Lorenzo de Medici
Sherril Rhoades … “The Pope’s Conspiracy brings the Renaissance alive. The story focuses on a young Jewish printer and his wife who become caught up in the political machinations of the Vatican
Carol (on amazon) … This is a powerful sequel to the Heretic. Another well researched, informative story with characters you care about and a story that keeps the reader engaged.
***
A Good Conviction
convicted of a murder he did not commit by a prosecutor who knew he was innocent
*This is a “page turner” and I loved every minute of it.
* What’s scary about Josh’s situation is that it’s entirely plausible.
* The courtroom scene moved quickly in a compelling manner.
* My heart is breaking for this kid
***
Case Closed
what might really have happened in the 2001 anthrax attacks … not what the FBI says
Rawy … The whole Anthrax episode is unquestionably a dark moment in American history. But what makes it fascinating is how it was handled (or should I say mishandled) by the administration and the various agency involved. The books is a must read for anyone who wondered what really happened? Who did it? and why? … and finally, why didn’t they tell us the truth.
Sherril Rhoades … This scary scenario is as close to truth as fiction can come. Lew Weinstein is a meticulous researcher and a determined storyteller. This book will keep you up at night — reading, then worrying.
***
WELCOME TO MY AUTHOR BLOG …
https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* THE HERETIC & THE POPE’S CONSPIRACY … special ebook price of $3.99 (for a combined edition of both books) … until Dec 31 … a thank you for my Facebook and Goodreads friends
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 13, 2013
purchase at amazon.com
The Catalan Family Saga – The Heretic & The Pope’s Conspiracy
***
special pricing until Dec 31 …
a thank you for all the pleasure I get
interacting with my
GOODREADS & FACEBOOK FRIENDS
***
learn more about THE HERETIC at …
* THE HERETIC
***
learn more about THE POPE’S CONSPIRACY at …
* THE POPE’S CONSPIRACY
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* A GOOD CONVICTION … special ebook price of $3.99 until Dec 31 … a thank you for my Facebook and Goodreads friends
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 10, 2013
***
Joshua Blake went to New York expecting to enter law school. Instead, he has been arrested and convicted of a murder he did not commit. He wakes up in Sing SIng prison with a cellmate name Spider and desperately seeks to regain his once promising life.
Purchase ebook edition for $3.99 until Dec 31 …
Wrongful prosecution of a young man for a murder he did not commit is at the core of A Good Conviction. Joshua Blake has been sent to Sing Sing by a prosecutor who may have known he was innocent. Josh struggles to survive in an environment completely alien to anything he has ever known or even imagined. He befriends some inmates, and has brutal exchanges with others, as he is inescapably corrupted by prison life. All the while he tries to understand how this could have happened to him, and what he can now do to restore his once promising future. Josh is aided in his quest by his cellmate Spider, by the NYPD detective who arrested him, by two defense attorneys and a New York Daily News reporter who are infuriated by the miscarriage of justice perpetrated against him, and by Darlene, a hooker he meets on his first day in New York. He is forcefully opposed by Manhattan ADA Roger Claiborne, and by an uncaring criminal justice system that is loathe to admit a mistake. A Good Conviction is set in Manhattan, Rikers Island and Sing Sing.
***
Wrongful prosecution could happen to anyone.
It could happen to you.
Most Americans are comfortable in the belief that if they don’t commit a crime, they have no risk of going to jail. Unfortunately, that’s not always the way things are.
In addition to writing a compelling novel, Mr. Weinstein has put forth a wakeup call about a problem which plagues the American criminal justice system. While most prosecutors are honest and try to afford all defendants the fair trial to which they are entitled, far too many prosecutors fail to uphold this sacred obligation.
Most often, those prosecutors who cheat to get a conviction do so by suppressing evidence that goes against their case, evidence that would produce `reasonable doubt’ in a juror’s mind. Sometimes, they even conspire to make up evidence which alleges guilt, for instance by planting a “stoolie” who will then testify about admissions by the defendant which never happened.
Don’t believe it? Think it can’t happen in America, the land of justice for all?
Consider these damning reports by very credible organizations …
* The Chicago Tribune reported that 381 murder convictions were reversed because of police or prosecutorial misconduct. * Columbia Law School documented “chronic prosecutorial suppression of evidence of innocence.” * Barry Scheck et al (in Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right ) report numerous cases of prosecutorial misconduct, usually by suppression of evidence that would have proven innocence. * The book In Spite Of Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases , published by Northeastern University Press, cites 400 wrongful convictions. * The heart-wrenching play The Exonerated presents the true stories, in their own words, of seven persons who were wrongfully convicted
How likely is it there are many more such cases that have never come to significant public attention? Is it possible that what we do know is but the tip of the iceberg?
When you have read A Good Conviction, you will know that wrongful prosecution could happen to anyone. It could happen to you.
***
ENTHUSIASTIC READER COMMENTS
* This gripping story demonstrates how one’s life can take a 180 degree turn in a moment. Innocent actions can be misinterpreted and unfortunate consequences result. Weinstein is a great story teller and this is a very well crafted story.
* The characters and their emotions were so vividly portrayed that I still think about them as if I knew them. Lovers of New York City will walk the streets of the city and visualize “A Good Conviction” happening. You will walk past a certain news-stand and wonder if the owner remembers Josh. When you read a book that you don’t want to end….that is a good book. “A Good Conviction” is a good book.
* This is a “page turner” and I loved every minute of it. This author avoids the common fault I find with many mysteries: not having a good ending that leaves you satisfied. The main character is entirely believable and his circumstances are chilling: something that could happen to any one of us. The research behind this book and the author’s familiarity with legal procedures (which are not hard to follow in the book) are evident.
* Once I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down until it was finished – and that was in the wee hours of the morning! Weinstein allows the reader to feel the same anger, scare and frustration that Josh experiences, as we watch him become a victim of a corrupt DA. At the same time that we root for Josh to get justice, we are brought into the world of incarcerated criminals who fill their days with ways to survive. It’s a wild ride, and a story that I highly recommend.
* Having spent two years of a twenty year career with the NYPD transporting prisoners to and from Manhattan Central Booking, I read much of Mr. Weinstein’s book holding my breath. During those long 24 months I never got used to the sound of the cell doors sliding closed with a loud CLANG! Even knowing full well I would be leaving, it induced instant claustrophobia. Well, the scenes in this novel that take part on Riker’s Island brought that sound and more back to me with amazing clarity. If you want a glimpse into the hell that is American prison life, read this book.
* I am amazed at the research that Weinstein has done for both of his books. A Good Conviction, like The Heretic, is a real page turner with a lot of suspense. However, the book is more than just suspenseful. Weinstein illuminates an issue that is very serious and through a fictional account he sensitizes the reader to the plight of the many people who are incarcerated for crimes that they did not commit. I recommend the book highly and cannot wait for his next book.
* What a ride! A scary, yet thoroughly believable, journey through the police and court systems of New York City. Lewis Weinstein captures the tensions and fears of prison life so well, it’s hard to believe he hasn’t done hard time himself. It certainly makes you wonder how many innocent people are behind bars. Highly recommended!
* this is one of the few books that I could not put down and always looked forward to the next chapter! So many books have the tendency to be drawn out in the middle, but this one kept you on the edge throughout and you really did get to know every character. I love a book that when I read it I feel like I am living it and that can only be done by a talented writer. Thank You for the experience!
***
Posted in * A GOOD CONVICTION, *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* great special KINDLE pricing on amazon.com for my Goodreads and Facebook friends … until 12/31/13
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 8, 2013
***
Thank you, Goodreads and Facebook friends
To express my appreciation for all the pleasure I get from interacting with you on Goodreads and Facebook, I have instituted special kindle pricing for my Goodreads and Facebook friends, from now (as soon as amazon processes my pricing updates)
***
Special kindle pricing will end 12/31/13 …
if my books are on your “to read” list, now is the time to buy
***
The Heretic and the sequel The Pope’s Conspiracy …
available together as a single kindle edition
The Catalan Family Saga … $3.99
***
A Good Conviction … $3.99
***
Cased Closed … $2.99
***
Read what others say about my novels …
***
The Heretic
the secretly Jewish Catalan family seeking to avoid the persecution of the Church
Elie Wiesel … “The Heretic is deeply absorbing … it helps Jews and Christians better understand their complex and often painful relationship.”
Alan M. Dershowitz … “The historical novel that is both true to the past and relevant to the present is rare indeed. The Heretic humanizes the tragic history of religious persecution.”
Laura (on Goodreads) … “Thank you Lewis Weinstein for this fabulous book! It moved me so deeply… I admire your art and your research. The Heretic educated me, and the Catalan family now lives in my heart.”
***
The Pope’s Conspiracy
the surviving Catalan family in the Florence of Lorenzo de Medici
Sherril Rhoades … “The Pope’s Conspiracy brings the Renaissance alive. The story focuses on a young Jewish printer and his wife who become caught up in the political machinations of the Vatican
Carol (on amazon) … This is a powerful sequel to the Heretic. Another well researched, informative story with characters you care about and a story that keeps the reader engaged.
***
A Good Conviction
convicted of a murder he did not commit by a prosecutor who knew he was innocent
*This is a “page turner” and I loved every minute of it.
* What’s scary about Josh’s situation is that it’s entirely plausible.
* The courtroom scene moved quickly in a compelling manner.
* My heart is breaking for this kid
***
Case Closed
what might really have happened in the 2001 anthrax attacks … not what the FBI says
Rawy … The whole Anthrax episode is unquestionably a dark moment in American history. But what makes it fascinating is how it was handled (or should I say mishandled) by the administration and the various agency involved. The books is a must read for anyone who wondered what really happened? Who did it? and why? … and finally, why didn’t they tell us the truth.
Sherril Rhoades … This scary scenario is as close to truth as fiction can come. Lew Weinstein is a meticulous researcher and a determined storyteller. This book will keep you up at night — reading, then worrying.
***
WELCOME TO MY AUTHOR BLOG …
https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/
***
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* Laura’s (5*****) review of THE HERETIC by Lew Weinstein
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 3, 2013
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.
.
Laura rated THE HERETIC 5 of 5 stars (on Goodreads) …
“Thank you Lewis Weinstein for this fabulous book! It moved me so deeply… I admire your art and your research. “The Heretic” educated me, and the Catalan family now lives in my heart.”
.
***
for links my 4 published novels
and my new novel in progress, CLICK >>>
https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/welcome_to_my_author_blog/
***********************************
Posted in * THE HERETIC, *** Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
* Ellis Katz’s (5*****) review of A GOOD CONVICTION by Lew Weinstein (on Goodreads)
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 1, 2013
.
Ellis’ review …
.
Poor Josh Blake. He just moved to NYC from Baltimore to begin law school at NYU. Before he has a chance to settle in, he is arrested for the Central Park murder of an elderly woman.
.
He is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in Sing Sing.
.
Needless to say, he is completely innocent, but no one seems to care and it looks like he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
.
However, a detective, a reporter, a lawyer and a prostitute take his pleas of innocence seriously and set out to overturn his conviction. It is no easy task because the judges, the prosecutors and the police consider the case closed and just want to move onto the next case.
.
What happens to Josh? Read the book and find out, and learn something about the American criminal justice system at the same time. The book is face-paced and well-researched. It is a good read in every sense of the term.
.
.
.
.
.
***
for links my 4 published novels and my new novel in progress, CLICK >>>
https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/welcome_to_my_author_blog/
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* Mike’s (5*****) review of THE POPE’S CONSPIRACY
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 1, 2013
.
excerpts from Mike’s review …
… The Pope’s Conspiracy is a great read which tightly binds the intrigue of a thriller with the lightness of a narrative history.
… the characters are extremely well depicted, both real and fictitious.
… Fans of historical fiction should read it as a thrilling introduction to a very interesting period in time
… fans of Renaissance history should read it as an accurate walking tour of Europe’s most important city of the day
… The book is set in 1478 in Florence, which was at that time approaching the zenith of its powers as an unrivaled artistic, scientific and financial centre. Rarely can an city on earth have laid a claim to have been so important in the development of the modern world.
… Into this world of political chess and creative mastery come the characters of Benjamin and Esther Catalan, whose story began with Lew Weinstein’s previous book, The Heretic.
… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/727093.The_Heretic
… the couple are immediately likable, faults and all, and that this leads the reader to hope that they avoid the perils of European Jewry of that age, which surround them from the very first page.
… this reader was left hungry to find a copy of The Heretic and find out more fully how Benjamin and Esther came to be in Florence.
… the story is captivating – clearly very thoroughly researched, balanced, and with a development and definition of character that sticks closely to known historical fact as much as possible while leaving room for enough to be changed to suit the direction of the plot without ruining the realism.
… There was also enough information on the every day lives of Jews five hundred years ago to open my interests in a new subject altogether, and the book certainly has a wealth to offer in that respect.
***
for links my 4 published novels and my new novel in progress, CLICK >>>
https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/welcome_to_my_author_blog/
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
* writing in a Paris cafe … a scene in my new novel … tentatively titled NO EXIT
Posted by Lew Weinstein on September 27, 2013
Here I am at one of our favorite cafes, called La Favorite, a few steps from our apartment, having morning coffee and croissant, working on my novel. What I’m doing is watching the 1930 movie “All Quiet on the Western Front,” while taking notes for the scene I’m working on.
***
Posted in * A FLOOD OF EVIL ... Lew's novel-in-progress, *** Uncategorized | Tagged: All Quiet on the Western Front, writing in a Paris cafe | Leave a Comment »
* Lew’s review of The International Jew by Henry Ford … research for my 5th novel
Posted by Lew Weinstein on September 1, 2013
Henry Ford … bigot
I’m only about 20% into this disgusting series of tirades published in a paper Ford owned. Probably the rest is more of the same. It seems to me that Ford’s loathing and fear of Jews matches that of Hitler, who had a life-size portrait of Ford in his Munich office.
.
Henry Ford was a very successful man.
What drove him to write this? What was he afraid of?
Where in his background or education did this fear come from?
.
Ford wrote 91 articles bashing the Jews in the 1920s, received much criticism at the time, and never changed his position or apologized then. He also got an award from Hitler, I think in 1937.
.
Henry Ford was a disgusting bigot who spread his views widely,
and surely contributed to America’s shameful failure to lift a single finger
to save Jews on their way to the ovens.
He spread the same message in the U.S.
as Hitler did in Germany.
.
Here are some excerpts from what I have read so far.
• (the) International Jew and his satellites (are) the conscious enemies of all that Anglo-Saxons mean by civilization
• The Jew is the world’s enigma. Poor in his masses, he yet controls the world’s finances.
• there are ancient prophecies to the effect that the Jew will return to his own land and from that center rule the world
• The Jews’ enemies were always stripping them of their last ounce of wealth, yet strangely, the Jews recovered very quickly and were soon rich again.
• This distribution of the Jews over Europe and the world, each Jewish community linked in a fellowship of blood, faith and suffering with every other group, made it possible for the Jew to be international in the sense that no other race or group of merchants could be at that time.
• The main source of the sickness of the German national body is charged to be the influence of the Jews
• the German people that the collapse which has come since the armistice, and the revolution from which they are being prevented a recovery, are the result of Jewish intrigue
• The principal Jewish influences which are charged with bringing about the downfall of German order may be named under three heads: (a) the spirit of Bolshevism which masqueraded under the name of German Socialism; (b) Jewish ownership and control of the Press; (c) Jewish control of the food supply and the industrial machinery of the country
• the German people knew that war meant sacrifice and suffering, and like other people they were willing to share the common lot. But they found themselves preyed upon by a class of Jews who had prepared everything to make profit out of the common distress
• Judaism is the most closely organized power on earth, even more than the British Empire. It forms a State whose citizens are unconditionally loyal wherever they may be … Its fleet is the British fleet, which guards from hindrance the progress of all-Jewish world
• we are not talking about merely rich men who have, many of them, gained their riches by serving a System, we are talking about those who Control
• the world will go on thinking of the Jew as a member of a race, a race whose persistence has defeated the utmost efforts made for its extermination
… More to follow if I can force myself to read more.
Posted in ** RESEARCH for A FLOOD OF EVIL, *** Uncategorized | Tagged: Henry Ford & Hitler, The International Jew | 3 Comments »
* Lew’s review of … The Myth of the Twentieth Century by Alfred Rosenberg
Posted by Lew Weinstein on August 30, 2013
This is Rosenberg’s incomprehensible, unreadable and I think mostly unsuccessful attempt to cast Hitler’s hatred in more scholarly form. He ranges pretentiously over a wide variety of topics with no regard for connection, consistency or truth. UTTER GARBAGE. Some examples …
• Greedy for the goods of this world, the Jew moves from city to city, from land to land, and remains where he finds the least resistance to his parasitical business.
• The Jew sought domination and, until 1933, seemed stronger than us.
• Where any kind of wound is torn open in the body of a nation, the Jewish demon always eats itself into the infected part and, as a parasite, it exploits the weak hours of the great nations of this world.
• The emancipation of the Jews followed from the preaching of the insane idea of human equality.
• Every German and non German living in Germany who through word, writing and action makes himself guilty of insulting the German people will, depending upon the gravity of the case, be punished with imprisonment, jail, or death.
• the so called old testament must be abolished once and for all as a book of religion.
• England had conquered south Africa for the Jewish diamond dealers … It had handed over control of all financial transactions to Jewish bankers … It had allowed the opium trade to fall increasingly into Jewish hands.
Rosenberg reveals a fundamental fear of Jews,
based on what I read as a clear sense of his own inferiority,
much like Hitler’s.
In the eyes of Rosenberg (and Hitler), all Jewish accomplishments must be viewed as the result of an evil worldwide conspiracy to take advantage of the good German (Christian) people.
Only by exterminating the Jews like plague bacilli
can the German people flourish.
• The law of the coming Reich will sweep here with an iron broom. It will fulfill the words of Lagarde concerning Jews. He said that one cannot convert plague bacilli, but must render them harmless as quickly as possible.
***
Posted in ** RESEARCH for A FLOOD OF EVIL, *** Uncategorized | Tagged: Alfred Rosenberg, Hitler, Myth of the Twentieth Century | 2 Comments »
* My novel CASE CLOSED may yet make the news … a long-delayed GAO report, evaluating the FBI’s investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks, promised for September 2013, may be issued “some time next year”
Posted by Lew Weinstein on July 30, 2013
There’s a story about Amerithrax in today’s Frederick News-Post with mention that GAO may issue its report sometime next year.
“Scientists who worked with Ivins still question government’s methods,” July 29, 2013 … http://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/article_f791e81b-1735-54a7-9258-922edc1dcbdc.html
It is abundantly clear from thousands of posts on my CASE CLOSED blog … (http://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/) … that the FBI has not presented evidence that Dr. Bruce Ivins was even involved in the anthrax mailings, let alone, as they claim, the “sole perpetrator.”
What is the real story?
Why does the FBI continue to stick with its discredited assertions?
I see three possible reasons …
1. The FBI has more evidence against Ivins but won’t release it … HIGHLY UNLIKELY
2. The FBI has not solved the case, doesn’t know who prepared the anthrax and mailed the letters, but won’t admit its failure … POSSIBLE
3. The FBI knows who perpetrated the anthrax attacks (possibly Al Qaeda related) but will not say it … MOST LIKELY
I wrote a novel about this matter titled “CASE CLOSED.” Many, including one highly placed in the U.S. Intelligence Community, say my fictional scenario is more plausible than the FBI’s story.
You can purchase CASE CLOSED ($5.00 in kindle format, $9.45 in paper) at …
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Tagged: CASE CLOSED by Lew Weinstein, Dr. Bruce Ivins, FBI anthrax investigation, gao review of FBI anthrax investigation | Leave a Comment »
* It’s time to write more chapters of “Choosing Hitler”
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 20, 2013
Read the draft prologue of “Choosing Hitler” at …
https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/2013/06/20/prologue-to-lews-novel-in-progress-draft-at-june-2013-tentatively-titled-choosing-hitler/
***
Lewis M. Weinstein
***
For the past several months I have not written a single word on my new novel, tentatively titled “Choosing Hitler.”
What I have done is read and take thousands of notes from varied sources leading to January 30, 1933, that crucial day when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. I will now carry forward the lives and relationship of my two major characters, Berthold Becker in Munich and Anna Gorska in Warsaw, from the earlier chapters already written into the tumult of the early 1930s.
When these new chapters are completed, so will the first section of my novel. My intent, as those of you who have read the Prologue know, is to take Berthold and Anna’s story through the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1946.
Many of you have been following my research-related reviews on Goodreads. I thank you very much for your encouragement and for many helpful comments and suggestions. For those of you who served as “early readers,” my special thanks for your thoughtful assistance. I look forward to calling on you again when there is more to read.
If you would like to know more about the premise of “Choosing Hitler,”
you can read the Prologue at …
https://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/2013/06/20/prologue-to-lews-novel-in-progress-draft-at-june-2013-tentatively-titled-choosing-hitler/
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
* Lew’s review of “The Churches and the Third Reich Volume One: 1918-1934” by Klaus Scholder
Posted by Lew Weinstein on May 9, 2013
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII
***
An extraordinary study, published in 1977, presenting the response of the German churches – Catholic and Protestant – to the challenges posed by the rise of Hitler and his National Socialist Party. It is Scholder’s well documented conclusion that words like “blindness, lies, arrogance, stupidity, and opportunism” are appropriate to describe the behavior of both Catholic and Protestant churches in their interactions with Hitler.
The Protestant Churches – there were 28 regional organizations in Germany – talked and talked and talked, without ever taking a stand, while Hitler acted relentlessly in ways that, day by day, restricted the opportunities to oppose him.
By contrast, German Catholicism initially presented an almost united front against Hitler. The Diocesan offices in Mainz proclaimed this position (in 1930) as follows … “no Catholic may be a card-carrying member of the Hitler party … no member of the Nazi party may participate in funerals or any other Catholic events … so long as a Catholic is a card-carrying member of the Hitler party he may not be admitted to the sacraments … Racial hatred is fundamentally un-Christian and un-Catholic.”
In 1931-32, Catholic writers continued the attack … “The Nazis are a brutal party that would do away with all rights of the people … Hitler’s message does not proclaim peace and justice but rather violence and hate … National Socialism means enmity with neighboring countries, despotism in internal affairs, civil war, international war … National Socialism means lies, hatred, fratricide, and unbounded misery.”
What changed and totally undercut this Catholic opposition to Hitler were the workings of Pope Pius XI and Cardinal Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) from Rome. Focused to the exclusion of all other considerations on the threat of Communism and the desire for a Reich Concordat, the Vatican began by disapproving the Mainz proclamation and then increasingly compelled the Catholic Centre Party to consider how it was to collaborate with Hitler.
The Catholic Centre Party in 1931-32 was the only power in Germany still capable of mediating between the different political parties to forge a moderate alternative to Hitler, but it failed to even make an effort to do so because of pressure from the Pope and Pacelli. German Catholicism’s previous open opposition to Hitler was thus undercut by pressure from Rome. The Catholic Centre party ended up fully capitulating to Hitler (in passing the infamous Enabling Act which made Hitler an unrestricted dictator) before voting itself out of existence.
***
Posted in *** Uncategorized | Tagged: Cardinal Pacelli, catholic church and hitler, Hitler and Pacelli, the churches and the third reich | Leave a Comment »
* research for my novel-in-progress tentatively titled “CHOOSING HITLER”
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 12, 2013
Several friends have expressed an interest in the research I am doing for my novel-in-progress, tentatively titled CHOOSING HITLER.
I organize my books on Goodreads.
- The books I have read or plan to read are listed in my book category “ch-research.” …
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2231715-lewis-weinstein?format=html&shelf=ch-research.
- Those I have reviewed are listed in the category “ch-reviews.” …
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2231715-lewis-weinstein?format=html&shelf=ch-reviews
I welcome additional suggestions.
Here are some of the books I have so far found particularly useful in my research …
- Warsaw: The Cabaret Years (Nowicki)
- Awakening Lives: Autobiographies of Jewish Youth (Shandler)
- The Shame of Survival: Working Through a Nazi Childhood (Mahlendorf)
- Antisemitism and Its Opponents in Modern Poland (Blobaum)
- Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy (Weitz)
- Justice Imperiled: The Anti-Nazi Lawyer Max Hirschberg in Weimar Germany (Morris)
- State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda (Bachrach)
- The Catholic Church And Nazi Germany (Lewy)
- Rome’s Most Faithful Daughter: The Catholic Church and Independent Poland, 1914-1939 (Pease)
- Life is With People: The Culture of the Shtetl (Zborowski)
- Stranger in Our Midst: Images of the Jew in Polish Literature (Segel)
- Munich 1923: The Story of Hitler’s First Grab for Power (Dornberg)
- When Money Dies: The Nightmare Of The Weimar Hyper Inflation (Ferguson)
- Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918-1939 (Watt)
- Address Unknown (Taylor)
- There Once Was a World: A 900-Year Chronicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok (Eliach)
- Poland’s Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present (Michlic)
- Hitler (Kershaw)
- Shtetl: The Life and Death of a Small Town and the World of Polish Jews (Hoffman)
- The Catholic Church and Antisemitism … Poland 1933-39 (Modras)
- On The Edge Of Destruction: Jews Of Poland Between The Two World Wars (Heller)
- Why Hitler Came Into Power (Abel)
- The Coming of the Third Reich (Evans)
- The Face Of The Third Reich: Portraits Of The Nazi Leadership (Fest)
- The Anguish Of The Jews: Twenty Three Centuries Of Antisemitism (Flannery)
- Hitler And The Beer Hall Putsch (Gordon)
- Mein Kampf (Hitler)
- Hitler, Vol 1: 1889-1936 Hubris (Kershaw)
- Where Ghosts Walked: Munich’s Road to the Third Reich (Large)
- Adolf Hitler (Toland)
- Justice at Nuremberg (Conot)
Posted in * A FLOOD OF EVIL ... Lew's novel-in-progress, *** Uncategorized | Tagged: Hitler, holocaust, Jewish historical fiction, Jews in Nazi Germany, Lewis Weinstein, Nazi Germany, Nazis, Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, Poland | Leave a Comment »
