by as told to Geoffrey Brooks by Wolfgang Hirschfeld (1997)
Whilst there have been many memoirs written by U-boat commanders of the Second World War, a book such as this, based upon the diaries of a senior Petty Officer telegraphist, written in 'real time' is something very special. Wolfgang Hirschfeld, whose diaries Geoffrey Brooks has translated is a born story teller. The principal chapters describe his experiences during six war patrols in U-109, in which he served as the senior telegraphist. His is a tale which covers the whole kaleidescope of emotions shared by men at war - a story of immense courage and fortitude, of remarkable comradeship born of the dangers, frustrations and privations shared and of transitory moments of triumph. Throughout runs a vein of humour, without which resistance to stress would have been virtually impossible. We get to know one of Germany's great U-boat aces, 'Ajax' Bleichrodt, holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and, in a special biographical appendix, learn how he finally cracked under the strain. . The role of Admiral Karl Donitz, the dynamic commander of the U-boat service, so fascinatingly described by Hirschfeld, is of special interest - not least because even this dedicated Nazi had clearly realized by September, 1942, that the war was fast being lost. In 1944 Hirschfeld was promoted Warrant Officer and found himself on a large, schnorkel-equipped boat (U-234) heading for Japan with a load of high technology equipment and, in addition, a quantity of uranium ore. The possible significance of that uranium has been deeply researched by Geoffrey Brooks and is discussed in a second appendix.
Ruth Andreas-Friedrich
Die Berliner Journalistin Ruth Andreas-Friedrich (1901–1977) erzählt in ihren bewegenden Tagebuchaufzeichnungen vom Widerstand gegen die Naziherrschaft, dem schwierigen Alltag in den Kriegsjahren und den Jahren danach. (Quelle: Suhrkamp Verlag)
Olimpiu G. Urcan and Peter Michael Braunwarth
"This book explores the life and chess career of Arthur Kaufmann, a Romanian-born grandmaster-level player of the 1900s and 1910s. The book also offers an unprecedented and extensive account of Kaufmann's close relationship with Arthur Schnitzler, the famed Austrian dramatist, whose diary offers important clues to Kaufmann's life and work as a philosopher"--Provided by publisher.
Annette Leo. Fotos von Peter Grätz
Ausgezeichnet mit dem Annalise-Wagner-Preis 2008. Die Darstellung von Brüchen und Widersprüchen in Geschichte und Erinnerungsprozessen ist für die Jury Beispiel für einen neuen Ansatz des Gedenkens in einer veränderten Geschichtskultur, der weniger in Schwarz-Weiß-Kategorien als in Widersprüchlichkeiten argumentiert.
Marc B. Shapiro
"Using a great deal of unpublished material, including private correspondence, Marc Shapiro discusses many aspects of Weinberg's life. In doing so he elucidates social and intellectual phenomena of the Jewish world that have so far received little scholarly attention: the yeshivas of Lithuania; the state of the Lithuanian rabbinate; the musar movement; the Jews of eastern Europe in Weimar Germany; the Torah im Derekh Eretz movement and its variants; Orthodox Jewish attitudes towards Wissenschaft des Judentums; and the special problems of Orthodox Jews in Nazi Germany. Throughout, he shows the complex nature of Weinberg's character and the inner struggles of a man being pulled in different directions."--BOOK JACKET.