12 results for "Biography"

Escape through the Pyrenees

Fittko, Lisa
"Though it reads like a suspense novel, Escape through the Pyrenees is Lisa Fittko's extraordinary memoir of life as an "enemy alien" in France before and after the German invasion of 1940. Fittko and her husband, Hans, were Jewish leftists in Berlin who became active members of the anti-Fascist German resistance. In 1933, they fled the Gestapo to what they thought was the safety of France. To the French authorities, however, they and thousands of other German émigrés represented a grave political threat. Soon these émigrés were rounded up and crowded into concentration camps."--Back cover.
Northwestern University Press 2000 221 pages

Masquerade: the incredible true story of how George Soros' father outsmarted the Gestapo

Soros, Tivadar
The Nazis came late to Hungary because, until early 1944, Germany and Hungary were allies. But when they did arrive, their orders were to put the "Final Solution" into effect with deliberate speed. Soros, a Jewish lawyer in Budapest, secured fake Christian identities for himself, his wife, and his two sons following the German invasion of Hungary on March 19, 1944. In a narrative reminiscent of the great Primo Levi, Soros recounts his experiences with a beguiling humor, deep humanity, and a wisdom that is humbling. Superbly translated by Humphrey Tonkin, Masquerade is.
Arcade Pub 2011-03-15 275 pages

The art of resistance: my four years in the French underground : a memoir

Rosenberg, Justus
"In 1937, as the Nazis gained control and anti-Semitism spread in the Free City of Danzig, a majority German city on the Baltic Sea, sixteen-year-old Justus Rosenberg was sent to Paris to finish his education in safety. Three years later, France fell to the Germans. Alone and in danger, penniless, and cut off from contact with his family in Poland, Justus fled south. A chance meeting led him to Varian Fry, an American journalist in Marseille helping thousands of men and women, including many artists and intellectuals--among them Hannah Arendt, Marc Chagall, Andre Breton, and Max Ernst--escape the Nazis. With his German background, understanding of French culture, and fluency in several languages, including English, Justus became an invaluable member of Fry's refugee network as a spy and scout. The spry blond who looked even younger than his age flourished in the underground, handling counterfeit documents, secret passwords, black market currency, surveying escape routes, and dealing with avaricious gangsters. But when Fry was eventually forced to leave France, Gussie, as he was affectionately known, could not get out. For the next four years, Justus relied on his wits and skills to escape captivity, survive several close calls with death, and continue his fight against the Nazis, working with the French Resistance and later, becoming attached with the United States Army. At the war's end, Justus emigrated to America, and built a new life. Justus' story is a powerful saga of bravery, daring, adventure, and survival with the soul of a spy thriller. Reflecting on his past, Justus sees his life as a confluence of circumstances. As he writes, 'I survived the war through a rare combination of good fortune, resourcefulness, optimism, and, most important, the kindness of many good people.'" -- Publisher's description.
William Collins 2020 288 pages

The 188th Crybaby Brigade: a skinny Jewish kid from Chicago fights Hezbollah : a memoir

Chasnoff, Joel
Joel Chasnoff is twenty-four years old, an American, and the graduate of an Ivy League university. But when his career as a stand-up comic fails to get off the ground, Chasnoff decides it's time for a serious change of pace. Leaving behind his amenity-laden Brooklyn apartment for a plane ticket to Israel, Joel trades in the comforts of being a stereotypical American Jewish male for an Uzi, dog tags (with his name misspelled), and serious mental and physical abuse at the hands of the Israeli Army.
Free Press 2010-02-09 269 pages

My animated life: the story of how I survived the German occupation to become Australia's legendary animation filmmaker

Gross, Yoram
Yoram Gross' recollections of his life, told simply and directly, cannot be read without emotion. This is the story of a youth who was forced to grow up during the Nazi occupation of his country, Poland. The book also recounts his life in Australia as an animator of such film classics as "Blinky Bill" and "Dot and the Kangaroo."
Brandl & Schlesinger 2011 227 pages