Generation Exodus: The Fate of Young Jewish Refugees from Nazi Germany

By Walter Laqueur

Book Overview

Some half a million Jews lived in Germany when Hitler came to power in 1933. Over the next decade, thousands would flee. Among these refugees, teens and young adults formed a remarkable generation. Born between 1914 and 1928 (approximately), they were old enough to appreciate the loss of their homeland and the experience of flight, but often young and flexible enough to survive and even flourish in new environments. Many would go on to make great contributions to their new countries and to the world. Walter Laqueur, himself a distinguished member of this group, offers a unique generational history of the young people whose lives were irrevocably shaped by the rise of the Nazis. They escaped to Palestine and the United States, to the Soviet Union and England, to South America and Shanghai and Australia. Some even remained in Germany, in hiding throughout the war. Some fled with their families and were greeted by friends and relatives in a new home. Others were completely alone, escaping from Germany or Austria through great danger and arriving in foreign lands with no help or support. They come from a variety of backgrounds -- some secular, some observant; some Zionists, some German patriots; some poor, some well-to-do -- but they are united by the experience of flight from Nazi persecution during their formative years. This generation produced such disparate figures as Henry Kissinger and "Dr. Ruth" Westheimer; noted academics and political leaders of both Israel and East Germany; even a Benedictine abbot, a Hindu guru, and a West African chieftain. Drawing on interviews, published and unpublished memoirs, and his own experiences, Walter Laqueur skillfully braids together numerous individual stories and experiences to paint a vivid collective portrait of Generation Exodus.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1584651067
• ISBN13: 9781584651062
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Brandeis University Press
• Length: 388 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

I AM A MEMBER OF THE GENERATION THE BOOK DEALS WITH

I WAS BORN IN BERLIN,. GERMANY, AND CAME TO THE US VIA CUBA IN 1941. THE WEALTH OF MATERIALS WAS ASTONISHING-THE AUTHOR COVERED ALMOST MORE TOPICS THAN WERE NEEDED. HE CAREFULLY POINTED OUT THE PROBLEMS OF IMMIGRATION TO VARIOUS COUNTRIES AND MADE IT QUITE CLEAR WHY IMMMIGRATION TO THE US (A COUNTRY OF IMMIGRANTS) MADE IT EASIER FOR US TO BE ACCEPTED THAN IN OTHER CULTURES. I KNOW THAT LAQUEUR IS AN ACADEMIC, BUT FEEL THAT HE OVEREMPHASIZED THE NUMBER OF NOBEL PRICE WINNERS IN THIS GENERATION. MOST INTERESTING, TO ME, WAS THE ACCOUNT OF WHY SOME GERMAN JEWS RETURNED TO GERMANY.