The 100-Year Secret : Britain's Hidden World War II Massacre

Rating:
Summary: British blunder in World War II
Review: Jacobs (d. 2004) was a part of the awful World War II episode written about--namely, the bombing of ships filled with Jewish concentration camp victims trying to flee from Germany in the closing days of World War II. Pool, a graduate of Harvard, is a writer and English teacher. The episode took place in the Baltic Sea. Jacobs' account moves smoothly from experiences of him and his brother, including their separation and eventual reunion, to the larger picture of how the Jews from the camps came to be on the boats, were caught between the desperate Germans and the advancing British Armies (with the possibility the Germans meant to sink the boats once they were at sea), and British Royal Air Force operations and decisions which led to the bombing of the ships and deaths of more than 7,000 persons. Jacobs and Pool lean toward the position that the "R. A. F. sacrificed the prisoners" in its effort to prevent German officials from escaping by sea to Denmark or Sweden. The authors see the British government's sealing of records relating to the episode until 2045 as lending support to this deduction. This tragic WWII episode is not unknown, and questions about it have been previously raised. But these two authors give the most thorough account of it. Jacob's first-hand experiences and the authors' inspection of the limited official and historical records which are available make this work stand out.


Rating:
Summary: If It Were Not True It Would Be Unbelievable
Review: Like other classic Holocaust accounts (Art Spiegelman's Maus books and Ilona Karmel's An Estate of Memory are 2 that come to mind), The-100-Year-Secret brings to life the torture and misery concentration camp inmates endured at the hands of the Nazis. Unlike other Holocaust accounts, this book tells what--if it were not true--would be an almost unbelievable story of the death of thousands of concentration camp survivors at the hands (or airplanes) of the British.

The story of the sinking of inmate-filled ships in Neustadt Bay on May 3, 1945 is simultaneously riveting and heartbreaking. The authors vividly describe the events leading up to the tragedy, both from the point of view of the inmates (of which Mr. Jacobs was one) and that of the British fighter pilots who flew the tragic mission that sunk the ships.

How Jacobs and Pool were able to recreate this story when the official records of it remain sealed for another forty years is beyond me. But recreate it they did, powerfully. You will not be able to put this book down until you have finished it, and once you finally do put it down you will continue to see the images of that frightful night in Neustadt Bay for a very long time.

Rating:
Summary: A Secret That Must Be Shared
Review: The 100-Year Secret is the tragic story of how thousands of concentration camp inmates, mostly Jews, were killed when the RAF mistakingly attacked the ships that they had been forced on by the SS. What makes this even more of a tragedy is that this happened hours before the British occupied this section of Germany. The survival of one of the authors, Benjamin Jacobs, and his brother, as well as the others who made it to shore is the true miracle of the story, which is one that had to be told. My only criticism is that the book could have been a bit better written as I found it hard to follow in certain spots. That is the reason for a rating of a four as opposed to a five. However, the story is such a compelling one that any short comings in style are more than overcome by its substance and I highly recomend this book. If the reader is interested, a more complete and, in my opinion, better written story of Benjamin Jacob's experiences is available in The Dentist of Auschwitz, A Memoir.

Rating:
Summary: gripping report
Review: This books is a gripping report of a tragedy that should never be forgotten.