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Rating: 
Summary: The Goyim Review
Review: Despite my many years of companionship with Jewish friends, and a few stints working at JCC youth camps, my friend's comment was one that I might have made before reading this excellently written and incisive book. Kurzman tells the story of the Jewish resisters in Warsaw during the "Grossaktion"- the final rounding up and extermination of so many Polish Jews. The stories of individual courage, sacrifice, and heroism moved me in a way I could never have foreseen. Yes this book is one-sided (as another reviewer critiqued), but how could it be otherwise? The mercilessness with which the Germans pursued their quarry will never be matched, and an empathy for their motives would almost by necessity ring false. To view the real heroes (who make difficult and sometimes flawed choices along the way that expose them as the humans they are) of this book is to be enlightened about the Jewish history and character that we so rarely have an opportunity to experience through the mainstream media. If you seek an account of the almost impossible ways that people react to extreme oppression and terror, and the incredible resourcefulness that a people are capable of, then you will do well to read this book
Rating: 
Summary: One sided view of incredible bravery 3.5 Stars
Review: I have read several of Mr. Kurzman's books, The Race For Rome, Left To Die, Fatal Voyage and now The Bravest Battle 28 Days of The Warsaw Ghetto uprising. In all of them I felt that more research would have made for a better book, to be fair that could be said of any book. This is a fabulous book if you are looking for stories of bravery, it is not such a good book if you are looking for an in-depth examination of the battle such as Ryan's the Last Battle about Berlin or Beevor's Stalingrad. Mr. Kurzman seemed to rely almost exclusively on the Polish-Jewish side of events in writing this book, there are very few references to what the Germans were thinking and doing at the command level and no German order of battle. Some of the more well known stories are left out, the book bound in human flesh and given to an SS Commander as a battle momento is not mentioned, there is no mention of the German use of gigantic seige mortars and artillery to lay waste to the ghetto. This book is filled with so many fantastic stories that Steven Speilberg could make several movies from it...underground battles in the sewers as poorly armed civilians fight it out with one of the most professional armies of all times. Poor Jews dupped into working as a ghetto police force, turning in their friends and family only to be taken to a wall and shot when their usefulness is finished. Nazi's bringing in special dogs trained to smell for humans hiding under ground, acoustic listening devices being employed to find the sounds of humans in hidden bunkers. The horrible poison gas attacks when Jewish bunkers were discovered. Non-Jewish Poles refusing to help their Jewish countrymen. Pleas to the outside world to help that fall on deaf or indifferent ears. The core of these Ghetto Fighters were very young, to be in your late teens/early 20's and facing a fight for survival like these people did is incredible. Mr. Kurzman explains the Ghetto structure of Warsaw very well, it was broken down into different sections like the Productive Ghetto which the industrialists begged the Nazi's to not destroy, there were several times in the battle when the Nazi's would ask factory owners to go into the ghetto and announce that anyone who turned himself in would be given safe passage to eastern relocation work camps, sadly sometimes it worked. The Nazi's were masters of deception, it is scary even today to look back at how effecient and organized they were about the whole thing. Those who saw the movie Schindler's List will recognize many of the same tactics of genocide in this book. Being called to the train platform for re-settlement, rumors of death camps, stories from camp escapees. The description of the 1st ambush of German troops entering the ghetto will have you spellbound...one could only hope to be so brave if placed in such an impossible situation. This book is worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: I was inspired to pick up this book after seeing Polanski's "The Pianist." This book is an overview of the Warsaw Uprising (the first one occurring in the Jewish Ghetto in 1943). Through what must have been exhaustive interviews with the survivors, many of whom may no longer be alive, Kurzman meticulously provides the details of the inspiring 28-day uprising, but in such a way as to absolutely captivate the reader. There may be biases or omissions of which I am not aware, but there was enough to give me a broad background on the uprising and its context -- and to keep me riveted on the struggle. One disappointment was the production values of the 1993 Da Capo Press edition, which is a republication of Putnam's 1976 edition. From the look of the type and photos, it appears they may have actually shot the plates for the present edition from a printed copy of the original edition! -- the photos especially are of unforgivably poor quality. But this doesn't detract from the tale of the uprising, which is told with compassion, and absorbed me totally for the better part of the 2 days it took to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: I was inspired to pick up this book after seeing Polanski's "The Pianist." This book is an overview of the Warsaw Uprising (the first one occurring in the Jewish Ghetto in 1943). Through what must have been exhaustive interviews with the survivors, many of whom may no longer be alive, Kurzman meticulously provides the details of the inspiring 28-day uprising, but in such a way as to absolutely captivate the reader. There may be biases or omissions of which I am not aware, but there was enough to give me a broad background on the uprising and its context -- and to keep me riveted on the struggle. One disappointment was the production values of the 1993 Da Capo Press edition, which is a republication of Putnam's 1976 edition. From the look of the type and photos, it appears they may have actually shot the plates for the present edition from a printed copy of the original edition! -- the photos especially are of unforgivably poor quality. But this doesn't detract from the tale of the uprising, which is told with compassion, and absorbed me totally for the better part of the 2 days it took to finish.
Rating:
Summary: A journey not soon forgotten...
Review: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising has long fascinated me. It has long stood as a symbol of what hope can do "when all hope is lost." In all my years of reading holocaust literature, no other single event has embraced the totality of the Jewish struggle from denial to capitulation to indignation, from the depths of which rose the courage to actually fight back! In many ways, it echoes the struggle that continues today.
Dan Kurzman regails this saga in unbelievable depth, citing the most impecable sources, the survivors! His narrative breaks down each individual day and succeeds in putting the reader into each and every "sub-set" of the saga throughout the ghetto and within the nazi regime out to destroy them.
I have read many different accounts of this parcel of history, and, to date, I have not yet found a more extensive account of the events of those 28 days! From top to bottom, front to back, this is one of the greatest books I have ever read! I actually happened upon writing this review as I was purchasing it for the second time, as my first copy was not returned to me.
This emotional roller coaster will leave you breathless...I left it with bittersweet feelings of joy and pain, triumph and tragedy, resolve and fear. For I, too, live in a fascist nation, and fear the violation of my rights may become extreme. However, reflection on these 28 days of heroes among ordinary men gives me the strength to believe I could be a hero too!
The power lies within each of us! Read and learn...see ya in November!
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful account that inspires
Review: This historical account of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising during WWII is absolutely astounding. A must-read, even for those who dislike reading about history. More importantly, it describes an amazing series of events that we, as a society, cannot let be forgotten. The sheer heroism and endurance of the ghetto fighters is a testament to the strength of the human spirit under times of duress such as we cannot imagine.
Rating:
Summary: Up In Arms
Review: This is a marvelous account of the proudest moment in Jewish history. Kurzman's meticulous research and attention to detail add rich layers of atmosphere to his re-telling of the Uprising. Hundreds of participants are named, and the day-to-day account of the fighting is positively harrowing. The actions of Jewish fighters in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto rival those of any other armed uprising in the history of the world in terms of pure heroics in the face of utter destruction. Anyone who reads Kurzman's "Bravest Battle" is likely to agree.
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