A Hole in the Heart of the World: The Jewish Experience in Eastern Europe After World War II

Rating:
Summary: a nice little book . . .
Review: about how a few people experienced life after the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. Probably the most interesting things I learned were (1) that the decline of the Jewish population in Eastern Europe didn't just all happen during the Holocuast -- instead it kept declining even after 1945 as the Communists made Jews' life more and more miserable, and (2) how vibrant some Jewish communities still are - for example, I had no idea that there were still 100,000 Jews in Hungary. Short, easy to read, not too deep, in short beach reading.

Rating:
Summary: a nice little book . . .
Review: about how a few people experienced life after the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. Probably the most interesting things I learned were (1) that the decline of the Jewish population in Eastern Europe didn't just all happen during the Holocuast -- instead it kept declining even after 1945 as the Communists made Jews' life more and more miserable, and (2) how vibrant some Jewish communities still are - for example, I had no idea that there were still 100,000 Jews in Hungary. Short, easy to read, not too deep, in short beach reading.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting story of Judiasm under the Communists
Review: Jonathan is first a journalist. He gives you a penetrating view of what it was like to be in Europe under communism as told by people that lived it. He makes you identify with these people and feel their stories. This is no simplistic story of good and evil. This is the story of real and complex people dealing in their different ways with an impossible situation. Some rebelled, some hid, and some joined the enemy. The only common thread is that they were all alive to tell Jonathan their stories when the Berlin Wall fell. Fortunately Jonathan was there at this unique point in time to listen to their stories and tell them to us.

Rating:
Summary: The one book to read on this subject
Review: Jonathan Kaufman wrote a wonderful book. It is very authentic, very broad and very readable, especially considering that it is non-fiction. The characters and situations are so real that all the time whilr reading I had the impression that the author had to come from that area in order to have such an understanding for the place and for the people.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting story of Judiasm under the Communists
Review: Like many people, including the author, I thought the Jewish population was close to nonexistant in Eastern Europe following WW II. After the fall of the Wall in 1989, the author discovered that was not totally true, and does a wonderful job of writing about the experiences of 5 Jewish families in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It was an eye opener for me. While I knew that the Communist regimes hadn't exactly strongly supported Judism, I didn't realize they had launched such strong anti-Semite campaigns (or pogroms). Very easy read and it teaches you quite a bit about post-War Eastern Europe.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing, enlighting book
Review: Like many people, including the author, I thought the Jewish population was close to nonexistant in Eastern Europe following WW II. After the fall of the Wall in 1989, the author discovered that was not totally true, and does a wonderful job of writing about the experiences of 5 Jewish families in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It was an eye opener for me. While I knew that the Communist regimes hadn't exactly strongly supported Judism, I didn't realize they had launched such strong anti-Semite campaigns (or pogroms). Very easy read and it teaches you quite a bit about post-War Eastern Europe.