Perfidy

Rating:
Summary: Chilling. Inspiring. Essential reading.
Review: "The only practical way yet discovered by the world for curing its ills is to forget about them."
This book had been on our shelves for years, conspicuously mysterious with its black cover and the lone word "Perfidy" glinting in gold. Curiosity kept drawing me to it, but suspicion kept holding me back. Until finally a conversation I had with a friend about WWII at last compelled me to begin reading it.
I had been told that it's a difficult - almost dangerous - book to read, because it will change how I see the country I live in, the country I love and whose history I am so proud of. And that it is a controversial account, so much so that it was banned throughout the Land.
From the first pages it is clear this book is not like any other. The force and conviction of the words pierce the soul. Ben Hecht's style is unique and genius. At times cynically witty, at times vividly dramatic, and at times seriously forthright. I couldn't put the book down and at the same time I couldn't sit still and keep my mind focused from apprehension.
Other reviews detail the plot of this book. I would like address issues surrounding it. Firstly, while bitterly controversial, the book is not banned in Israel. Just last week I saw several copies of it in both English and Hebrew at the Mt. Scopus library at Hebrew University. Secondly, does Ben Hecht sometimes sacrifice truthfullness for artistic style? I believe it is possible, because I am a little familiar with Hecht as a writer. Thirdly, did it change how I see my country? Absolutely. While it made me appreciate it more, it made me revere it less.
I think this is the most important book I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling. Inspiring. Essential reading.
Review: "The only practical way yet discovered by the world for curing its ills is to forget about them."
This book had been on our shelves for years, conspicuously mysterious with its black cover and the lone word "Perfidy" glinting in gold. Curiosity kept drawing me to it, but suspicion kept holding me back. Until finally a conversation I had with a friend about WWII at last compelled me to begin reading it.
I had been told that it's a difficult - almost dangerous - book to read, because it will change how I see the country I live in, the country I love and whose history I am so proud of. And that it is a controversial account, so much so that it was banned throughout the Land.
From the first pages it is clear this book is not like any other. The force and conviction of the words pierce the soul. Ben Hecht's style is unique and genius. At times cynically witty, at times vividly dramatic, and at times seriously forthright. I couldn't put the book down and at the same time I couldn't sit still and keep my mind focused from apprehension.
Other reviews detail the plot of this book. I would like address issues surrounding it. Firstly, while bitterly controversial, the book is not banned in Israel. Just last week I saw several copies of it in both English and Hebrew at the Mt. Scopus library at Hebrew University. Secondly, does Ben Hecht sometimes sacrifice truthfullness for artistic style? I believe it is possible, because I am a little familiar with Hecht as a writer. Thirdly, did it change how I see my country? Absolutely. While it made me appreciate it more, it made me revere it less.
I think this is the most important book I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: A book of heroes
Review: A mesmerizing account of the Kastner trial that becomes a harsh and bitter critique of Zionist collaboration with the Nazis. Hecht sets the historical stage, then lets the witnesses tell the chilling story in their own words. This book is near-impossible to find in public libraries. Searching in New York City some 15 years ago, I turned up a single copy in the special collections of the New York Public Library which I was permitted to read (in one sitting) in a locked room. The (unsubstantiated) rumor was that Israeli Prime Minister Ben-Gurion had ordered the removal of the book from public libraries around the world. The New York Times review by Homer Bigart was critical, stating that "Mr. Hecht indulges in some crude distortions of history." In a letter to the Times, Hecht's widow responded that the author "wrote 'Perfidy' to defend the honor of Europe's slaughtered Jews - specifically Hungarian Jews, decoyed and then defamed - against such horrible defamation as that in Bigart's musing." Mrs. Hecht concludes: "'Perfidy' is a book of heroes, of honor for heroes, of pride and love for the Jews who were allowed to die with neither."

Rating:
Summary: a real shocker
Review: as a jew, i feel sick to my core after reading the facts revealed in this book. it covers a subject most jews are ignorant of. the betrayal by some of the early zionists ( and betrayal of the jews by the allies,) of the close to one million jews of hungary. these jews lost their lives when they could have been saved!
as a zionist myself the book doesnt make me think zionism is bad it just changes my opinion of some of our early 'leaders'.
it is a very dark part of the history of the jewish people, a part of our history to be ashamed of.

Rating:
Summary: a real shocker
Review: as a jew, i feel sick to my core after reading the facts revealed in this book. it covers a subject most jews are ignorant of. the betrayal by some of the early zionists ( and betrayal of the jews by the allies,) of the close to one million jews of hungary. these jews lost their lives when they could have been saved!
as a zionist myself the book doesnt make me think zionism is bad it just changes my opinion of some of our early 'leaders'.
it is a very dark part of the history of the jewish people, a part of our history to be ashamed of.

Rating:
Summary: The Conspiracy of Silence
Review: Ben Hecht wrote this book in 1961. In the last 15 years, many historical studies have corroborated Hecht's findings: Ben Gurion and his socialist cronies, as well as most of the Jewish leaders in the U.S., did almost nothing to save the Jews of Europe in 1933 - 45; in many cases, they hindered efforts of rescue. Perfidy describes the shamful Kasztner affair where close to a million Hungarian Jews might have been saved but were betrayed in 1944. A similar pattern, however, occurred throughtout the Holocaust: The Jewish socialists in pre Israel Palestine bowed to the British who did not want any Jewish refugees in Palestine which would have offended the Arabs. The American Jewish leaders considered FDR as God. FDR, and his administration, did not want to help the Jews so everybody kept quiet and did nothing, including the Russians. The only ones who fought this conspiracy of silence were the Irgun members. Hecht dramatizes all these historical facts very well. No doubt, the Allies did not want anything to interfere with the war effort, but their excuses for not trying to save the Jews were cynical and outright anti-semetic. The war years were full of monumental rescue undertakings by the Allies such as the shipping of 40,000 British children to the U.S, and the rescue of several thousands Yuguslav partisans. In 1944, due to the Irgun's public relation campaigns and mounting political pressure, FDR was forced to create the War Refugee Board which saved about 200,000 Jews from slaughter (according to historians' estimates). Hecht did not mention it in Perfidy which does not deal with the U.S. response to the Holocaust. Although Hecht's description of the shamful betrayal of the European Jews by Ben-Gurion, Weiztman, and others has been well documented in recent years, one should not ignore the real Nazi collaborators who did not want millions of refugees on their hands: the British empire, the Middle East Arabs, and the FDR administration. Perfidy includes some prophetic insights which I fully agree with: Governments, and other human organizations, are doomed. Humanity will pay for the torture and murder of six million inocent people.

Rating:
Summary: A sad classic....
Review: Describing a historic tragedy of monumental proportion, Hecht takes the reader on a graphic tour of the hell that was the holocaust, and unmasks many shameless opportunists as it unfolds. We meet the REAL Weizman, Ben-Gurion,and company. We see firsthand the evil indifference of Stephen Wise and his self-hating ilk. But we also meet those rare specimens of indomitability, such as Hanna Sennesh and Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandel. The extreme heights and depths to which human beings can soar or plunge under duress are all part of this incredible story. The book can be difficult to read at times, for the stark horrors and unbelievable cruelty it describes. Truth, however, is the best teacher, and if holocaust studies are to ever be taken seriously, this book should be a mandatory inclusion in any such course taught.

Rating:
Summary: A sad classic....
Review: Describing a historic tragedy of monumental proportion, Hecht takes the reader on a graphic tour of the hell that was the holocaust, and unmasks many shameless opportunists as it unfolds. We meet the REAL Weizman, Ben-Gurion,and company. We see firsthand the evil indifference of Stephen Wise and his self-hating ilk. But we also meet those rare specimens of indomitability, such as Hanna Sennesh and Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandel. The extreme heights and depths to which human beings can soar or plunge under duress are all part of this incredible story. The book can be difficult to read at times, for the stark horrors and unbelievable cruelty it describes. Truth, however, is the best teacher, and if holocaust studies are to ever be taken seriously, this book should be a mandatory inclusion in any such course taught.

Rating:
Summary: The Truth Indeed!
Review: In my original review I meant to stress that it is a scholarly work, rather than an exciting novel. I certainly did not mean to insinuate that this book is a novel, it certainly isn't - it is a well documented factual book. I apologize for any possible misunderstanding.

Rating:
Summary: ENGLISH WRITING THE WAY IT OUGHTA BE
Review: Other reviewers on this page did a good job describing the subject covered here and their reactions to it. Two Ben-Gurion disciples, Sharon and Peres, still dominate the political scene in Israel and display the same arrogance. They built the country and, in their minds, have a right to do with it what they wish regardless, in Sharon's case, of his own party's platform.

Hecht's economic use of the English language should be an inspiration and an instruction manual for all writers. No fat, not a word out of place, you'll appreciate the style. His prose is as sharp as a scalpel.