Friday Movie: Top Secret!

For the last movie of the month, I chose something lighter than the others. It is set in Nazi-occupied France. And that is about all the association with Sarah's Key you may find. It does serve as a reminder that not all French were sympathizers to the Nazi regime. There was a resistance movement within the French people. Enjoy!

Editor's Pick: Discussion Question 4 - French Women Don't Get Fat

So far, I pretty much agree with most of what Mireille has said about eating - it goes along with my belief of everything in moderation. If you splurge on a cupcake, make up for it with eating a salad for dinner. I, too, prefer lighter meals towards the end of the day. After living in Japan for a couple of years, I truly learned about American portions compared to everyone else in the world's portions - ours really are too much! Next time you are out to dinner and you see some Japanese tourists, I will bet money that they will take a photo of their food once it served to them. It's because of the portion size - you just don't see that much plated food anywhere else but in the U.S.A. Most entrees here can easily feed 3-4 people in Japan! They do eat in courses but you never felt overstuffed because all the portions were appropriate for the number of people being served.

For our final discussion, I was reflecting on Mireille's view of exercise in Chapter 10. She basically rejects it and instead states that we must start "moving like a French woman". The first thought that came to my mind was what my husband would say to that! I agree with her in that we should find ways to walk to more places instead of being so stationary in our daily lives, but I can't help but think how much better I feel when I get in a brisk 30 minute walk each day. It's my time to reflect and meditate, and I do not like having anyone interrupt me; I felt that way when I used to run and swim too. I still have dreams about running and the "high" I would get from a even paced 10K around Mission Bay back in San Diego. I love the bike rides my husband and I take at the end of the day when his schedule permits. And my childhood memories are peppered with moments where my family went for unexpected runs together as my clever mom tricked us into a 5k by kicking a soccer ball ahead and we ran like crazy to be the next to get to kick it. And last, I love how I fall into sleep so easily after getting exercise versus the days I do not, leading to insomnia at 2 or 3 a.m. It seems like I need to get my heart rate up in order for that to happen.

Of course I have friends who detest exercise and have embraced Mireille's views in this book. I am curious as to what you think!

The Heroes of the Holocaust



The Memorial of the Anonymous Rescuer


During the Holocaust many brave people stepped forward and risked their own lives to help the Jews hide or escape the Nazis, much like the Dufaure family in Sarah's Key.  They hid Sarah and her friend, Rachel, after the two girls escaped from the children's camp.  When the Nazi's came looking for the 2 girls, they were able to hide Sarah in the basement where she stayed safe.  There are many real-life stories of people who were brave enough to help their friends and neighbors.

One of the most famous examples is Anne Frank.  In 1942, amid a Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, Anne and her family went into hiding in her father's office building.  Four of her father's employees were aware Anne's family and 4 others were hiding in the annex and regularly brought them food and clothes, and very importantly, news from the outside world.  Anne wrote:

"They came upstairs every day and talk to the men about business and politics, to the women about food and wartime difficulties and to the children about books and newspapers.  They put on their most cheerful expressions, bring flowers and gifts for birthdays and holidays and are always ready to do what they can."

Not only did these 4 loyal employees help hide the Franks, but they tried to make their time in hiding as pleasant as it could be.  After Anne and her family were betrayed, two of the employees were taken to prison.  Victor Kugler was forced into a labor camp, but he later managed to escape.  Johannes Kleiman was also arrested and sent to a labor camp, but was released several weeks later.  Unfortunately, Anne, her sister, and mother all died, but the ones who helped them hide were always loyal to the Franks.

Also in Amsterdam was Corrie ten Boom.  She lived with her Dutch Christian family and helped hide many Jews in her home.  In Corrie's bedroom, a false wall was created that hid a tiny room about 30 inches deep.  To enter the room, you had to crawl into a sliding panel in a cupboard (much like in Sarah's Key!).  Many times, numbers of Jews squeezed into the tiny space to escape a Nazi raid of the house.  Corrie and her family knew they risked their lives too, but they had a tremendous respect for the Jews and went out of their way to help them, including illegally obtaining ration cards to help feed them.

In 1944, the entire Ten Boom family was arrested.  Corrie's father died 10 days after the arrest.  Corrie and her sister, Betsie, were sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp where they endured many horrors.  Betsie died, but Corrie survived and was later released by accident, thus escaping certain death.  After the war, Corrie continued to help Jews by setting up rehab centers for survivors of concentration camps.

Oskar Schindler opened a factory and employed 1200 Jews.  Every time the Nazi's came looking for the Jews, wanting to take them to camps, Schindler invented excused of why they could not go.  The Dutch diplomat in Lithuania, Jan Zwartendijk, helped Polish and Lithuanian Jews obtain illegal visas that allowed them to escape to places like Japan or Curacao.  Even in Greece, an entire island stepped forward to protect the few Jews there when Hitler ordered them to be turned over.  

"Righteous among the Nations" is an honorific title given by the State of Israel to those who helped Jews during the Holocaust.  Many people across Europe and even Asia,  including those listed here, received this honor.  The courage of these people is inspiring.  I remember reading Corrie ten Boom's book, The Hiding Place, as a young girl at my grandmother's house and wondering what I would do if I was her.  Would I be able to risk my life to save others? 

 

Editor's Pick: Discussion Question 3 - French Women Don't Get Fat

Mireille Guiliano discusses eating seasonally in Chapter 6, The Seasons and the Seasonings. In this chapter, she states that "Seasonality is all about adapting your body to what is available at markets for a short time during specific months of the year. The rhythm of the season is a vital part of tuning our bodies to their equilibrium, cultivating well-being." To my surprise, the first time I had finished reading this part of the book, I was seeing a reknowned acupuncturist in Tokyo, and he told me the exact same thing while we were discussing my infertility. "Nancy-san, you must not eat the banana or the pineapple during the winter months!" will forever ring in my ears. All I could think was that my obsession with fruit had ruined my chances of having a baby! I'm not sure if that really had any relevance, but what I do agree with is how non-seasonal foods just don't taste quite right when eaten out of season. Mireille was so right when she brought up tomatoes! There is nothing worse than a tasteless sad little tomato during January. Stick with the butternut squash and other root veggies!

Mireille continues on to say that "seasonality is the key to the French woman's psychological pleasure in food - the natural pleasure of anticipation, change, the poignant joy we take in something for granted we know we shall soon lose and cannot take for granted."

So this leads to my simple discussion question of what season and accompanying foods are your favorites - (you know, the kind where you start obsessing weeks before they have arrived)? 

Sarah's Key: Discuss With Us! (#7)

I have spoken to a few people who have read this book and I have seen some disgruntled reviews online.  The chief complaint seems to be with how the book ended.  Did you like how the story of Sarah was resolved with Julia finding her son and becoming friends with him?  Are you happy Julia divorced her unfaithful husband and moved her daughters to New York?  Were you perfectly happy with how things turned out?  Any thoughts? :-)

October's Editor's Pick Book

Are You There Vodka, It's Me, Chelsea, by Chelsea Handler

She's an outstanding comedian and I hope she is a nice, light read for this month.

An overview from Barnes and Noble online: 

When Chelsea Handler needs to get a few things off her chest, she appeals to a higher power -- vodka. You would too if you found out that your boyfriend was having an affair with a Peekapoo or if you had to pretend to be honeymooning with your father in order to upgrade to first class. Welcome to Chelsea's world -- a place where absurdity reigns supreme and a quick wit is the best line of defense. In this hilarious, deliciously skewed collection, Chelsea mines her past for stories about her family, relationships, and career that are at once singular and ridiculous. Whether she's convincing her third-grade class that she has been tapped to play Goldie Hawn's daughter in the sequel to Private Benjamin, deciding to be more egalitarian by dating a redhead, or looking out for a foulmouthed, rum-swilling little person who looks just like her...only smaller, Chelsea has a knack for getting herself into the most outrageous situations. Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea showcases the candor and irresistible turns of phrase that have made her one of the freshest voices in comedy today.

Grab your copy for October for a fun and irreverent read.  :o)

Sarah's Key: The Movie Trailer

Sarah's Key is now a movie!  Check out the preview below.  Beware that the preview is graphic in parts and may contain some spoilers if you're not mostly through the book.

Do you think the movie looks good?  Will you go see it?

Friday Movies: The Best Years of Our Lives

This movie was made in 1946 and is a wonderfully well-told story of three very different soldiers going home after the war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU0d3DVcKoY&feature=related

One is a banker who goes home to his loving family and his homecoming is guaranteed to make you cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob4Hy-AAOUA&feature=relatedeature=related

Another is an ace pilot who comes home to his gorgeous wife who has been stepping out with other men while he was away.

The third is the one that doesn't get much headlines, but his story broke my heart. He is a wounded soldier... in real life. He has no hands. Instead, he uses hooks to do everything. The most powerful part in the movie is a scene where his fiance touchingly helps him take off the hooks and get his shirt on for bed. He tells her: "If you shut that door right now, I am as helpless as a baby." He is trying to scare her off, but her love for him is so great, she doesn't let him.

The banker makes an amazing (though drunken) speech to his banker friends. It's an interesting sentiment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igXHsHZhoYU&feature=related The entire movie was so sweetly done and it reflects what it is like to come home to a country after fighting a war.

Sarah's Key: Recommended Reading

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
Like Sarah's Key, the narrative tells a story of present day and of WWII-era -- Trudy, a history professor at a Minneapolis university collecting oral histories of WWII survivors (both German and Jewish), and her German mother, Anna, who left her country when she married an American soldier. Interspersed with Trudy's interviews with German immigrants, Anna's story flashes back to her hometown of Weimar and her hidden love affair with a Jewish doctor, Max Stern. When Max is interned at nearby Buchenwald and Anna's father dies, Anna, carrying Max's child, goes to live with a baker who smuggles bread to prisoners at the camp. Anna assists with the smuggling after Trudy's birth until the baker is caught and executed. Then Anna catches the eye of a high-ranking Nazi officer at Buchenwald, who suspects her of also supplying the inmates with bread. He coerces her into a torrid, abusive affair, in which she remains complicit to ensure her survival and that of her baby daughter. Blum paints a subtle, nuanced portrait of the Nazi officer, complicating his sordid cruelty with more delicate facets of his personality. Ultimately, present and past overlap with a shocking yet believable coincidence.

Not the Germans Alone by Isaac Levendel

Levendel captures his feelings and shares them with us in his spell-binding book. The amazing reality of the roundups after the invasion of Normandy rings with the madness of the Germans and the French establishment. Levendel gives us insights into the workings of Vichy France and the large amount of collaboration. While we were led to believe that most French were in the resistance, Levendel's book makes it clear that very few Frenchmen were in the underground and very few Frenchmen helped Jews escape the Nazis. Those few that risked their lives were simple people acting honorably. He describes the peasant family that adopted him. They were heroes who risked their lives to help. The tracing of the official Vichy documents to verify what really happened is itself a real mystery story.

Leap Into Darkness by Leo Bretholz
Bretholz was 17 when, in 1938, the Germans took over his native Austria. His mother, more realistic than other relatives, saw disaster and insisted that he escape, which is what he did for the next seven years, traveling not only through Germany and Luxembourg but to Belgium, France and, briefly, Switzerland, to jails and numerous internment camps. Bretholz relied often on his youthful agility and daring to save himself from much worse; he escaped from a train headed for Auschwitz in 1942. He spent the last years of the war working for the French Resistance, emigrating in 1947 to Baltimore, where he ran a bookstore. Whether telling of running or hiding, every paragraph in his memoir is harrowing. In one wrenching story, he tells of a young female friend who is menaced by a gendarme while he is forced to stay hidden, "crouched on the floor, helpless, emasculated, sickened." Bretholz is also smartly observant of the Austrians; opportunistic Swiss; and the French, so many of whom claimed to be Resistance. In the midst of many improbable escapes, there is also a sense of almost exhilarating determination. For a man who assumed many false identities, the supreme irony came when Bretholz learned his true identity -- an event that provides a fitting climax to this inspiring and moving book.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Celebrated in pre-WWII France for her bestselling fiction, the Jewish Russian-born Némirovsky was shipped to Auschwitz in the summer of 1942, months after this long-lost masterwork was composed. Némirovsky, a convert to Catholicism, began a planned five-novel cycle as Nazi forces overran northern France in 1940. This gripping "suite," collecting the first two unpolished but wondrously literary sections of a work cut short, have surfaced more than six decades after her death. The first, "Storm in June," chronicles the connecting lives of a disparate clutch of Parisians, among them a snobbish author, a venal banker, a noble priest shepherding churlish orphans, a foppish aesthete and a loving lower-class couple, all fleeing city comforts for the chaotic countryside, mere hours ahead of the advancing Germans. The second, "Dolce," set in 1941 in a farming village under German occupation, tells how peasant farmers, their pretty daughters and petit bourgeois collaborationists coexisted with their Nazi rulers. In a workbook entry penned just weeks before her arrest, Némirovsky noted that her goal was to describe "daily life, the emotional life and especially the comedy it provides." This heroic work does just that, by focusing—with compassion and clarity—on individual human dramas.

French Children of the Holocaust: A Memorial by Serge Klarsfeld
Klarsfeld, a tireless Nazi hunter who located Klaus Barbie, among others, has compiled an astonishing, haunting document which restores to us the memory of 2,500 children deported by the Vichy government to the German death camps. French Children of the Holocaust has a black-and-white picture of each child, with a short paragraph detailing his or her place of birth, parentage, and manner of deportation. By forcing us to confront each victim individually, Klarsfeld not only allows readers a vital historical connection to them but has shown how any attempt to explain their plight must fail.

Vichy France by Robert O. Paxton
Paxton's classic study of the aftermath of France's sudden collapse under Nazi invasion utilizes captured German archives and other contemporary materials to construct a strong and disturbing account of the Vichy period in France. With a new introduction and updated bibliography,Vichy France demonstrates that the collaborationist government of Marshal Pétain did far more than merely react to German pressures. The Vichy leaders actively pursued their own double agenda -- internally, the authoritarian and racist "national revolution," and, externally, an attempt to persuade Hitler to accept this new France as a partner in his new Europe.

Bad Faith by Carmen Callil
The bottomless corruption, political and personal, of French fascism is explored in this absorbing biography of one of its most loathsome figures—Louis Darquier, commissioner for Jewish affairs under the Vichy regime. A violent anti-Semite and paid Nazi propagandist before WWII, he helped organize the deportation of French Jews, including thousands of children, to Auschwitz during the German occupation. Callil sets Darquier's public career in an unsparing reconstruction of his sordid private life. A ne'er-do-well who sponged off his family while falsely styling himself an aristocrat, Darquier abandoned his infant daughter, Anne, to an impoverished London nanny. (Anne grew up to become the author's psychiatrist; her possible suicide in 1970 sparked Callil's interest in her family.) Callil's contempt for her subject is evident: his best features, in her portrayal, seem to be the incompetence and laziness that prompted his removal from direct supervision of deportations. Through her superbly written, meticulously researched, densely novelistic portrait of Darquier, Callil takes an uncommonly penetrating look at the malignity of fascism and the suffering of its many victims.

Sarah's Key: Discuss With Us! (#6)

Julia learns that Sarah had a hard time even after moving to the United States and committed suicide by driving her car into a tree at the age of 40, leaving a husband and young son behind.  How did you feel about Sarah when you learned this?  Were you sympathetic to how she had to go through life with the burden of her brother's death, or were you angry she left her own family behind?  Were you disappointed upon learning how her life ended?  Why or why not?

Recipe: Sarah's Key - Cassoulet

A favorite childhood memory of mine was my mother making Cassoulet. The French stew was quite labor intensive (3 days to prepare) but the smells of thyme, garlic, sausage, and chicken were magical to me! I have found an easy version of the recipe that uses a slow cooker as the 3 day prep time scared me off. Sure, it probably doesn't meet Julia Child's approval but it met mine! I tried it out last night and it was delicious! This recipe will definitely be added to the favorites!

Easy Crockpot Cassoulet

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped
1/4 pound cooked smoked sausage
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons water
3 cans (about 15 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion to hot oil; cook and stir until onion is tender about 4 minutes. Stir in chicken, sausage, garlic, thyme and pepper. Cook 5-8 minutes, or until  chicken and sausage are browned. Stir in tomato paste and water; transfer to slow cooker. Stir in great northern bean into the chicken mixture. Add in 1 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth and give a final stir to the mixture.  Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours. Before serving sprinkle minced parsley over cassoulet. Bon appetit!

ICLW - September International Comment Leaving Week

Hello everyone!

This is our eighth month on the IComLeavWe List and we are so excited that we'll be getting new visitors to our site and book club.

New to the Ladies in Waiting Book Club?

I recommend visiting our About Us page.  There, you'll be able to read a little more about our book club and the editors who make it work.  The LiWBC is made possible by the dedicated efforts of each of our editors as well as special guest writers from the infertility community.

How does it work?

• Usually: Books are suggested and voted on at the end of each month.  A final selection is chosen through an online survey.  This month, we've been reading Sarah's Key and French Women Don't Get Fat.  Due to overwhelming closeness in voting last month, we decided to use our second choice from last month's voting as our October book selection - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.
• Pick up the book at your local library, bookshop, or through our online book store (sold through Amazon) and read along with us.
• Participate in contests, discussions, and read all of the recipes, crafts, and articles to accompany you through your reading.
• Have fun and meet new friends!

How do I join?

There are many ways to receive daily updates and keep up with the Ladies in Waiting Book Club:

• Receive daily email updates (highly recommended: sign up in the upper left hand corner of our site)
• "Like" us on Facebook (highly recommended: get our news in your regular feed)
• Join us on Goodreads
• Follow us on Twitter
• Subscribe to our RSS feed
• Connect with us on Google Friends
• At the beginning of each month, join our Roll Call list so we can get to know you better!

Just for Fun

If you're here visiting for the first time, here are some questions we'd like to know about you (answer any or all!):

• What is your favorite childhood book?
• Do you have a favorite author?
• What state do you live in?
• Tell us something no one would ever guess about you.

Thank you for visiting The Ladies in Waiting Book Club.  We look forward to meeting you and getting to know you better!

Kim, Editor

Fertility Cookbook: Submissions Needed!

Lesley Vance, the author of Infertility Journeys, Finding Your Happy Ending (our very own reader review here) has requested the help of the lovely ladies of the LiWBC in gathering some recipes for her upcoming fertility cookbook.  Read her instructions below and email any recipes you may have straight to her.  She will be accepting recipes through Saturday, October 29.  We hope to see you in her cookbook soon! :-)

The Fertility Cookbook
by Lesley Vance

The Fertility Cookbook contains delicious nutrition-packed recipes and cooking tips to help increase fertility in both women and men.  Each recipe enhances the reproductive system using key ingredients—such as tomatoes, cilantro or ginger—that are great for fertility.  


Because many women suffer from autoimmune disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and estrogen dominance, The Fertility Cookbook also features recipes that have been adapted to meet the nutritional needs of women with these conditions.

The Fertility Cookbook is divided into the following recipe categories, making it easy for anyone to prepare a fertility-friendly meal.

• Appetizers 
• Main Course (Meats/Fish/Tofu dishes) 
• Side Dishes 
• Salads 
• Soups 
• Breads 
• Desserts 
• Relishes/Salsas

For Recipe Submisssions:

Please note:  I am looking for recipes that are low carb, lean protein, low fat, gluten free, and/or low sugar.  Your recipe does not have to fit all of those requirements.  Please mention if your recipe is a “low carb,” “lean protein,” “low fat,” “gluten free,” or “low sugar” recipe or any combination thereof. That will help me further categorize it in the cookbook.

Example:  Recipes that are gluten free and contain little or no sugar will be classified as good recipes for those who struggle with autoimmune disorders.  

Example:  Recipes that are low carb/lean protein/low fat are great for those who struggle with PCOS and estrogen dominance.

If you would like to submit a recipe for The Fertility Cookbook, please submit your recipe to: Lesley@LesleyVance.com.  You may also submit your recipes by filling out the form below.

Please put “RECIPE FROM LiWBC” in the subject line of your email.

Please note which recipe category your recipe falls into (see the above list of recipe categories)

Thanks,
Lesley 




 

October's Book Selection

Our October Book Selection is:

Due to such a close race in voting last month, the Editors and some members of the LiWBC page have decided to make The Forgotten Garden our book selection for October 2011.  We are announcing this early to make sure you all have enough time to get your books - whether you borrow from the library, download on a Kindle, or purchase from a store.

Amazon.com Review


Like Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved classic The Secret Garden, Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden takes root in your imagination and grows into something enchanting--from a little girl with no memories left alone on a ship to Australia, to a fog-soaked London river bend where orphans comfort themselves with stories of Jack the Ripper, to a Cornish sea heaving against wind-whipped cliffs, crowned by an airless manor house where an overgrown hedge maze ends in the walled garden of a cottage left to rot. This hidden bit of earth revives barren hearts, while the mysterious Authoress's fairy tales (every bit as magical and sinister as Grimm's) whisper truths and ignite the imaginary lives of children. As Morton draws you through a thicket of secrets that spans generations, her story could cross into fairy tale territory if her characters weren't clothed in such complex flesh, their judgment blurred by the heady stench of emotions (envy, lust, pride, love) that furtively flourished in the glasshouse of Edwardian society. While most ache for a spotless mind's eternal sunshine, the Authoress meets the past as "a cruel mistress with whom we must all learn to dance," and her stories gift children with this vital muscle memory.

Grab your copy early and we'll be starting discussions next month.  The book is a mere 560 pages, so an early start is not a bad idea.  ;o)

Popular Misconceptions About the Holocaust

As a child, I was fascinated by the Holocaust, probably because it was impossible to separate my Jewish ancestry from the experiences I was learning about. It stands to reason that this is, at least in part, why as an educator I believe it is my responsibility to teach my students about the Holocaust and other acts of genocide that have been perpetrated against innocent citizens the world over each and every year I stand in front of a classroom.

Year after year, whenever I introduce Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl (if you haven’t read the unabridged definitive edition I strongly suggest you do so) or Salvaged Pages, a collection of writings compiled after the close of World War II penned by exclusively by young adults, my students often bring with them the same misconceptions about this historical period. Here are some of the most popular ones I have encountered:

Adolf Hitler was Jewish.

At least one student yells out during our introductory lesson every year, “But wasn’t Hitler Jewish?” Several myths about Adolf Hitler have become popularized, but this one is perhaps the most popular and it is certainly the one most often used by my students as they try to rationalize, understand, and explain his obsessive hatred of Jews. The idea that Hitler was Jewish is believed to come primarily from confusion regarding his father’s family history. Hitler's father, Alois, was illegitimate. This has led to much speculation about Hitler’s paternal grandfather. Some maintain that Alois’ father was a Jew; it has been reasoned that this claim stems from Hans Frank’s testimony at the Nuremberg Trials. He declared that Hitler's grandmother worked as a servant for a Jewish family in Austria, that the head of the family seduced her, and that Hitler's father was the result. While much time and effort was put into researching this theory, Simon Wiesenthal, the noted “Nazi hunter,” found absolutely no evidence to support this claim.

A Jewish doctor killed Adolf Hitler’s mother.

Other students of mine who have had some prior knowledge of the Holocaust, have shared the belief that Hitler’s Anti-Semetism stemmed from the fact that Dr. Eduard Bloch, an Austrian Jewish physician, made several mistakes while treating Adolf Hitler’s mother for breast cancer, thereby causing her to die a prolonged and painful death. However, according to documented testimony made by Bloch to the Office of Strategic Services in the United States, Hitler considered Bloch to have treated Klara well and seemed to hold no ill will towards him. Dr. Bloch shared that after her death, “He [Hitler] stepped forward and took my hand. Looking into my eyes, he said: ‘I shall be grateful to you forever.’ Then he bowed.” In later years, Hitler demonstrated his gratitude towards Bloch with postcards, annual holiday greetings, and numerous gifts, as well as expressions of concern for Bloch’s welfare. Hitler is even said to have stated, “Dr. Bloch…is an Edeljude – a noble Jew. If all Jews were like him, there would be no Jewish question.”

The Jews were the only victims.

While many of my students begin our unit of study on the Holocaust believing that Jews were Hitler’s only victims, they come to realize quickly that European citizens who identified with other groups were also routinely and systematically murdered.

They included:

-The mentally and physically handicapped

-The Roma or Sinti, more commonly known as Gypsies

-Jehovah’s Witnesses

-Homosexuals

-Prisoners of war, including 3 million Soviet prisoners

-Clergy

-Freemasons

-Political dissidents

The Jews went to their deaths like “sheep to the slaughter.”

My students often question how something like the Holocaust could have happened. Part of their disbelief comes from being unable to understand how the Jews and other persecuted subgroups “allowed” others to mistreat them so. What my students come to eventually understand in part is that as late as mid-1942 most European Jews were unaware that Hitler’s “Final Solution” existed, much less had already begun to be carried out. It can be reasoned that they had no concrete knowledge of the death camps and mass murders that had already begun. Like my students, it makes sense to understand their inability to believe such atrocities could possibly take place in civilized nations during the 20th century – such information was dismissed as rumor and propaganda. Without assistance, facing certain starvation and rampant disease, responsible for large families, they believed what they were told… that they were being “resettled” to work. The truth did not make itself it known until it was far too late.

My students are always fascinated to learn about the many ways that Jews did resist. In the ghettos, despite stringent Nazi rules, a multitude of regulations, and abhorrent violence, those confined observed their religion, participated in an organized government and published secret periodicals and other materials that served to help many resistance groups that would ultimately form. They kept their community intact by feeding those most in need and organizing schools secretly. They kept diaries and journals, took photographs, and created artwork to bear witness to their daily struggles for future generations world-wide. In the camps, they continuously “chose life,” struggling to stay alive and to keep loved ones alive, never letting go of their faith, hope, values and ideals. Others chose to resist physically; they jumped from the cattle cars, sought refuge with non-Jews or attacked their captors. Revolts were organized in ghettos, concentration camps, and even in the death camps. Jewish partisan units were formed in forests throughout much of Eastern Europe.

Historian Lucy Dawidowicz famously concluded, “The wonder…is not that there was so little resistance, but that, in the end, there was so much.”

What myths regarding the Holocaust have you encountered?

Editor's Pick: Discussion Question #2 {French Women Don't Get Fat}

The first time I read French Women Don't Get Fat, my husband was on a 4 month deployment. This time, he is home and as usual is asking me about the current books I am reading. Usually, this involves great conversation between us but sometimes he likes to tease me.  Most recently, he started mocking my "non-fat French Women" book as he calls it. The irony of this is that he has decided that he needs to lose 10-12 pounds after eating out like a glutton over the past 6 months when he was flying around the country for work. So, he is now religiously going to the gym, and I am in charge of his diet! What fun! I can put the book to practice (well sort of). I'm excluding the Magical Leek soup of course (that would never fly) and the food diary - he is a guy after all! We did review the basic principles of recasting so I've had him modify his diet - cutting out the additional carbs of daily beer and wine except on the weekends and the carb-loaded snacks and desserts that we love. 

Last night's dinner went over well enough - small pieces of salmon and a lot of broccoli which I played up the flavors with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, and a tiny pinch of salt. No complaints over how hungry he was. I made  the Apple Tart Without Dough and served it with some yummy cold Greek yogurt instead of ice cream. He said it tasted great but he would have preferred ice cream. I figured that last night would be the end of this experiment, but to my surprise this morning, I found him drinking a full glass of water upon waking up - I was truly shocked as he handed me my glass of water. I thought I was the one who would be pushing his healthy meals but he's bought into it! 

So the one thing my husband really wants after all this, is my homemade chocolate cake. At first I joked with him that it might be his Christmas cake since it is hard for him to stay away from the sweets and beer. But it might actually be sooner!

Now, getting to our discussion:

Dr. Miracle understood too well that we are fragile beings in a world full of temptation. Deprivation is the mother of failure. Any program that your mind interprets as punishment is one your mind is bound to rebel against. Whether your pleasure is a glass of wine with dinner or a croissant for breakfast, you simply cannot deprive yourself for extended periods of time and not expect your body [or mind] to take revenge. 

I have followed this train of thought for the past 5 years of my life as I realized I could not continue to eat like I did when I was in my 20s with a slower metabolism in my late 30s/early 40s. Everything in moderation and especially the guilty pleasures. After reading about leek soup and snacking on soy nuts for en-cas, I would much rather hear about fun food and drink. 

So share with us! What is your guilty pleasure and the one indulgence that helps you keep going when you are trying to be good in your diet/lifestyle?

Mine is brie cheese and a mini baguette! My husband's is a Newcastle beer and a chocolate chip cookie.

Crafty Ladies: Bookish Nails

I found this fun idea on Pinterest and wanted to share it here.  I thought about doing this to my nails, but time and the fact that I have to be nail polishless soon for an egg retrieval has left me lazy.  So I will share the details, and if you are feeling creative enough to give it a try, please share your results!

These are newspaper or book nails!  :o)  How fun, right?

This is what you'll need:

• Neutral shade of nail polish
• High gloss topcoat
• 1/2 cup of alcohol (vodka or rubbing alcohol is fine)
• newspaper or book pages (they will get ruined)

Directions:

1. Paint your nails with the neutral polish.
2. After polish is dry, dip a finger into alcohol.
3. Press newspaper or book paper onto soaked nail for about 15 seconds.  Remove slowly.
4. Apply topcoat.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Here is a video tutorial as well:

Sarah's Key: Discuss With Us! (#5)

While reading the story of Julia's father-in-law who was a child when Sarah came back to the apartment, I wonder how I would have reacted if it was I who witnessed the scene in the apartment when Sarah came back.  We learn that he and his father never spoke of it again and he even didn't tell his wife and children.  We learn the French are very reserved in this regard.  Would you have acted like this, or felt more passionate like Julia?

WWII: Disney Propaganda Cartoons

Between 1942 and 1945, during World War II, Walt Disney was involved in the production of propaganda for the US government. The widespread familiarity of Walt Disney's productions benefited the US government in producing pro-American war propaganda in an effort to increase support for the war.

During World War II, Disney made films for every branch of the US military and government. The government looked to Walt Disney more than any other studio chief as a builder of public morale providing instruction and training to the sailors and soldiers."  This was accomplished through the use of animated graphics by means of expediting the intelligent mobilization of servicemen and civilians for the cause of the war. Over 90% of Disney employees were devoted to the production of training and propaganda films for the government.  Throughout the duration of the war, Disney produced over 400,000 feet of educational war films, most at cost, which is equal to 68 hours of continuous film.

Disney created "The New Spirit" after a request from the Secretary of Treasury to make Americans accept the payment of income taxes.

The New Spirit - 1942

The film, "Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fryer", shows Minnie Mouse as a soldier's wife.  The film encourages households to save fryer grease which can then be used to make war munitions.

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire - 1942

Other propaganda films requested by the U.S. government included anti-German and anti-Japanese films for both soldiers and the general public.  The film "Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi" shows a German boy and his induction into Hitler's youth and the Nazi culture.

Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi - 1943

In the film "Der Furher's Face", Donald Duck experiences a nightmare about working in a Nazi artillery factory.

Der Furher's Face - 1942

In the 1944 film, "Commando Duck", Donald Duck destroys an entire Japanese airbase by himself.

Commando Duck - 1944

Watching these cartoons is very interesting.  The Nazis, French, Japanese, and nearly every country involved in the war used movies, cartoons, comics, and posters to influence their general public.  Many European countries used this method to spread strong anti-Semetic sentiments.  There are many of these cartoons and comics available online too.  I encourage you to take a look at them.

You can see plainly how something as simple as a cartoon can have a profound effect on a culture's way of thinking.  In the U.S., the cartoons were used to spread information about income taxes, joining the workforce, military training, patriotism, and thoughts on the war.  What do you think about these cartoons?

Friday Movie Night: The Eye of Vichy

I just saw this last night and had to pause it to grab a notepad and started taking notes. This is a documentary that consists primarily of pure propoganda films done in French, for the Nazi-occupied French public. The movie is shown in chronological order and you can see the progression of the Nazi machine and mentality through France. More than once, I had my hand to my mouth or throat as footage of Velodromes and trains and so many children passed the screen. No, it wasn't *that* Velodrome, but it could have been those trains. And none of the children had yellow stars on their clothes, but they were no different from the ones who did.

There obviously wasn't any footage of the Vel' de 'Hiv or the roundup on July 16, 1942. But, it was discussed over footage of children, buses, and, sadly, footage of some workers making charcoal. The symbolism did not escape me and it was sad and powerful.

When the Germans took over France, not all of France supported it. The French military was almost entirely taken as POW's to Germany. This was a large chunk of the male labor force in France. Germany recognized the plentiful resources in France and opted to use as much of it as possible. The Vichy government made a "deal" with Germany; Germany would release one POW soldier to go home if France would send three workers to Germany.

Later, the Vichy government used this ploy as a statistical example of how they greatly reduced "unemployment". Yes. Because everyone was working for the Nazi war machine! The footage of "workers" was very basic - laborers in the fields, metalworkers hammering glowing steel, craftsmen using their hands. Nowhere did you see any automation or industry or science or technology. To me, it was a reversion to the 19th century. The films even showed vast soup kitchen lines and said it was the "charity" and "kindness" of the Germans to so generously feed the French. France was THE largest supplier of the Reich's goods.

The Jewish propaganda films were despicable. Cartoonish pictures and signs were posted of large-nosed, greedy faces as "signs" of what a Jew looked like. Film showed Jews as rats - literally- breeding and living in filth. Ironically, similar films blamed the Jews for the ruination of their country. They said Jews hoarded and stole all the money and power. The French and Germans were "heroes" for taking back this "stolen" money that the greedy Bourgeois and Jews took from the "hard-working" people who were the real people of France.

A film showed "your favorite movies" getting destroyed and melted down. The reasons were so that women could have nail polish and men could have shoe polish. Let's think logically now... WHO owned film studios? Who acted in films? It was a very thinly disguised excuse for destroying any potential for non-Nazi propaganda.

Typically, when Nazis occupied a country, the value of a German was worth 10 times or more that of the native people. In the films, two German soldiers are "sadly" killed. In retaliation, 50 men were killed instantly... and 50 more the next day. Truly, openly, and rationalized in a film as just, right, and good. 100 people (innocent or not) killed because 2 Germans were killed.

"If Germans must give blood for Europe, shouldn't Europe give some back?"

There then came the obligatory labor service, the LVF, Legion French Volunteers. Volunteer was an operable word here. These became the police force for the Nazi regime in France. There was countless footage of the Vichy government meeting with Hitler, Himmler, Goebels.

Near the end of the war, a cartoon was shown of the evil Anglo-Americans coming to France. It showed - amazingly to me - Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Popeye each flying a plane to France. A very cartoony "Jew" man was announcing on the French radio of how the Americans were coming to save you and rescue you. And of course, in the end, the "innocent" French family looking forward to "British tea" and "American movies" gets bombed... by Mickey, Donald, and Popeye.

Sadly, after the war, there were too many of these Vichy police men to know who was good and who was a war criminal. 30 to 40 years later, many policemen were given "years of service" awards... and they were once policemen for the Nazi regime in France.

LiWBC Editors in St. Augustine {Part 2}

As promised, here are more photos from the LiWBC Editor's trip to St. Augustine, Florida.  For part one, please check here.

The Fountain of Youth, St. Augustine, Florida.
Is the water working?  :o)

'

The "Fountain of Youth"
Impressive, no?  :o)

April and Nancy :o)

Hot day + Cupcake = This

Read. Knit. Crochet.
A completely unplanned photo :o)

Whetstone Chocolate Factory
Easter Bunny molds.

Posing with Lucy :o)

Sarah's Key: Discuss With Us! (#4)

In Julia's narrative, we learn early on that she suffers from recurring miscarriages and that she is newly pregnant and in a crumbling marriage.  Do you think fears about her own future are what cause her to delve so whole-heartedly into Sarah's past?  Do you find yourself trying to find ways of escaping your own present or future?

LiWBC Editors in St. Augustine {Part 1}

April, Stephanie, Kim, Rachel, Nancy

When I started the Ladies in Waiting Book Club, I never imagined what friendship and love it would bring me.  For the longest time, my only opportunity to interact with other women experiencing the same struggles as I, was through online discussion boards.  I kept seeing the same posts repeat again and again - I'm so lonely.  I don't have any friends left.  My best friend is pregnant and I feel like I've lost her.  All of my friends are parents now and we just don't fit together anymore.  Many of these statements fit my own repeating thoughts and so I began the book club.  

After launching the site in late January, I knew I might need some help.  This book club is not a one woman job.  :o)  I asked for any volunteers who might like to help with writing posts, monitoring comments, managing the site, and helping with ideas.  I serendipitously met the lovely April and Nancy.  The three of us would brainstorm together and talk nearly every day about our lives and about book club business.  We quickly became good friends.  Nancy stopped through Atlanta on her way to South Carolina a couple of times.  And April and I met in Florida during a medical treatment in Gainesville and then again in Orlando a couple of months later.

In the month of April, I had to travel for the month and the book club was growing, so I asked for more volunteers.  The lovely Stephanie and Rachel both stepped up to the task and the five of us have been like sisters ever since.  Hardly a day goes by that I don't hear from each of them.  We send gifts; we send cards; we send cupcakes; we send love; and we send friendship.  And now we go on vacation.  :o)

Back in the Spring, we decided we all needed a vacation (BFNs, adoption drama, and miscarriage, oh my...).  We found an apartment in St. Augustine, Florida and jumped into plans.  When you're traveling with a bunch of people and you're willing to share your bed, you can travel REALLY cheap.  This trip cost us each $120 for 4 nights in Florida - not to shabby.  :o)

And we finally all got to meet for the first time.

For me, it took about ten minutes to get used to each of these precious friends.  It was mostly seeing faces, watching the person walk, getting used to the way they carry themselves, and learning mannerisms.  And then after getting used to their physical selves, it was like I always knew them.

Here are some photos from our trip.  We thought you might like to see what we were up to this weekend.  :o)  I hope you are enjoying your new Secret Sisters and that you someday might even get to meet like we did.

I've never had closer friends than these women - they are my Sisters.

Rachel, Kim, Stephanie at Crucial Coffee Cafe.
Try the Spiced Thai Latte or the Milky Way Latte.  Mmm.

Tea at Elizabeth's Tea Room in Neptune Beach.
Stephanie, Nancy, Kim, and Rachel.

Tea time!

Nancy

Stephanie

Rachel

Check back tomorrow for more pictures!

The Catcher Was a Spy

Unlikely WWII Hero: Moe Berg

I first learned of Moe Berg when I worked at the Babe Ruth Birthplace. I was researching Babe’s 1934 trip to Japan with a group of All-Stars. With the likes of Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez and Jimmie Foxx, the name Berg just didn’t fit. He wasn’t the same caliber player as the others, and I also knew of the racism that existed against Jews in the Major Leagues. So why was Berg, a Jew and average player at best, invited on the trip?

The answer was found in the off-the-field man, not the on-the-field player. He was a graduate of Princeton University, where he studied seven languages, and attended Columbia Law. He did not graduate from law school but did pass the New York State bar exam and was purported to read up to 10 newspapers a day.

Before the 1934 trip (the second such baseball all-stars trip to Japan), the U.S. government had recruited Berg as a spy. With his cover as a member of the baseball contingent and a respected linguist, Berg was invited to lecture at Meiji University, where he delivered an eloquent speech in Japanese. While at a Tokyo hospital ostensibly visiting an American mother who had just given birth, he sneaked onto the roof and took photos of the city. Pilots reportedly later used the photos during bombing raids in World War II.

As a Jew wanting to fight Nazism, Berg volunteered to serve when America entered the war in 1941. He was asked to become a Goodwill Ambassador to Latin America. Before he left on his ambassadorial mission, Berg made impassioned plea to the Japanese people over the radio. In perfect Japanese, he said, “as a friend of the Japanese people,” for the Japanese to avoid a war “you cannot win.” Berg’s address was so effective that several Japanese confirmed afterwards they had wept while listening.

After his stint in Latin America, Berg returned to the U.S. to work for the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency. Despite the fact that he was not a scientist, Berg was assigned to help determine how close Germany was to developing an atomic bomb. In a few weeks studying textbooks, Berg taught himself a great deal about nuclear physics.

Incognito, Berg managed to lure the leading German atomic physicist, Werner Heisenberg, to Switzerland to give a lecture on quantum theory. At a dinner afterwards, Berg heard Heisenberg imply that Germany was behind the U.S. in bomb development. President Roosevelt greeted Berg’s report warmly.

At great risk as a Jew, Berg spent parts of 1944 and 1945 in Germany, helping arrange for the capture of several prominent German atomic scientists by U.S. troops before the Russians got them. At war’s end, Berg was offered the Medal of Merit, the highest award given to civilian in the war effort, but he modestly declined it.

Moe Berg played baseball from 1923 through 1939, for six teams. He recorded 441 hits and had a lifetime batting average of .243. His is the only baseball card on display at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Read more about Moe Berg

The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg by Nicholas Dawidoff

You may also like:

• Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn't Want to Be One by Mark Kurlansky
• Jews and Baseball: Volume I Entering the American Mainstream, 1871-1948 by Burton A. Boxerman and Benita W. Boxerman
• The Big Book of Jewish Baseball by Peter S. Horvitz