Exit Berlin (Hardcover)

Charlotte R. Bonelli

ISBN 10: 0300197527 / ISBN 13: 9780300197525

Published by Yale University Press, New Haven, 2014

About this Item

Hardcover. The agonizing correspondence between Jewish family members ensnared in the Nazi grip and their American relatives Just a week after the Kristallnacht terror in 1938, young Luzie Hatch, a German Jew, fled Berlin to resettle in New York. Her rescuer was an American-born cousin and industrialist, Arnold Hatch. Arnold spoke no German, so Luzie quickly became translator, intermediary, and advocate for family left behind. Soon an unending stream of desperate requests from German relatives made their way to Arnolds desk. Luzie Hatch had faithfully preserved her letters both to and from far-flung relatives during the World War II era as well as copies of letters written on their behalf. This extraordinary collection, now housed at the American Jewish Committee Archives, serves as the framework for Exit Berlin. Charlotte R. Bonelli offers a vantage point rich with historical context, from biographical information about the correspondents to background on U.S. immigration laws, conditions at the Vichy internment camps, refuge in Shanghai, and many other topics, thus transforming the letters into a riveting narrative. Arnolds letters reveal an unfamiliar side of Holocaust history. His are the responses of an average American Jew, struggling to keep his own business afloat while also assisting dozens of relatives trapped abroadmost of whom he had never met and whose deathly situation he could not fully comprehend. This book contributes importantly to historical understanding while also uncovering the dramatic story of one besieged family confronting unimaginable evil. The agonizing correspondence between Jewish family members ensnared in the Nazi grip and their American relatives Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780300197525

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Exit Berlin (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300197527
• ISBN 13: 9780300197525
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The agonizing correspondence between Jewish family members ensnared in the Nazi grip and their American relatives

Just a week after the Kristallnacht terror in 1938, young Luzie Hatch, a German Jew, fled Berlin to resettle in New York. Her rescuer was an American-born cousin and industrialist, Arnold Hatch. Arnold spoke no German, so Luzie quickly became translator, intermediary, and advocate for family left behind. Soon an unending stream of desperate requests from German relatives made their way to Arnold’s desk.
 
Luzie Hatch had faithfully preserved her letters both to and from far-flung relatives during the World War II era as well as copies of letters written on their behalf. This extraordinary collection, now housed at the American Jewish Committee Archives, serves as the framework for Exit Berlin. Charlotte R. Bonelli offers a vantage point rich with historical context, from biographical information about the correspondents to background on U.S. immigration laws, conditions at the Vichy internment camps, refuge in Shanghai, and many other topics, thus transforming the letters into a riveting narrative.
 
Arnold’s letters reveal an unfamiliar side of Holocaust history. His are the responses of an “average” American Jew, struggling to keep his own business afloat while also assisting dozens of relatives trapped abroad—most of whom he had never met and whose deathly situation he could not fully comprehend. This book contributes importantly to historical understanding while also uncovering the dramatic story of one besieged family confronting unimaginable evil.

About the Author

Charlotte R. Bonelli is Director of the Archives of the American Jewish Committee, where the Luzie Hatch letter collection is preserved. She lives in New York City.