The Invisible Wall : Germans and Jews, a Personal Exploration

Recounts the stories of six of the author's ancestors in an attempt to understand the failure of the German-Jewish relationship

An utterly absorbing account of German Jewry from the early 18th century to the Holocaust as reflected in six individuals (five men and one woman) who were ancestors of the authors. Blumenthal, himself a German-Jewish refugee to the US via Shanghai, former CEO of the Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) and a former secretary of the treasury, focuses almost exclusively on Prussia and in particular on Berlin and its suburb of Oranienberg. He shows how precarious the position of Prussia's small Jewish community was until the second half of the 19th century. Yet once Prussia's Jews were ``emancipated'' (granted basic civic and political rights) in 1867, an already existing assimilationist drive among them intensified; Louis Blumenthal, an Oranienberg town councillor and banker, posited that emancipation and assimilation go hand in hand.'' During the golden age of German liberalism (roughly 18481914) a confluence also existed between the values of successful German Jews and their gentile counterparts; both were committed to Bildung und Besitz (education and property). And while earlier generations of German Jews, such as Rachel Varnhagen, hostess to a widely attended early 19th century intellectual salon, and composer Giacomo Meyerbeer were scarred by anti-Semitism, later 19th century German-Jewish intellectuals often tried to be oblivious to it. During the Weimar Republic (191933), when German society was thrown into upheaval by the legacy of defeat in WW I, a new, often chaotic experiment in democracy, hyperinflation, and depression, the Jewish romance with things German would of course have fatal consequences for those who chose to remain. Blumenthal beautifully weaves together individual stories, the history of the Jewish community, and developments in the larger German society. While those who desire an in-depth scholarly history of German Jewry might wish to turn elsewhere (though, as his extensive bibliography reveals, Blumenthal has more than done his homework), this is the book for those desiring a crisply written, personal, anecdotally rich history of a glorious and ultimately tragic community. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Blumenthal, former secretary of the Treasury (1977-79), diplomat, and distinguished businessman, explores why German Jews were historically treated so badly by German Christians. Blumenthal himself escaped the Nazi regime in 1939 and grew up with other Jewish refugees in Shanghai. He traces the Jews' history in Germany by looking at his own family tree and picking out six ancestors from 1671 to 1945: Jost Liebmann, a peddler who became one of Berlin's richest men; Rahel Varnhagen von Ense, owner of a salon where the intellectual elite gathered; Giacomo Meyerbeer, a celebrated composer; Louis Blumenthal, a businessman and bank founder; Arthur Eloesser, a scholar and literary critic; and Ewald Blumenthal, a decorated soldier (and the author's father). Blumenthal illustrates how politicians and rulers affected German society and how Jews could never change the prejudices against them. Blumenthal brings Jewish history in Germany alive by telling about his ancestors' lives. Recommended for academic libraries and larger public libraries. [For another view of German anti-Semitism, see Klaus P. Fischer's The History of an Obsession, reviewed below.?Ed.]?Mary F. Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll. Lib., Wheelin.
-?Mary F. Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll. Lib., Wheeling
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Here is an unusual and, as the title suggests, personal account of the Holocaust by an escapee of the Nazis who went on to become U.S. Treasury secretary. In fact, instead of an overview of German-Jewish history, Blumenthal reaches into his family tree and spotlights six ancestors and their stories reaching back as far as the crusades. Rahel was a woman who ran a salon that aristocrats and intellectuals regularly visited, charmed by her wit, in the heyday of Prussia. Arthur was one of the intellectual elite, a noted literary critic during the days of the Weimar Republic. And Ewald, Blumenthal's father, was a decorated soldier in service of the kaiser, who found himself in a concentration camp during Hitler's regime, and his is perhaps the most harrowing story told here. Blumenthal concludes with his own story, that of a child fleeing the Nazis to the U.S. with a few dollars in his pocket but eventually rising to CEO of two major U.S. companies. His writing style is reflective and thorough, and his overriding passion for these stories is felt throughout. Joe Collins