Recommended Reading I: Jews of Eastern Europe

You may have noticed an addition to this blog.  On the right of the page you will find a list of books that I’ve read in the past few years with Jewish content.  They cover a wide range of subject matter, but all have been helpful to me in expanding my understanding.  Many of them are nonfiction although there is also some fiction among them and some of them I’ve written about in these pages.  I find that many of the ones I enjoy the most are written by journalists as they seem to have a unique talent for taking real events and crafting them into a rather gripping story.  As my discussions of recommended books have become buried in these pages, I thought I’d cull them out and in subsequent entries provide brief comments on some of those I haven’t previously discussed.

In this blog entry I’ll focus on the ones I’ve discussed within the blog already and where you can find them.  While I’ve included the books with Jewish content on this list, they provide interesting reading for a broad range of readers, Jewish ancestry not required.

You will find discussion of Masha Gessen’s book Ester & Ruzya: How My Grandmothers Survived Hitler’s War and Stalin’s Peace in Jewish Life in the Soviet Union.  This book provided insight into both the war time and post war period and its impact on Jews in the Soviet Union.  A good companion book on this topic is A Hole in the Heart of the World by Jonathan Kaufman which follows the life of five Jews from the war to post-war in Eastern Europe.  You will find some discussion of it in my entry Readings on the Jews of Eastern Europe.  I found these books both very readable and very important in increasing my understanding of Jewish life in Eastern Europe post-war. 

Also in Readings on the Jews of Eastern Europe is The Great Jewish Cities of Central and Eastern Europe by Eli Valley, a must read prior to visiting Budapest, Warsaw, Cracow or Prague, unfortunately too big to easily carry on your travels.  Filled with historical anecdotes it brings color and context to your travels. 

The Kati Marton books on Budapest are discussed in the The Budapest Brain Drain and I highly recommend all of her work for both insights into post-war experience and the many influences of Budapest Jews on the United States. My favorite book was The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World. 

 In Favorite Travel Tools and Books you will find discussion of The Zookeeper’s Wife that I suggest you read prior to visiting Warsaw or to learn more about the Warsaw ghetto.  It is based on actual people and events and we were delighted to find references to the people of whom we read at the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. Also in that entry you will find discussion of Not Me, a fictional story that was interesting reading that also touched on Madjanek. 

Anton, the Dove Fancier is discussed in How They Lived, short stories based on Radom, Poland by a survivor.  These are beautifully written with a photographer’s eye for detail.  In A Contact, A Book and An Interview you will find mention of Everything is Illuminated and The Heavens are Empty, books based on the virtually all Jewish town of Trochenbrod.

In Across the Pond you will find discussion of the Ponary Diary which I often reference when I speak about my Lithuanian based artwork as it recounts the story of the Vilnius Jews murdered in Ponar.  As background on Vilnius you may also want to read Lucy Davidowicz's From That Time and Place which is discussed in Jewish Ghetto Walk.  While not easy reading and filled with names, it is a first person account of Vilnius in the pre-war period and a sad recounting of the fate of many of Davidowicz's friends.

In addition to these books I also wrote of The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson in the entry The Great Migration.  While not Jewish in content so not on this list, it sparks insights for anyone with an interest in immigration and certainly made me think of Nazi Germany in its description of the South at the time of the Jim Crow laws.

In subsequent entries I will address some of the other readings that have informed my search, deepened my understanding and provided context for much of what I've observed.

The Budapest Brain Drain

My travels and research are often accompanied by a reading program on related topics.   In recent years I’ve been particularly intrigued by the cities of Eastern Europe and especially the Jewish experience.  While the Holocaust was a defining historical event, I am also interested in the Jewish experience pre-war as well as post-war.  What was life like? When did they begin to sense danger in their environment, a danger that exceeded the “conventional’ anti-Semitism of that time and place?  After the war, many Jews continued to live under Communism.  Others immigrated and attempted to rebuild their lives as survivors.  Obviously the Holocaust would have marked their experience and responses to their environment, but in what way?

My family history research has awakened an interest in history as it provides a context for understanding it on a personal level. The books that I find most enlightening are those that present history through the lens of those living it.  I only wish that I had been able to learn history in this manner originally as it would have captivated me much sooner. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit Budapest and learn more about the history of that region.  When I stumbled across a book by Kati Marton, I was intrigued by its focus on Budapest and its mention of familiar places that we had visited.  As the daughter of Hungarian journalists with Jewish roots, she has a unique connection to the city.  Her parents were journalists in Budapest during the Communist regime, arrested, imprisoned and finally released, ultimately immigrating to the US.  Years later she goes back to Budapest and reads the files of the secret police, realizing the constant surveillance that her parents had been under in both Budapest and the US.   Her book Enemies of the People paints a vivid picture of life under the Communist regime.

While Marton’s maternal grandparents had perished at Auschwitz and her father’s career options were restricted by his Jewish heritage, the family raised their children as Catholics. It was not until Marton was an adult that she stumbled across her Jewish roots.

Marton’s book, The Great Escape also focuses upon Hungary, in this case the stories of nine Hungarian Jews who left their country as Hitler came to power.  Settling in the US and England, these nine Jews became major figures in physics, photography, film and literature.  While Marton’s memoir Enemies of the People, tells one story in which she is herself a character, The Great Escape captures a broader experience by virtue of the multiple and often intersecting histories it presents.  The Great Escape looks at the story of four scientists: Edward Teller, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and John von Neumann. These scientists were key figures in the creation of the atomic bomb. In addition von Neumann, a renowned mathematician, was known for inventing Game Theory and pioneering the computer.

The book relates a fascinating journey by Szilard and Wigner to visit Einstein in Long Island.  There they discussed the experiments in Germany which suggested a nuclear chain reaction could be created by bombarding uranium with neutrons. They then added a piece of information that Einstein had not yet contemplated, that this in turn could create atomic bombs.  Much of their impetus for their involvement in the creation of the atomic bomb was the fear that the Nazis would get there first, a fear colored by their realization of the danger presented by the Nazis long before the US shared that understanding. Several of them had studied physics in Berlin and knew the advances in science that could make this possible. Einstein was alarmed enough to sign a letter to President Roosevelt to alert him to this threat which ultimately led to the Manhattan Project.  After Hitler’s death, the creators of the atomic bomb assumed opposite sides of the issue. Szilard opposed the use of the atomic bomb convinced that the mere threat of it would have been sufficient.

Marton also tells the story of Robert Capa and Andre Kertesz, major figures in modern photojournalism.  Michael Curtiz, the producer of the movie Casablanca and Alexander Korda, a major producer/director are also chronicled.  Marton rounds out the nine with the political writer Arthur Koestler. While all are interesting lives, the preponderance of the scientists who were so central to key world events causes these segments to dominate the book.

Marton hypothesizes that the position of these men as outsiders contributed to the remarkable roles they ultimately played.  They were outsiders on many levels, as Jews and as Hungarians.  Marton makes the point that Hungary was isolated by way of being landlocked and “language” locked, the language having no relationship to other languages and thus limited to a small segment of population.  In fact, many of those of whom she writes had extensive language skills that eased their transition between cultures.  She also notes that they were all nonobservant Jews, a product of the secular world of Budapest and its café society.  Many of these men came of age in a period of rich cultural ferment prior to WWI.  Many went on to study in Berlin.  They were worldly and well-educated and highly sensitized to changes in the political environment.  Enough so that they saw the impending dangers, departed and re-established their lives and careers.

I found the consideration of “outsider” status of particular interest as I believe the outsider role frees one up to challenge the conventional wisdom, to “think outside of the box”.  I think it is likely that the considerable success of many Jews is partially attributable to that factor.  When one doesn’t have access to the traditional rewards of the system, one is strangely freed up to do the unexpected, to create one’s own path.

Goodby Budapest

On our last day in Budapest we went back to the Jewish Museum and the Dohany synagogue and took the tour of the synagogue (see left). We also stopped at the nearby Rumbach synagogue (photo on right) that closed as an operating synagogue in the 1980s. This synagogue was built in 1872 by the Viennese architect Otto Wagner. The sanctuary is octagonal and the façade is Moorish and striped with intricate designs. The synagogue was sold to the state in the 1980s and partially restored until money ran out. It is now back in the hands of the Jewish community, but is basically a shell with no interior furnishings, albeit a beautiful shell. Additional photos can be found on the Budapest album link.

We also had an opportunity to visit the Hungarian Jewish Museum which is housed next to the Dohany synagogue. The museum was in the news in the 1990s when its entire collection was stolen while the building was covered in scaffolding. The thieves climbed the scaffolding, went in through the windows and removed everything. Several months later they found virtually everything in a village in Romania.

In the evening we attended the Budapest Opera House for a performance of the Barber of Seville. The opera hall is the way you imagine opera halls should be with layers and layers of gold balconies with decorative figures. We were in the second row so had a wonderful view of the orchestra as well as the stage and could look behind us and take in the entire expanse of the opera house. At the intermission people gathered on a rooftop balcony with views of the city.

The next morning we arose early to catch a cab to the airport for our flight to Warsaw. We connected with our rental car service and soon were in a small Fiat heading towards Radom. We had brought our own GPS (Garmen 275) and had the one from the rental car as well. We found theirs difficult to program so were happy to have one we had already figured out. With its guidance we found our way to Radom, a city south of Warsaw where my grandfather came from.

The Arrow and the Star

Yesterday we went to Castle Hill on the Buda side of Budapest. We retraced our steps from the prior day, down Andrassy to the Chain Bridge and across to the Buda side. We then took the funicular up to the top. There is a metro system as well as many trams in Budapest, but thus far we have walked everywhere, usually logging ten miles a day.

Castle Hill was once the seat of Hungarian royalty and is home to the Royal Palace. My interest in the area was in a small synagogue that dates back to medieval times. The ruins of two 15th century synagogues were discovered in 1960. One remains under an apartment building and has never been fully excavated. This was the Great Synagogue from the mid 1500s until 1686. There is an amusing story that the synagogue was also where a prison was kept for any Jew who committed a crime or failed to pay taxes. The prison also served as a place to store taxes and valuables. In 1521 a criminal who was held in the synagogue escaped with the gold and silver objects that had also been stored in the prison cell.

The small synagogue which has been excavated is a few doors down from the site of the Great Synagogue. It is a small room with images on the wall that date back to the 16th or 17th century. One image is a Star of David, the other an arrow. What is unusual about the Star of David is that in the early 16th century it was not yet viewed as a significant Jewish symbol. Around the star is the Birkat haCohanim which translates as “The Lord bless you and protect you. The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you. The Lord bestow his favor upon you and grant you peace.” 

Next to Star of David is an upward pointing arrow and a bow. The inscription translates to “The bows of the mighty are broken, and the faltering are girded with strength”. The arrow, an unusual symbol for a synagogue, is believed to represent the constant threat under which the Jewish community lived. The fear of war as represented by the arrow was aligned with the Star of David and a prayer for peace.

After finding the synagogue we explored the Castle Hill streets until the skies opened up in a torrent of rain, a frequent occurrence during our time in Budapest. We ran to the Hungarian National Gallery to explore the artwork and get out of the rain. We were pleasantly surprised by the Hungarian artwork, especially the sculpture. There were many talented artists who received little recognition outside of Hungary.

Today we rounded out our art explorations with a visit to the Kogart Museum which had a show of Marffy Odon, a Hungarian artist. Lunch in its art-filled dining room contributed to a pleasing experience. We then walked down Andrassy Avenue to the City Park which houses a castle, a zoo, several museums and one of the thermal baths within Budapest. After exploring the park we ended our day with a visit to the Fine Art Museum which was a truly amazing place with an extensive collection of Dutch, Italian and Spanish art as well as an Egyptian exhibit. And of course one more torrent of rain to end our day.

Link to Web Album for Budapest

As I have been unable to upload photos to the blog, I have provided a link in the links section to a web album for Budapest. I will be adding to it throughout our time in Budapest.

Of Synagogues and Shoes

Yesterday we decided to venture out to the Jewish quarter of the Pest side of Budapest where three synagogues cluster. There are approximately 20 synagogues in the area, but the three we went to see were the Doheny Street Synagogue, the Rumbach Street Synagogue and the main Orthodox Synagogue on Kazincy.

Of all of our destinations on this trip, Hungary is unique in having a thriving Jewish population ranging from 54,000 to 130,000 (depending on one's definition of “Jew”) with most living in Budapest. Pre-war the population was over 800,000. Germany invaded Hungary in 1944 and it was at that time that the liquidation of the Jews began. Budapest had been saved for last after the provinces were liquidated and the Nazis ran out of time. Thus Budapest is unique in having both surviving synagogues and a significant Jewish community. The population that survived was largely assimilated as the more Orthodox Jews often lived in the provinces.

We knew we were nearing the synagogue when we saw a rounded dome topped with a Star of David. A group of people surrounded a fence taking photographs of a Holocaust Memorial. This didn’t bode well. Was there a long line causing this?

We too paused to take photos of the memorial which was in the form of a broken weeping willow. Each leaf on the tree is inscribed with the name of a Hungarian Jew killed in the Holocaust. The actor Tony Curtis was a key driver behind this memorial as his father emigrated from Hungary.

We walked past the Holocaust Memorial to what is known as the Heroes’ Temple which was built in 1929-31 in memory of the Jews who died fighting for Hungary in WWI. Within its gates is the Martyrs’ Cemetery which became a graveyard during the time of the ghetto. There are twenty-four mass graves that fill the entire garden area. People have erected tombstones in memory of family members who are buried here, but many are unmarked.

As we rounded the Heroes’ Temple we saw the two octagonal towers of the Doheny Street Synagogue, a Moorish style synagogue. Above the doorway is the inscription from Exodus “and let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them”. Twelve of the letters are marked by stars and the numerical sum of the letters signifies the Hebrew year for 1859, the year the synagogue opened.

A sign noted that the synagogue was closed to tourists both that day and the following day. We couldn’t determine why as there was no Jewish holiday listed for those days. We saw several people behind the fence and several entering the building. When I inquired about entering I was told that it was closed. Upon asking about those who were entering, I was told that they were Jewish and going to pray. “I’m Jewish”, I retorted and was granted entrance along with my husband.

The Doheny synagogue seats 3000 people and is the largest active synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world. This is the synagogue where Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, celebrated his bar mitzvah and once lived next door, now the home of the Jewish Museum. While galleries were overhead, the women sat on either side on the main floor and the men sat in the middle. The synagogue is considered to be Neolog which is more akin to Reform Judaism, at least the European version. A large pipe organ filled the eastern wall surrounding the torah ark and a choir of both men and women sang the Hebrew prayers and songs. Franz Liszt is reported to have played the famous Doheny organ in 1865.

The ornate aron hakodesh, the torah ark, silently opened and presented a room filled with torahs. On the front was a golden sun with the name of God written upon it. On each side of the synagogue was a pulpit, apparently a vestige of a dispute between two rabbis from the 1920s who refused to share the same pulpit.

At the front of the synagogue stood Jews davening in their prayer shawls while at the back stood Jewish tourists with baseball caps covering their heads. Women stood in the aisle often commenting to their husbands on the proceedings. This was a far cry from the curtained off womens’ section that I witnessed in Vilnius.

The synagogue survived WWII because the Germans used its towers as a base for German Radio. The interior, like many other synagogues, was used as a stable by the Nazis.

After leaving the synagogue we walked to the other two nearby synagogues. We plan to return there when they are open to see the Jewish Museum and take a tour of the synagogues.

Later in the afternoon we walked down Andrassy Avenue, the main artery near our hotel, to the Danube. Along the way we passed the ornate Opera House and stopped in to purchase tickets to a performance of the Barber of Seville our last night in Budapest.
Proceeding to the Danube we arrived at the Chain Bridge, a massive span flanked by two lions at either end. Cottonwood seeds drifted in the air and coated the ground creating a snow-like appearance. We walked along the Danube towards the Parliament building which seemed quite cathedral-like with lofty spires piercing the sky. Our destination was a memorial to the Jews who were murdered by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross during WWII. They had lined Jews up by the Danube after first confiscating their shoes, shot them and pushed their bodies into the river. The memorial sculpture which was created in 2005 has a variety of bronzed shoes along the riverfront, mens’ shoes, womens’ pumps and baby shoes. Many are filled with flowers or memorial candles, creating a poignant memorial to the victims. The plaque spoke only of “people” who were murdered, not Jews. 

On the way back we stopped at a little grocery to pick up food for breakfast. The Hungarian language is not one which offers many reference points so shopping presented some challenges as we tried to decipher packaging. While most of the people in any tourist service speak fluent English, in our experience those in small shops have not.

We found our way to a charming restaurant for dinner called the Bock Bisztro which is affiliated with a winery. An accordion player set the mood and the food was unusual and appealing, definitely a find. The main dishes were all meat, but the tapas options offered a few vegetarian choices.

Arrival in Budapest

Today was our first day in Budapest and the beginning of our trip, a day more devoted to travel recovery and getting our bearings than visiting sites. We arrived at the airport and soon found our luggage, an ATM and a taxi. We got to our hotel in early afternoon and were pleased with its ambience. The hotel is MaMaison Residence Izabella which is located in the VI district on the Pest side of Budapest. It provides a modern apartment with a complete kitchen, wireless Internet, fitness and laundry facilities. Located off of Andrassy and Izabella, it is close to the Kodaly Korond metro stop.

After two sleepless nights we were running on limited energy so decided to explore our immediate surroundings and run some practical errands. Around the corner we found an Italian restaurant Millennium Da Pippo and had a pleasant vegetarian meal. Typical Hungarian food often includes meat, but we are looking forward to checking out a well-reviewed vegan restaurant near our hotel that offers vegan versions of traditional Hungarian cuisine.

We walked down to the West End shops which are connected to the train station. A szupermarket (pronounced “supermarket”) was attached to the complex as well as a wide variety of shops. The West End shops are the largest multi-use shopping area in Europe. We sampled the ice cream at one of the many ice cream vendors. Thus far we’ve discovered excellent ice cream in Budapest, more like gelato in the rich flavors which are offered.

As we wandered the nearby streets we found ourselves thinking of other cities in which we had traveled. The West End shops reminded us of shopping areas we had visited in Shanghai, the streets with open air cafes reminded us of Montparnasse Ave in Paris.

Tomorrow we will begin our explorations of the Jewish district and the synagogues located in Pest.