A Chosen Few: The Resurrection of European Jewry (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

By Mark Kurlansky

A robust, DEEPLY relocating NARRATIVE OF wish REBORN
IN THE SHADOW OF DESPAIR

Fifty years after it used to be bombed to rubble, Berlin is once more a urban within which Jews assemble for the Passover seder. Paris and Antwerp have lately emerged as very important new facilities of Jewish tradition. Small yet proud Jewish groups are revitalizing the traditional facilities of Budapest, Prague, and Amsterdam. those courageous, decided Jewish women and men have selected to settle–or remain–in Europe after the devastation of the Holocaust, yet they've got paid a value. one of the unforeseen risks, they've got needed to do something about an alarming resurgence of Nazism in Europe, the unfold of Arab terrorism, and the impression of the Jewish nation on ecu life.

Delving into the intimate tales of ecu Jews from all walks of lifestyles, Kurlansky weaves jointly a bright tapestry of people maintaining their traditions, and flourishing, within the shadow of historical past. An inspiring tale of a tenacious those that have rebuilt their lives within the face of incomprehensible horror, A selected Few is a testomony to cultural survival and a party of the deep bonds that suffer among Jews and ecu civilization.

“Consistently soaking up . . . A selected Few investigates the rather uncharted territory of an encouraging phenomenon.”
–Los Angeles occasions

“I can ponder no e-book that portrays with such intelligence, historic knowing, and journalistic aptitude what lifestyles has been like for Jews decided to construct lives in Europe.”
–SUSAN MIRON
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A few in the beginning attempted to dam tanks by means of sitting in entrance of them, yet they fast discovered that they'd easily be run over, as have been partitions, automobiles, and the rest that stood within the means of those clanking metal giants. In Bratislava women seductively pulled up their miniskirts, and whereas Soviet tank and truck drivers stopped to ogle younger Slovak thighs, younger males ran up and smashed headlights with rocks and controlled to set a few oil drums on hearth. A tank column from Hungary noisily squeaked and rumbled around the Danube bridge into Bratislava as collage scholars cursed and threw bricks. A Soviet soldier dropped to firing place at the again of a tank and shot and killed a fifteen-year-old nursing scholar. the group that had accrued turned livid, however the Soviets fired a number of extra rounds, killing one other 4 unarmed humans. The Soviets moved 175,000 troops opposed to younger Czechs and Slovaks throwing stones and bricks, which rang like off-key bells opposed to the armor plating of unstoppable tanks. by means of dawn, August 21, each city of any measurement within the kingdom was once below the regulate of armored divisions. The overseas press suggested miraculous acts of futile defiance. In Prague a legless international conflict II veteran dared tanks to roll over him. a lady ducked previous the bayonets of a tank group to mark a swastika on their tank. The Soviets have been attacked with burning rags and Molotov cocktails. a number of tanks burst into flames, and one ammunition truck exploded. younger males wrapped themselves in Czech flags and charged tanks armed in simple terms with empty cans to stuff down the barrels. Flaming rags have been dropped on tanks, and extra of them stuck fireplace. Scraps of furnishings, automobile components, and timber have been tossed throughout streets for barricades. The tanks rolled easily over them. On Thursday and Friday one-hour national paintings stoppages have been introduced by means of the honking of horns. in a single small village a tank column used to be became again from a bridge through villagers who wouldn't circulate. In Bratislava brown paper was once caught over tank periscopes to momentarily blind crews, and a few tanks have been set on fireplace. For the 1st time in virtually 20 years, Czechoslovakians were allowed to spend their summer season holiday overseas. This used to be the scoop from domestic they have been deciding on up on radio, tv, and newspapers. Frantisek Kraus had lately died from his wartime illnesses. Alice and their son Tomas have been traveling associates in West Berlin. studying the scoop, they have been in no hurry to come back. The Skala kinfolk, on holiday in Denmark, began determining the phrases Czechoslovakia and Prague in Danish conversations. Then they became at the tv and observed their fatherland. The airport, the nationwide museum, and the tv middle have been shot up. no less than twenty humans have been killed in Prague on my own. Russian troops had torn up the Czech Writers Union with crowbars. within the new freedom of 1968 a formative years journey to Israel have been prepared by way of the Joint. Milana Mandl, born, like Israel, in 1948, used to be considered one of a couple of Jews her age from Brno at the journey. as a result of the presence of Rabbi Feter in Brno, her iteration had grown up with an remoted yet relatively energetic Jewish existence.

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