Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: February 25, 2021 at 8:54:18 AM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-War]: Williams on Angress, 'Witness to the Storm: A > Jewish Journey from Nazi Berlin to the 82nd Airborne, 1920-1945' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Werner T. Angress. Witness to the Storm: A Jewish Journey from Nazi > Berlin to the 82nd Airborne, 1920-1945. Bloomington Indiana > University Press, 2019. 358 pp. $25.00 (paper), ISBN > 978-0-253-03913-2. > > Reviewed by Robert F. Williams (The Ohio State University) > Published on H-War (February, 2021) > Commissioned by Margaret Sankey > > An impressive and detailed memoir that showcases the eternal temerity > of youth tempered by prevailing conditions, _Witness to the Storm_ is > a must-read memoir. From his early experiences as a Jewish schoolboy > in Berlin to his service as a paratrooper interrogating Nazi > prisoners as the American 82nd Airborne Division fought across > northwest Europe, Werner T. Angress (1920-2010) provides a unique > perspective on this period. After his wartime service, Angress > enjoyed a distinguished career as an historian before returning to > his native Berlin in the 1990s to teach schoolchildren about life > under the Nazi regime. The late professor emeritus from the State > University of New York at Stony Brook was a renowned scholar of > Weimar Germany, Jews, and German society. Penned during his twilight > years and initially published in German in 2005, Angress's children > recently published this English version in the United States. > > Angress describes a privileged youth growing up the son of a wealthy > Berlin banker. During these innocent years, he finds a great > connection with his maternal grandfather. The latter instilled in him > a keen interest in history--gifting him books that later inspired his > postwar career. Even before Hitler and the Nazi Party come to power, > Angress describes himself as rejecting his Jewish identity, partially > due to his own nationalistic feelings as they intensified following > the First World War. Throughout the book, Angress makes clear that he > was a cocksure young man, somewhat ambivalent to the changes > happening around him, especially for Jewish persons within his > country. As such, the younger Angress only belatedly realizes the > horrors of the Nazi while his family begins preparing to leave the > country. His experience slowly coming to grips with the reality of > anti-Semitism in his native land is indicative of the difficulty > humans have grasping their own historical moment. > > In May 1936, Angress's father sent him to Gross Breesen, a community > where young German Jews learned agricultural skills for eventual > emigration abroad. He learns valuable skills on this working farm, > meets influential mentors, and comes of age under their tutelage. > Angress's whirlwind departure from Germany occurred two years > later--he went alone to Amsterdam. His father took a circuitous route > through Czechoslovakia. At the same time, his mother and brothers > flew to London--exemplifying many other stories of the lucky Jews who > managed to flee the Nazi regime. Finally making it out of Germany, > Angress made it to the United States in late 1939 through New Jersey > before he settled into his final location--Hyde Farm in rural > southern Virginia. There, amid other German Jewish refugees fleeing > Hitler and anti-Semitism in Europe, he changes his middle name to > Thomas while applying for US citizenship--the name by which he would > be called for the rest of his life. It is also outside Richmond that > he encounters American racism in the form of Jim Crow attitudes > toward Black people and ponders how a country opposed to Naziism can > remain hypocritical. > > Drafted into the army in 1941, he was initially assigned to the 29th > Infantry Division as an infantryman. After the US entered the war and > his lack of citizenship placed him in an "enemy alien detachment" (p. > 241), he volunteered, was accepted, and then trained as an > interrogator at Camp Ritchie (he is prominently depicted in the 2004 > documentary film, _The Ritchie Boys_). Assigned to the all-volunteer > 82nd Airborne Division without volunteering, he nonetheless > petitioned the assistant division commander, Brig. Gen. James M. > Gavin to parachute into Normandy with his regiment--a request Gavin > granted that earned Angress immense respect from his paratrooper > compatriots. Angress then describes his harrowing experience as a > prisoner of war and subsequent rescue in Cherbourg. The author's > experience takes him through another jump into Holland, the Battle of > the Bulge, and finally into Germany. As the division entered his > former country, Angress's language abilities earned him duty as > Gavin's personal interpreter, where he learned some of "the jumping > general's" intimate secrets. Throughout the war, Angress earned a > Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and promotion to master sergeant. > > The book's tone is mostly that of a historian's detachment attempting > to interpret the past objectively--nearly impossible when the subject > is one's own life. Regardless, Angress's humanity is on display > through his vivid and emotional account of liberating a Nazi > concentration camp or of his reverence for his family. These passages > are where Angress's skills as a writer shine and remind readers that > they are, in fact, reading a memoir. The most satisfying moment comes > when reading that Gavin granted Angress's request to find his family > in Amsterdam on a mission classified under "official airborne > activities" in May 1945. At long last, Angress is reunited with his > mother and two brothers, whom he has not heard from since before the > war. Upon discharge, he enrolled at Wesleyan University, finished his > Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949 followed by his PhD from the > University of California, Berkley in 1953, and embarked on a > distinguished academic career--a satisfying end to a harrowing first > third of his life. > > This memoir is essential for the historical record as it offers a > meticulous retelling of one man's journey through a monumental period > of history. He acknowledges the limitations of memory and memoir in > describing his work as an interrogator. Noting the fallacy of memoir > in often only depicting one's life in the best light, he takes > caution to describe both positive and negative examples of his > interrogations. Appendices include excerpts from his diary and copies > of official wartime travel documents. Using memoir as critical > history will always be a precarious proposition--particularly in > accounting for the (in)accuracy of memory. Nevertheless, Angress > avoids those pitfalls by describing his life with the clarity, > detail, and contextual nuance one would expect from a historian. This > book is a treat to read. His prose--though somewhat detached--is > rich. His eye for detail, particularly in describing human > interactions, adds a vividness usually reserved for fiction. No doubt > his habitual diary keeping improved the book's accuracy and offset > some of the hazards of memory. This book is ideal for anyone > interested in the rise of Naziism, Jewish refugee emigration, or the > American effort in World War II. > > Citation: Robert F. Williams. Review of Angress, Werner T., _Witness > to the Storm: A Jewish Journey from Nazi Berlin to the 82nd Airborne, > 1920-1945_. H-War, H-Net Reviews. February, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56042 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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