The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust - Brief Article - Audiobook Review

Edith Hahn Beer. 2003. Read by Barbara Rosenblat. 6 tapes. 9 hrs. JCC Audio.com. 1-893079-25-2. $29.95. Cardboard, plastic; reader, content notes. SA *

Edith Hahn Beer was a brilliant woman who in the course of only a few years was a lawyer, a judge and a slave; a trailblazing feminist and a docile wife to an abusive husband; and a "U-boat"--a Jew hiding in the open in Nazi Germany during the Third Reich, pretending to be a German Christian hausfrau, subject to an immediate death sentence if found out. Her memoir, the story of what it took for this woman to become a survivor and the prices she had to pay, is a potent piece of work, partly because Beer makes clear that by this telling she will have her final retribution on her tormenters. She bears public witness to the horror people wantonly inflict on others. Rosenblatt is an artist. Through voice, accent and intonation, she creates an entirely credible persona of an intelligent Viennese woman recounting her life's bitterness and joy. Written and told with equal portions of passion and intelligence, this excellent work of history, which includes elements of a thriller, a spy novel, and a love story, holds real drama, real suspense. A listener with a vivid imagination, willing to succumb to a drama told by an old lady, will be rewarded with a spine chiller. Jacqueline Edwards, Bedford, MA

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.

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