The most recommended Jewish history books

I was impressed by how the author seamlessly worked the dialogue into the story. The book was based on historical events about the Nazis' attempt to take over Hollywood in the 1930s.

The author brought the characters to life with personal backstories and natural conflicts of what it meant to be German versus Jewish in the 1930s and the courage that it took to stand up to a tyrant regardless of it being unpopular in your community.

I learned about an aspect of our history that I was unaware of and how the bravery of the few thwarted the diabolical plot of one Adolph Hitler and his goons.

Most of this novel’s action occurs between World War I and World War II. It’s the riveting tale of a young German crushed by his country’s defeat and dedicated to doing something about it. He joins a network of assassins and aids in the murder of a high-ranking Jew in the Weimar government. Sent to prison, he meets a unique individual and begins an acute reexamination of everything he’s previously believed. This is a passionately compelling tale of one man looking deep within himself to make sense of what he’s done with his life. The author brings the times, as well as his characters vividly to life and makes this chronicle of redemption a supremely fulfilling read.

Boris Fishman made his debut with the story of Salva, a journalist for a long famous magazine asked to forge Holocaust-restitution claims—by and for his grandfather, a Russian immigrant living in South Brooklyn. Soon Salva achieves the American dream—a something from nothing business writing false claims.  It seems there’s a neighborhood full of people who can use his writing services. I loved this novel, a tender and wise study in the meaning of family, loyalty, and justice. Tragedy meets comedy in A Replacement Life.

From the back cover: "Drawing on her experience as a teacher in the Catholic school system, a former nun, and an outspoken advocate of women's equality, Joanna Manning powerfully articulates how John Paul's views on women are not only a disaster for the Catholic Church, but are also a threat to the well-being of all women, regardless of belief." Well-put. (I imagine there are, and if not, there should be, at least one of these books for each religion/sect... Certainly the Jewish and the Islamic religions are misogynistic as well...)

The In-Betweens is a memoir about growing up Black and Jewish in 1980s America. Davon Loeb’s prose is so exquisite that it literally made me hold my breath, re-read the most gorgeous lines, rethink the direction of my own writing.

His book is unforgettable and powerful in scope but built on the most banal blocks. I did not grow up Black and Jewish, but I could relate to so many details common to our generation: baggy jeans, boxes of Kool-Aid, high hair, and excessive hairspray. He uses the everyday to build empathy and change the way you will see the people around you. 

Based upon a stellar doctoral dissertation written at Princeton University Jonathan Price’s monograph about the first four years of the war of Jews against Romans is a treasure trove of information and insights about Jewish history, the various factions within Jewish society, and the tragic destruction of the Jewish Temple and a large part of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Sharp intelligence, learning, engagement, and balanced judgment can be found on every page of this impressive and readable book.

In the 1990s, I interviewed Erna in her Boca Raton home for a newspaper article about Holocaust survivors. She had been telling her moving survival story in local middle- and high-schools. We became close friends. She died in 2000. I’ve always cherished her two memoirs, which also include After the Holocaust: The Long Road to Freedom.

Recently, her family asked me to make a documentary about her. So, I’ve revisited her books. They invite readers to embark on a journey with a Jewish-Polish teenager who goes through hell only to eventually, miraculously find her piece of heaven.

I dearly miss Erna. I’m excited to share her trials, tribulations, and triumphs in a visual format. I hope I can come close to matching the power and elegance of her writing.

Written by a prominent British ceramicist, this memoir is remarkable for its research and depth into the background of the writer’s forgotten Jewish heritage and five generations of his ancestors, the Ephrussis, who immigrated to Paris where, in the Nineteenth Century, they built a banking dynasty from Vienna to Paris.

After inheriting a collection of 264 netsuke—Japanese wood and ivory carvings—de Waal starts digging into the past to uncover the mystery behind the netsuke and why they survived when most of the family perished at the hands of the Nazis.

This is another WWII story that illuminates the tragic events of the period and the life of wealthy patrons of the arts and their interaction with artists in Paris.

In 1949, while still playing for the Chicago Bears, Luckman (and a ghostwriter) penned this appealingly modest account of the quarterback’s early life. Since Luckman left no other writing behind, it’s an invaluable account of a “scrawny runt's" rise to national football celebrity by his 24th birthday. The most moving aspect of the book, for those in the know, is his silence about his father’s murder of Sid’s favorite uncle. Instead, he used a cover story for Dad’s disappearance and then kept his mouth shut for the rest of his life. 

Set at the end of WWII, when the UN authorized the founding of the State of Israel, I thoroughly enjoyed the merging of historical facts with fictional characters to depict the birth of a nation from the Jewish point of view.

I loved the diverse characters, including an American gentile female nurse and teenage Jewish children orphaned during the war as they settled in a hostile land.

It was eye-opening to see what it means to be constantly under attack, on the one hand, fighting militants physically and, on the other hand, fighting various countries politically in order to be acknowledged worldwide.

I also love that the author gives me an authentic look at the behind-the-scenes decision-making by British officials during this chaotic time.