From its opening pages; in which she recounts her own premature birth; triggered by terrifying rumors of an incipient pogrom; Bernstein' s tale is clearly not a typical memoir of the Holocaust. She was born into a large family in rural Romania?and grew up feisty and willing to fight back physically against anti-Semitism from other schoolchildren. She defied her father' s orders to turn down a scholarship that took her to Bucharest; and got herself expelled from that school when she responded to a priest/teacher' s vicious diatribe against the Jews by hurling a bottle of ink at him?After a series of incidents that ranged from dramatic escapes to a year in a forced labor detachment; Sara ended up in Ravensbruck; a women' s concentration camp; Aand? managed to survive?she tells this story with style and power. --Kirkus Reviews
#273113 in Books imusti 2004-04-30 2004-09-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.09 x 6.00l; 1.42 #File Name: 0415940168464 pagesRoutledge
Review
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful. A Solid Edited VolumeBy Christopher I. LehrichAthanasius Kircher hasn't been studied in a terribly coherent way; in general. He was a 17th-century Jesuit who studied everything; collected everything; and at times seemed to know everything. Perhaps most famously; he formulated translations for hieroglyphic inscriptions on Egyptian monuments and such; unfortunately; without the Rosetta Stone and Champollion; he was dead wrong about nearly all of this. Nevertheless he was a fascinating figure situated at a major crossroads of Baroque intellectual culture.The negative about this volume is the usual one: because it is an edited volume; there still isn't any coherent argument made; nor any agreement. Indeed; it seems that the authors duck and weave around a number of major issues; as though they think others in the book will take them up. But since there is so little really serious scholarship readily available; this is an important addition to the little library.I can't really say that there are certain "shining stars" in the volume. All the essays have strengths and weaknesses; it really depends what you're interested in. That may seem like a cop-out; but if you know something about Kircher; you can see why it comes up: he was interested in everything; after all; and generally published on it as well. Consequently you might be intrested in Egypt and find several essays interesting; and then think the essays on magnetism and biological wonders and Chinese very boring indeed. But what if you care mostly about Kircher's important contributions (often via Gaspar Schott) to the study of magnetism; and care nothing about linguistics? And so on.Fortunately; the volume is a relatively inexpensive paperback; so there's no reason not to buy it and dip in. When Daniel Stolzenberg's book comes out; we'll maybe have a solid foundation to work from as well. Now if only we could get some decent editions of Kircher's actual work in translation....6 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Really Interesting Person!By D S----I'm not sure Otto; in the previous review; put his review under the right book. His review isn't for THIS book; that's for sure!!!I've just completed reading "Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything" 2004 edition. It is a VERY fascinating look at a man who lived in the 1600's. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it!Loved the book; and will recommend it!Again; this is for the 2004; Hardcover edition.17 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Be carefulBy MfunctorI just wanted to say that almost all of the illustrations in this book are of poor technical quality. They are incredibly pixelated. The publishers might have accidentally published working images and not the full resolution ones
