Berlin Ghetto: Herbert Baum and the Anti-Fascist Resistance

by Eric Brothers

Berlin Ghetto tells the story of a group of Jewish young people who had lives filled with intellectual exploration, intense friendships and romances, and dangerous and illegal political action during one of the most anti-Semitic and regressive regimes in history. The roots of anti-fascism in the Communist, Socialist and Jewish youth movements of pre-Nazi working class Berlin are examined in Berlin Ghetto. The complete story of Herbert Baum and Jewish anti-fascism is told through oral and written testimony to survivors, friends and relatives of group members, Nazi trial documents or group members and primary documents of the period. Everything fell apart in May of 1942, when Baum and a few others went into the massive anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda exhibition Das Sowjet-Paradies (Soviet Paradise) and set off several small explosive devices. Unfortuantely, a comrade of Baum's was interrogated by the Gestapo and under torture gave them a list of names of many people associated with Herbert Baum. One by one, people were arrested, put on trial and executed or sent to death camps. Berlin Ghetto is a testament to Jewish anti-fascist resistance in Nazi Germany.

Genres: World War II, Nonfiction

377 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 29, 2012

Reviews

[Melinda Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The focus of most of this novel is about explaining the youth groups that were prevalent in Germany in the 20's onwards, and how Jewish groups struggled to find a common identity and value in the New Germany. With tensions increasing as Hitler's propaganda began infiltrating the zeitgeist, some groups branched out and began focusing their attention on anti-fascist resistance.

The novel focuses on these groups and their resistance based efforts. There is little to do about Herbert Baum himself and is more of a broad understanding of the anti-fascist movements.