The Scholems

l found this book to be interesting, as it profiled 4 brothers in a family who went in different directions in the years before WWII. They, as Jews, suffered as did all Jews in Germany, and indeed, in Europe, throughout the 30's and 40's. One brother in particular, Gershon, was not only a noted Jewish scholar, but a Zionist, and emigrated to Palestine in the 20's, while another was a Communist politician in Berlin; he was the only brother killed in a concentration camp, though many other members of the extended family perished as well. Many German Jews in the time between the world wars weren't fully practicing Jews, having assimilated many German customs and ways, including celebrating Christmas, but They were still seem as alien enough to be blamed for the poor economy after WWI, which eventually led to Hitler and the Nazis coming to power, where they wasted little time hounding Jews and other minorities, eventually trying to totally exterminate them.

This wasn't a typically dry-as-dust history book, but rather, brought to light the differences that occur even in a close-knit family.

The Scholems are a family that Geller uses to detail the 20th century diaspora of German Jewry. By focusing on the brothers Scholem, the reader views both their lives and those of Jews living (and dying) in Germany.

It is very well written and readable. I think that it will be useful for both seminar study and book club discussions. This book provides an incredible amount of history, woven into a story that is fascinating.

I truly enjoyed it.

The Scholems attempts to portray the life of middleclass Jewry in Berlin prior to the start of World War II. It largely succeeds in doing this by focusing on the individual stories of the members one of its most well known families: the Scholems.

Readers who believe they know the history of the Jews of this period will be surprised by the variety in lifestyles and beliefs of this population. For instance, I was surprised to learn that it was common for Jews of that period, who otherwise led a normative Jewish life, to celebrate Christmas as part of the experience of being German.

Most of Berlin’s Jewish population thought of themselves as Germans first and foremost. Many were veterans of the First World War and were patriots. The most famous member of the Scholem family was the scholar Gershom Scholem. He differed significantly from the rest of the family in that he thought of himself as a Jew first and foremost.

Although the author’s aim was not to see this story through the lens of the holocaust experience, perhaps the most compelling aspect of this story is how quickly the family’s life changed once Hitler came to power and how their denial of the danger left most of them escaping at the last minute or not at all.

This book is a unique contribution to the understanding of this period and a compelling story of a complex and interesting family

this important family spanned the world, perforce , and also a time period of tragic consequence - I was focused on Gershon because of his association to kabbala and to Walter Benjamin - trying to hold him off going entirely political and leftist - whether I agree with him or not, his take on the world is immensely valuable - to know more about the entire family, their background and what happened to them has been crucial to me in understanding further not only this time in history and some background about Israel, but about philosophical trends at the time. really valuable!

An entirely engrossing perspective that I hadn't read about before in all the research I have done on that time period.

The Scholems is a remarkable story of one German Jewish family's history within the context of German political and social history. Geller provides context as he weaves the family's story within what was occurring every decade in Germany. Readers get a rendition of mostly twentieth century German history and how this impacted the Scholems. It helps readers put the events in perspective and also allows the history to come alive.

The Scholems is a interesting historical perspectives that most haven't read about. Well written and we'll thought out.