Europa, Europa by Solomon Perel

Europa, Europa Reviews

• 
  Greta G

  Historians know that there were “Mischlinge” - part-Jewish according to Nazi racial laws, with only 1 (quarter-Jews) or 2 Jewish grandparents (half-Jews) - who served in Hitler’s forces. Many were conscripted at the beginning of the war. However, there were also a few cases of full Jews (at least 3 Jewish grandparents according to the Nuremberg racial laws) who concealed their Jewishness and escaped persecution by pretending to be ethnic Germans. (
  Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military)
  The story of Solomon Perel is such an exceptional case.
  
  Spoiler warning
  
  Solomon (Shlomo) Perel was born in 1925 in Peine, Germany. At the age of ten, when Hitler came to power, his family moved to Lodz in Poland, assuming it would be safer for them there. After the invasion of Poland, his parents decided to send Solomon, then fourteen, and his older brother Isaac to safety to the Soviet-occupied side of Poland. Solomon was placed in a Soviet communist orphanage in Grodno. Two years later, in 1941, Hitler invaded Russia and Solomon had to flee from the orphanage with the other Jewish residents.
  When he was captured by the German Wehrmacht in Minsk, he allegedly buried his identity papers and said he was Joseph Perjell, an ethnic German, whose parents were killed and his papers destroyed by the Russians. The German soldiers immediately believed him. Solomon joined the German soldiers, who used him as a translator and photographer in their Wehrmacht unit, while fighting on the front line in Russia. After about a year with the Wehrmacht, German authorities decided to send Solomon/Joseph, who was still a minor, to Germany. He was enrolled in an exclusive, elite Hitler Jugend military school in Brunswick, where he remained until the end of the war in 1945, all the while disguising his true identity - and his circumcision - from his comrades.
  In 1948, Solomon joined the Haganah and emigrated to the new Jewish state of Israel, where he served in the Israeli Army and fought in Israel’s War of Independence. His two brothers, David and Isaac, survived the War too ; his parents and his only sister, didn’t survive.
  
  Solomon Perel’s memoir deals with his identity struggle, his split personality, and with the confusion and fear caused by hiding in plain sight among his enemies. His adventures are fascinating, but completely bizarre. Solomon played his role of a young Nazi so well, he transformed into one. His new identity took on a life of its own : he eventually believed he was Joseph the German Hitler Jugend ; and Solomon the Jew was almost forgotten.
  
  “The constant tension from my years of fighting for survival did not let up all at once, but gradually it began to fade. I couldn’t just peel off the Nazi skin in which I had lived and survived. It wasn’t that simple. It had become my own skin.”
  
  I appreciated Solomon’s courageous honesty in admitting his perturbance, and although there’s little doubt that Solomon’s extraordinary story of survival is true (it turned out there were witnesses - former Hitler Jugend members); there were many implausible details and coincidences in the book that made me repeatedly wonder if he’s a fantasist. After all, he wrote his memoir more than 40 years after the war. And let’s not forget that he learned to survive through lying. His (presumed) exaggerations made his story more spectacular though.
• 
  Dolceluna ♡

  Fra tutte le testimonianze che ho letto sull'Olocausto (e sono tante) questa è sicuramente la più incredibile. E dimostra quanto il clima di confusione e follia dell'epoca fosse davvero ai massimi livelli. Germania, 1935: Sally Perel, giovane ebreo, è costretto, a causa delle persecuzioni razziali, a lasciare la famiglia e e trasferirsi prima in Polonia e poi in Russia, dove viene accolto in un orfanotrofio: questo non basta a risparmiargli una retata durante la quale cade prigioniero dei nazisti. A questo punto sicuramente penserete che venga trasportato in un campo di concentramento e subisca maltrattamenti e angherie di ogni tipo come tantissimi altri...e invece no!! Sally si finge un Volksdeutscher, un orfano di guerra, un tedesco di pura razza ariana che ha perso casa, genitori e documenti in un bombardamento..e viene incredibilmente creduto! Da quel momento la sua vita prende un corso inaspettato e impensabile, totalmente diverso da quello che avrebbe preso in altre circostanze, totalmente doverso da quello preso per gli ebrei del tempo: Sally diventa la mascotte di un gruppo di soldati tedeschi partecipando ad alcune valorose azioni della campagna russa e poi viene spedito in Germania in una scuola della gioventù hitleriana, dove viene istruito a quel folle credo che sta distruggendo il suo stesso popolo. Sino alla fine della guerrà reciterà questa parte con scaltro, prontezza e molta, costante paura, riuscendo così a salvarsi la vita...e a ritornare nalla città natale come Salomon Perel l'ebreo e non come Joseph Perjell il giovane ariano.
  Sapevo del film "Europa Europa" ma ignoravo l'esistenza del libro, che mi ha realmente stupita per la sua incredbile storia: quella di una persona la quale si sforza di fingere una parte che le è antagonista pur di sopravvivere, con amarezza, timore e al contempo speranza e ostinazione. E' un urlo alla voglia di vivere, un naturale istinto alla vita che porta a giustificare ogni mezzo pur di farcela. E ce la fa, portando il suo corpo alla salvezza...ma la sua anima non sarà meno distrutta di quella dei tanti sopravvissuti ai campi. Non solo per la solitudine immensa provata durante gli anni vissuti in un'identità che non gli apparteneva, col sentimeno di chi non è carne e nemmeno pesce...ma anche perchè lotterà per tutto il resto della vita con un senso di colpa, col rimorso quasi di non aver vissuto ciò che ha scampato, con quella vergogna da occhi bassi di fronte a coloro che hanno subito soprusi e sevizie. Memorabile il passaggio del libro in cui Perel si descrive come un prigioniero senza prigione, un prigioniero di se stesso, uno smarrito che annaspa: il lettore non può che ammirane la lucidità in più di una situazione, ma alla fin fine prova per lui anche una grande pena.
  In conclusione, una forte testimoninza di grande intensità drammatica, discutibile e incredibile.
• 
  Miss Naseweis

  „Seitdem habe ich mit vielen Menschen geredet, diskutiert und auch gestritten. Und ich werde das weiter tun, denn es ist die beste Möglichkeit, unser Gedächtnis lebendig zu halten. Und unser Gedächtnis ist das wirkungsvollste Bollwerk gegen die braune Gefahr.“
  
  Dieses Buch in einer Zeit zu lesen, in der ein Mitglied einer der populärsten Parteien Deutschlands den Holocaust als „Vogelschiss in der Geschichte bezeichnet“, ist besonders bitter und zeigt, dass es mit dem Gedächtnis der Deutschen nicht weit her ist. Dieses Buch ist sehr eindrücklich geschrieben und als ich es schließlich durchgelesen hatte, hatte ich einen enormen Kloß im Hals. Jahrelang mit den potentiellen Mördern Seite an Seite zu leben und jeden Tag Gefahr zu laufen entdeckt zu werden und dann von einer Minute auf die andere von den eigenen Freunden umgebracht zu werden ist so schrecklich, dass ich es mir nicht vorstellen kann. Auch der Verlust des Großteils seiner Familie tat mir als Familienmenschen in der Seele weh. Sally Perel stellt in seiner Biographie die Arroganz der Nazis, die erfolgreiche Indoktrinierung der Jugend, das bereitwillige Wegsehen der Bevölkerung und die Wahnwitzigkeit der Rassenlehre sehr plastisch und dadurch umso erschreckender dar.
• 
  Vivi

  Ich hatte das Glück diesen doch sehr außergewöhnlichen Mann zu treffen und seine Geschichte und seine Nachricht an uns Jugendliche aus seinem eingenen Mund zu hören.
  Das Buch ist einfach spannend und so interessant, da es etwas komplett anderes ist, als man normal über die Zeit unter Hitlersherrschaft liest. Auch die Art wie Sally Perel es schaffte zu überleben und welcher innerer Kampf dieser Weg doch war, ist beeindruckend.
  Es ist auf jedenfall ein Buch, dass man mal gelesen haben sollte, weil es, es schafft die Geschichte so gekonnt zu vermitteln.
• 
  Kris

  Definitely the most fascinating and unique WW II survival account that I have read. Though, its writing style may be found wanting at times, its story captivates. It chronicles the survival of a Jewish boy, who first hides among the Russians and is then mistaken for a brave German. He is then forced to masquerade as a Hitler Youth among the Nazi Elite's children. While being far removed from knowing the horrific fate of the average Jew, he questions his own consciousness and identity.
• 
  Anita

  Fantastisches Buch! Ich durfte ihn sogar persönlich treffen und sein Schicksal aus seinem eigenen Mund hören. Werde ich nie vergessen!
• 
  Nadi

  Ein sehr wichtiges Buch! Sally hat uns damals am Gymnasium besucht und seine Geschichte erzählt, was mir noch als sehr bewegend in Erinnerung geblieben ist. Vielen Dank, Sally!
• 
  Amy

  Amazing! Solomon Perel's life is like none I have ever known in that he survived by perseverance as well as extremely good luck. It is almost difficult to believe the path this boy's life took during the Holocaust. Moreover, the movie is amazing and seems in-sync with the book to a great extent.
  
  
• 
  Txe Polon

  Más allá de la propia historia y de lo terrible que es el marco en el que se sitúan los hechos, lo que hace diferente este testimonio del Holocausto es el énfasis en el impacto en la psicología del autor, en quien se desarrollaron diferentes versiones de sí mismo que tenían que convivir y evitar el colapso de la propia personalidad. Y me parece que este aspecto, fundamental en la obra, queda obviado y casi desaparece en la adaptación cinematográfica (bastante libre en cuanto a la fidelidad a los hechos) de Agnieszka Holland.
• 
  Christoph R.

  Ein sehr interessanter und spannender Bericht von Sally Perel, der sich im 2. Weltkrieg als "Volksdeutscher" ausgegeben und seine jüdische Herkunft verschleiert hat, um zu überleben.
  Der Anfang war für mich weniger flüssig zu lesen, und die Tatsache, dass es keine Kapitel gibt, haben mir nicht so gut gefallen.
  Ansonsten: Klare Leseempfehlung!
• 
  abril maig

  la veritat i la mentida en una mateixa realitat. xanxanxaaaan
• 
  zbetty

  docetla jsem prvni knizku ČEXu mega brzo musim rict
• 
  Julia

  Pflichtlektüre. Wahnsinnig berührend. Wichtig diese wahren Geschichten nie zu vergessen
• 
  Sophia

  Man versteht durch das Buch wie Hitler es geschafft hat die HJ-Jugend so hinters Licht zu führen.
• 
  A.R.T.

  “In meiner Akte stimmte nur das Geburtsdatum. Da konnte man nichts falsch machen. Alle Menschen werden auf dieselbe Weise geboren, ein spezifisch arisches Geburtsdatum gab es nicht.”
  
  Noch nie hatte ich den zweiten Weltkrieg bzw. den Holocaust mit einer solchen Perspektive betrachtet. Millionen von Menschen, darunter nicht nur Juden, sondern auch Schwarzen, Homosexuelle, Zigeuner und viele Andere aus verschiedenen Ethnien und Religionen, haben für ihr Leben gekämpft.
  
  Aber dieser Identitätskampf, den der Hitlerjunge “Jupp” Salomon hatte führen müssen, ist ja etwas ganz Einzigartiges.
  
  Was ist denn ein Mensch, ohne eine Identität? Wie bestimmen wir, wer wir sind?
  
  Wer bist du? Wer bin ich? Und wer sind sie? Was ist man ohne eine Identität?
  
  Insofern kann ich nur den Autor zustimmen, indem ich wiederhole, dass sein Leben nichts anderes als „aberwitzig“ sei.
  
  Meine Worte beende ich mit der Zusammenfassung seiner eigenen Geschichte von Sally Perel: Ist es schon schwierig, ein Jude zu sein, so ist es noch viel schwieriger zu versuchen, keiner zu sein.
• 
  John Betts

  I remember seeing the movie "Europa, Europa" many years ago and enjoyed it which obviously was based on Solomon Perel's experiences during WWII. It remains one of my favorite foreign films that I've seen. I hadn't realized that there was a book in English by Perel so was pleased to come across this recently. As with the film, the book tells a remarkable story of one Jewish boy's struggle to survive the madness around him. He not only fulfilled his mother's last instruction to him to "Live!" he did so in a most unique way. I hope that Perel has had a good life since those dark days and I must confess to having an impish desire to have been a "fly on the wall" when he told everyone after the war just who and what he really was!
• 
  SAM

  Excellent, excellent true story of survival at any cost. A must read for WWII buffs. It's an almost impossible tale, almost too movie-like, but 100% true. Sol's journey is as heartbreaking as it is amazing. The movie of the same name is amazing as well and stayed true to the book. Of course I like the book better though.
• 
  George Grosman

  Interesting but somewhat shallow
  
  I hesitate to say this because the topic is fascinating and the book us a fast read but I find the author's style shallow and unsatisfying. It was more like reading a long newspaper article than a biography. Worth a read but not great writing. For the best writing on the Holocaust, read Primo Levi
• 
  Andre

  1) Deutsche Rezension
  2) English Review
  
  1) Deutsche Rezension
  Wenn jemand denken würde, diese Geschichte wäre frei erfunden, könnte ich das keinem verübeln. Denn es ist wirklich eine Geschichte die schwer zu glauben ist, vor allem da es definitiv Geschichten gibt die frei erfunden aber als wahr verkauft wurden.
  Der Unterschied hier ist, dass hier tatsächlich Beweise vorliegen. Es gibt Fotos, Dokumente und die Ortschaften existieren. Also wenn das eine Fälschung sein sollte, so ist es eine sehr umfangreiche.
  In jedem Fall ist es eine sehr interessante Geschichte, vor allem wie der Autor mit der Zeit zwei Identitäten entwickelte, den Judenjungen Salomon und den Hitlerjungen Jupp. Und aus meiner Sicht, ist ein wichtiger Grund weshalb seine Geschichte passieren konnte nicht nur die Schwammigkeit des Rassenbegriffes (den er wohl selber auch teilt) sondern die Tatsache, dass ein so hochrangiger Offizier ihn adoptieren wollte und das seine „Fronterfahrung“ ihn als jemand besonderes erschienen lassen hat, was wohl dazu führte, dass einige seiner Eigenarten übersehen und Gerüchte über ihn ihre Kraft verloren, denn ansonsten hätte auch die bestgespielte Rolle ihn nicht weit bringen können.
  Auch wie die Leute um ihn herum reagierten, hatte eine Menge Ironie, genauso wie sein eigenes Verhalten. Ich würde nicht alles glauben was er sagt, denn gewisse Dinge konnte er nicht wissen bzw. es ist klar, dass er damals aktuell umherschweifenden Legenden wiederholte, aber ansonsten ist da nichts auszusetzen.
  
  PS. Am Anfang des Buches fragte der Autor sich ob er sich überhaupt mit Holocaustüberlebenden gleichsetzen darf. Und wenn ich bedenke wer sich sonst so als Holocaustüberlebender bezeichnet hat, der Autor sich keine Sorgen zu machen brauchte.
  
  
  2) English Review
  If anyone thought that story was fictitious, I would not blame them. Because it's really a story that's hard to believe, especially since there are definitely stories that are fictitious but sold as true.
  The difference here is that there's actually evidence here. There are photos, documents and the villages exist. So if that was a fake, it's a very elaborate one.
  In any case, it is a very interesting story, especially as the author developed two identities over time, the Jewish boy Salomon and the Hitler Youth Jupp. And from my point of view, an important reason why his story could happen is not just the sponginess of the race concept (which he probably shares) but the fact that such a high-ranking officer wanted to adopt him and his "front-line experience" made him special which probably led to some of his idiosyncrasies being overlooked and rumors about him losing their effect, otherwise the best-played role would not have been able to get him far.
  Also there was a lot of irony, how people around him reacted, as well as his own behavior. I would not believe everything he says, because he could not know certain things or it is clear that he was repeating contemporary legends, but otherwise there is nothing wrong with that.
  
  PS. At the beginning of the book, the author asked himself if he can even equate with Holocaust survivors. And when I consider who else has called themselves a Holocaust survivor, the author did not need to worry.
  
• 
  David Swartzlander

  A remarkable story about the schizophrenic life of Solomon Perel, a Jew trying to stay alive in Europe during World War II. When the Nazis come to power, Perel, just a teenager, and his family flee to Lodz, Poland. When the Blitzkrieg overruns Poland, Perel and his brother flee to the Soviet Union. But that's where Perel is captured by the Germans as they continue their eastward march. As he stands in line, waiting to be put to death for his crime of being Jewish, he concocts an alternate life story so that he can obey his mother's last wish to him: "You must stay alive." He tells the Germans he is an ethnic German from Lithuania. No one checks his story. He becomes a part of the Wehrmacht and is used as an interpreter at the Russian front. At 16, though, the Germans decide he should be in Hitler's Youth organization and he is shipped to Brunswick, Germany, where he must for three years sing the praises of the Nazis and salute "Heil Hitler," simply to live. The Herculean effort rips his psyche apart. It requires him to be two people at once: Jupp, his Hitler Youth nickname, pure Nazi through and through, or Solly, the gentle Jew just trying to stay alive to obey his mother. Add to that the worry about what has happened to his family. The story is phenomenal. The writing is repetitious, but that can be overlooked for the incredible tale of survival told in this book, which was the basis in the 1990s for the film, "Europa, Europa." In addition, the reader will find interesting parallels between the Nazism and White Supremacists of the WWII era and those of the same factions that recently have come to power in the United States. An engrossing read.
• 
  Dimitri

  The proverbial sheep among wolves. Born in Germany, grown up in Poland & during Barbarossa a "Luthanian Volksdeutsche" who lost his papers, was adopted by the infantry & through his CO's influence, sent to the Home Front to attend a prestigious Hitlerjugend school.
  
  You can't make that up. I'd never have such wits as a mere teenager. But it was made into a movie.
  
  The risk of exposure (foremost the foreskinless kind) is great, the Doublethink effort even greater.
  Hardly less surprising is the frequency with which people identify Perel but don't betray him, unlike the frequency with which other people after the war profess indifference...
• 
  Lorena

  Eine unglaubliche Geschichte, die wirklich lesenswert ist. Es ist so interessant, wie Sally gleichzeitig im Versteckten Salomon, der Jude, sein kann aber auch "Jupp", der Hitlerjunge. Wie er in manchen Situationen gemischte Gefühle hat. Und ich bewundere es sehr, wie er über seine Geschichte reden kann und ehemaligen Nazis begegnet, ganz ohne Rachegefühle, obwohl er doch so viele Verluste zu verzeichnen und viel durchgemacht hat. Besonders das Nachwort fand ich sehr emotional. Wirklich bewundernswerte und wichtige Lektüre.
• 
  Robert Hepple

  First published in English in 1997, having been previously published in French in 1990, Europa Europa tells the story of a young Jewish man's survival from Nazi oppression when he posed as an Ethnic German and subsequently joined the Hitler Youth. I found myself puzzled that in all of his time pretending to be an ardent Nazi, he never once had to undergo a medical examination but hey, the tales of survivors are always tales of extraordinary good luck. An amazing book about a horrid subject.
• 
  elissa

  Story of Solomon's journey to follow his mother's orders and "stay alive, any way you can," as he wanders Europe, hiding his Jewish identity as teenager during WWII in Europe. Well translated, and an incredible journey. At one point he finds himself living in a Hitler Youth school. Continues through the end of the war and reconnecting with the few members of his family who remained alive. Not your usual war memoir, by any stretch