PDF I Will Bear Witness 1942-1945: A Diary of the Nazi Years by Victor Klemperer in History

Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The Epic Part IIBy Cabin DwellerThis is the most invaluable resource; and to think that all of the entries could have resulted in his death once discovered; and the death of Annemarie his Aryan abettor; could have been misplaced in all the moves; could have been destroyed by war; and could have been destroyed after the war. If there are other works similar; they don’t have the depth of “the professor” and his incredible attention to detail and feel for the comprehensive cost of war; being a Jew; and being German. Although I was not able to read this work quickly and did not finish with anticipation; Klemperer accomplished everything the Nazis took from him beginning with the 1933-1941 diary. Unlike the first diary; Klemperer has no need to discuss the house’s construction; the anxiety of driving; the trivial budgeting; and the loss of his work. This I Will Bear Witness still details his angina trouble; as well as Eva’s struggles; to include toward the end anemia; but the other details are from inside the cave. The Jews’ house goes from one spot into another. He counts the deaths as they are rumored to occur; and usually confirmed. The Jews’ house; technically; was counterintuitive for the Nazis. Klemperer obviously took strength from the close quarters and the overall circumstances of seeing others suffer the same. This includes diet after diet of potatoes. The rationing coupons keep the story going. Dresden is a character more and more; but I was enlightened about the rate of bombing; finding that the bombs came late and in spurts. His house’s survival; and that of an old friend; suggests the bombing was not that of the final scenes of The Pianist. The shelters were used thirty minutes at a time; sometimes less. The concentration camp of choice is Theresienstadt; never Auschwitz or Dachau. There is little to no hint that Theresienstadt is a haven. As Klemperer says; the camp surely means death. Klemperer’s reading is slowed but not eliminated. I marked a page for Joseph Kessel and The Prisoners. As the good of the war seems possible; the time can be a neutralizer. On May 6; 1944; Klemperer writes; “Yesterday a death sentence that is more cruel and brooks less delay than the angina diagnosis. An eye muscle; the obliquus inferior of the left eye; is paralyzed.” Klemperer believes whatever the progress of the Russians and the Americans; and despite the fall of the Italians; his health will kill him at any time because of diet; poor healthcare; and of course the stress. On some pages he is bravely resigned; and then a radio report or a conversation with a nice policeman will actually bring him all back into dogged focus. All in all the timeline is as can be expected. When Operation Valkryie failed and officers were shot; Klemperer knew. When D-Day hit; Klemperer knew; and had enough information; or perhaps firsthand evidence in Dresden; to disbelieve reports that the Americans and British were failing their mission. Although he was way off the mark suggesting the war would end in 1943; he is on the pulse of the war believing 1944 might not be premature. But then the Battle of the Bulge; and the writing was definitely on the wall as the Russians; feared as rapists but viewed as heroes; and the Americans; viewed as casual and particularly un-militaristic; un-German; collapsed in what some near Klemperer thought would immediately lead to a new clash. Klemperer never states he believes strongly in this. He dwells on being a refugee. He does not fear the future. He does not wonder anymore about money. The references he makes to his profession and his livelihood come from others who believe the Klemperer name will automatically place the author back on a pre-1933 perch.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. From the inside outBy Joseph D. JannuzziThis is the second volume of a very detailed diary kept by illiterate and meticulous scholar who although a Christian was half Jewish by blood and was therefore treated as a Jew by the Nazis.The story starts in 1933 and ends when he finally returns home to his little house in the suburbs of Dresden in 1945.This documents the slow and calculated process which by the clever use of propaganda transformed a cultured and relatively peaceful people into one of the most frightening military machines the world has ever seen.I think the message still has validity today.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Second part of a remarkable and compelling accountBy Montana SkylinePlease see my review of the first volume; 1933-1941. A remarkable account and compelling read