The Breslau diaries, 1933-1941

About this book

"With great immediacy, the diaries of Willy Cohn, a Jew and a Social Democrat, show how the Nazi process of marginalization unfolded from 1933 on within the vibrant Jewish community of Breslau-until that community was destroyed in 1941. Cohn documents how difficult it was to understand precisely what was happening, even as people were harassed, beaten, and taken off to concentration camps. He chronicles the efforts of the community to maintain some semblance of normal life, even as many made plans to emigrate or to get their children out. Cohn and his wife Gertrud were able to get their three oldest children out of Germany before it was too late. However, burying himself in his work of chronicling the history of the Jews in Germany, his diaries, and his memoirs, Cohn missed hisown chance to escape. In late 1941, he, Gertrud, and their two young daughters were deported to Lithuania, where they were shot"--Page [4] of cover.