Tag Archives: Hitler

Christopher Isherwood Shoots Weimar Berlin

Posted 25/2/2014 

Weimar Out, Nazis In

Robert Liebman

Liza Minnelli, Cabaret

For British novelist Christopher Isherwood (1904-86), Berlin during the Weimar era held more appeal than London. Until Hitler arrived.

In 1929, Isherwood moved to Berlin, lived in rented rooms, taught English to support himself, and kept a diary which served as the basis for his short-story collection Goodbye to Berlin (1939).

The publication date is deceptive. He wrote most of the stories in the early 1930s before Hitler became Chancellor but while the Nazis were rising in power—and Hitler’s followers, the feral Brownshirts, roamed the streets. Isherwood captures the ethos of a German capital undergoing massive change. By the time (January 1933) Hitler became Chancellor, Isherwood’s Berlin sojourn was effectively over. Continue reading

The Jewish Daughter

Posted 30/1/2024

Polina, Molotov’s Jewish Wife

Robert Liebman

Polina-MolotovaHitler needed it, to pave the way for his powerful Wehrmacht to attack Poland. Stalin needed it, to buy time to bulk up his Red Army.* On 23 August 1939, their foreign secretaries delivered it: the non-aggression Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.

Bitter enemies—Communist Soviet Union and Fascist Germany—instantly became allies.

A week later, on 1 September, Germany invaded Poland. The Second World War in Europe had begun.

Continue reading

Lefty Academics Gunning for Israel

Poor Aim, Wrong Target

By Robert Liebman, originally published in Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), January 10, 2015

Several recent initiatives reveal the deep intent of many academic BDS supporters to attack Israel at any price, even if their own credibility and integrity foot the bill. Continue reading