Hare with Amber Eyes, The ~ Edmund de Waal ~ February Book Club Online

[JoanP]

The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome.

the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL

"In The Hare with Amber Eyes, Edmund de Waal unfolds the story of a remarkable family and a tumultuous century. Sweeping yet intimate, it is a highly original meditation on art, history, and family, as elegant and precise as the netsuke themselves.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next."  Edmund de Waal click to enlarge

                                                                                                                       

Discussion Schedule: Feb. 1-3      Prologue Feb. 4-8       Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899 Feb. 9-13     Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938 Feb. 14-18    Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947 Feb. 19-23    Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001 Feb. 24-28    Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009

For Your Consideration
February 14-18
Part Three ~ Vienna 1938-1947

24. 'An ideal spot For mass marches'
Who made the above comment?  Why didn't the Ephrussi family leave Vienna when their friends and fellow Jews left? Who was the angry mob that broke into the Palais?   Why were they hostile to the Jews?

25.  'A never-to-be-repeated opportunity'
  What was the official reason for targeting the Jews in Vienna as enemies of Germany?  What kept Viktor and Rudolf from being sent to Dachau?
  "Jews matter less than what they once possessed." Do you agree with de Waal's observaion? What became of all the Ephrussi "stuff"?

26.  'Good for a single journey'
 How did daughter Elizabeth manage to get Viktor and Emmy out of Vienna, past  Eichmann's Office for Jewish Emigration?  What would have become of them without her help?

27.  The tears of things
  Like Aeneas, Viktor weeps for all he has lost. Do you think he found any happiness at the end? Why did Elizabeth return to Vienna in 1945? What are some of the things she found in her 'emptied' home?

28. Anna's pocket
 The Palais, "a place to hide where you have come from. A place to hide things in."
Why should the netsuke have gone through the war in a hiding place when people did not? What did Anna intend to do with the netsuke hidden in her mattress?

29.  'All quite openly, publicly and legally'
"It was a family that could not put itself back together."  How did the Ephrussi family cope in the post war years?
How did the new Austrian Republic handle the restitution of confiscated property six years later? Amnesty to Nazi Party and Gestapo?  What does this mean?

 

Related Links:
link to Ephrussi family tree
Ephrussi family photos
Edmund de Waal at the Palais (YouTube)

DIscussion Leaders: JoanP & Marcie

[BarbStAubrey]

rah rah Ollie - yes, and we keep searching for that refinement and responsibility for the future that seems to be a European trait.

[marcie]

JoanP, I like those amber pieces with the fossils in them. I have some pieces of amber and silver jewelry that is part of my Latvian heritage from my mother and aunt. I love amber in a silver setting that has folklore symbolism.

de Waal does provide a lot of detail. I admit to getting a bit overwhelmed by some of the historical events (I think because I have such a poor understanding of history) but I think he is trying to provide a full setting for the netsuke and wants to answer questions such as: What was life like for those who owned the netsuke. What was his family's reaction to the big events of their time? What other art forms were contemporary with the netsuke collection?

[marcie]

Olle, "refinement" is a great word. There seems to be a contrast between the playful, straightforward-yet-complex netsuke and the refinement (or lack of it) in the world of Paris and Vienna.

LOL, Babi re the "crocodile smile." What a rich image!

JoanP, I'm so glad you brought up the paternity question. I was thinking the same thing. Emmy gives birth 9 months after her wedding. She married Victor although she did not love him. Then the 5th child is born while Emmy and Victor are increasingly distant from one another and fight when they are at home. Hmmmm....

[Babi]

 Gorgeous, isn't it. I once hoped to find a piece of amber jewelry for my own, but by
then it was growing more scarce and much more expensive. Now, about the only jewelry
I can wear that won't fall off are necklaces and pins.

 So true, OLLE. Art has always flourished in times of prosperity. When the economy is
poor, people are much more cautious and reserve their funds for the necessary things.
Also true, that in the presence of feminine beauty, men do tend to focus on that and
fail to see clues to a less than benign personality. (I said that tactfully, don't you
think?  )

  Can anyone define 'cod classicism' for me?  I can't see, in deWaal's description of a 'swaggering cavalcade',  that the reference is to fish.    I am more inclined to believe it is related to the codpiece needed in the days of tights or hose in men's fashions.

  My, doesn't Baron Ignace von Ephrussi have an impressive list of titles?  According to our author, "splendidly Ruritarian". My dictionary gave me 'Ruritanian" which has got to be the same.  "Ruritanian - characteristic of an imaginary Central European country used as a setting for adventure stories of romance and intrigue; esp. contemporary cloak-and-dagger court intrigue." Most
appropriate, don't you think.
  Then,  bad news for the Ephrussi's and their friends.   Vienna has a new mayor who cheerfully declares, "Jew baiting is an excellent means of propaganda and getting ahead in politics." Yes, indeed.  Hitler found it most useful; the czars did as well.  Whenever the people are getting rebellious  under your rule,  find a minority target for their anger.  Very efficient.

[marcie]

If I remember the book correctly, Babi, the mayor you quoted then says that he gets to say who is a Jew. As a "politician" he tries to have it both ways.

What do you all think of life for wealthy children in those times? It seems that Emmy only spent time with her children for a couple of hours each day while getting dressed for the evening and on Sunday mornings. (On Downton Abbey yesterday Maggie Smith's character admited that she only spent time with her children for an hour a day when they were young.) I was interested to see that Emmy read fairytales to her children and made up stories for them. They also received the latest Andrew Lang fairytale collection each year.

[BarbStAubrey]

I guess nineteenth and twentieth century wealthy moms have a lot in common with twentieth and twenty-first century working moms.

Fabulous photos of Amber - it always seemed strange to me that something so slow moving would be able to capture a living bug in its wake - I would think they would have flown away but I guess the sticky substance on their feet must have trapped them.

[JoanP]

You can sense Edmond's struggle to understand his Viennese ancestors..."he just doesn't understand what it means to be part of an assimilated acculturated Jewish family."
Edmond reads 17 of Joseph Roth's novels...in which the dislike of the Ephrussi family keeps showing up...
He learns that in Vienna, if you looked Jewish, you were snubbed.  Anti-Semitism here is diffrent from Parisian anti-Semitism.

There are so many threats to Jews at this time.  Edmond  finds they are so perfectly assimilated, they've disappeared - to avoid these threats?  Does that explain how Emmy is able to participate fully in Viennese society? Because she doesn't LOOK Jewish or participate in Jewish activities? 

"Viennese Jews don't go to synagogue, but births, marriages, deaths are recorded in the Rabbinate."
They donate to Jewish Charities, but that seems to be the extent of their Jewish activities.


The University across the way is becoming more of a hotbed of student unrest and demonstrations, which the children watched from their "fortress."
  You have to wonder what these three children did all day.  We're told they were tutored at home, but did they ever go out?  Maybe  that's why Emmy took them on regular visits to her family's country home in Kovences.  No wonder it was referred to as "Liberty Hall."

It was her memoirs,  those 12 pages young Elizabeth Ephrussi kept on daily life in the Palais, that opened the door to Edmond.  She pretty much diagrammed the location of the netsuke collection.  Don't you wonder why Emmy decided to  put the collection in her dressing room area?  Did she like them, or did she not want visitors to see them?  Luckily they were stored in a place where the children could play with them and appreciate them.  I like to think that it was the netsuke that provided the mother one of her only real opportunities to play with her children.  

How precious those memoirs turned out to be..  I find it difficult to understand how Elizabeth was so easily  into the University across the street...at this time.  I wish she had continued to write of her experiences there.

[Olle]

Babi, Marcie and all Just a little confession. It seems that my main interest is about the men. But no, it's not. I am fascinated of deWaal’s almost caressing diction.  It is poetic, melodic and with a Parisian fragrance. You just must love it. For young Charles, life is wonderful; the world's full of promises and in the midst of all, Charles lives and love, drinking the life-giving atmosphere. And he does make a career, and lives "la vie en rose"!
Everything seems to be so easy, when deWaal writes about it. His characteristic of Paris streets gives the atmosphere we know from the impressionist's paintings and from walking in that part of the town: 

“The streets of Paris have a calmness to them: clean stone façades, rhythmic detailing of balconies, newly planted lime trees appear in his (Caillebotte’s) painting Jeune homme à sa fenêtre, shown in the second Impressionists exhibition in 1876 . . .
Everything is possible.   It could have been young Charles.”

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He gives also an interesting and revealing portrait of deGouncourt, still mentioned with high respect. But you can sense the anti-Jewish feelings, slowly grow underneath the polished surface.

[Frybabe]

Well, I finished the book and turned it in to the library. Sad parting.

Speaking of sad. It must have been very difficult for de Waal emotionally to research and write about what was happening to his family and the Jewish community in Vienna. While he did a good job for the reader of minimizing his pain and outrage at reading about how badly Jews and specifically his family were treated, I could still feel the pain. It is beyond me how anyone can treat others so badly. I also learned how quickly people can turn on you with very little or no provocation, and how quickly family life and possessions are destroyed by people who you considered friends and colleagues.

[marcie]

JoanP, de Waal speculates about why Emmy put the netsuke in her dressing room. I think he gives her the benefit of the doubt in thinking that it might have been for the sake of the children and of storytelling.

Olle, de Waal's writing is captivating.

I found an article that indicates that his first draft of eight chapters was awful. It says:

"When he came to write it all up, though, it sounded a little like something from a university cultural-studies programme. “It was ‘can I provide a really accurate bit of cultural history about where things have been and if things had been, and make it communicable to other people?’ That was my way of protecting myself. And then, of course, it all fell apart.”

He wrote eight chapters and found he could not go on. “They were written in this slightly arch, rather professional, detached way, a bit wry, a bit knowing. And completely removed from what was going on. It was just phoney. I read it and it was completely phoney. It was just a construct…You’re a writer for goodness sake. You know when it doesn’t ring true at all. I hated writing it. I was absolutely hating writing it.”

So he began again. He took inspiration from Vasily Grossman, who had written one of the greatest novels of the second world war, “Life and Fate”. Like Joseph Conrad and the Ephrussis, Grossman came originally from Berdichev in the Pale of Settlement. His own family story there had taught him that “we can survive anything if we have stories to tell.” Drawing both on the exacting nature of the netsuke themselves and the muddled human experience of those who had owned them, de Waal set off afresh on his polemic against nostalgia and melancholy. “Part of the complexity was to navigate my way between the stuff and the story, because there’s the stuff and there’s the story, and sometimes they match each other and sometimes they don’t.” "

It's a very long, informative article: http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/arts/fiammetta-rocco/edmund-de-waal?page=full

[marcie]

Frybabe, I haven't finished the book yet. I anticipate a sad parting too.

[JoanP]

That is so interesting, Marcie. That information should be of great interest  to Olle, who is impressed with his easy writing style, his "caressing diction."  Olle, I agree, the Parisian men are suave and admirable.  Will be interested to hear what you think of the Vienna men.  I don't think de Waal was too impressed with Vienna - and these were his people!  He doesn't think his little netsuke can be comfortable in their new environment - until he locates them in Emmy's dressing room -  amusing playthings for Emmy and her children.

Marcie,  my impression- the very young bride, confronted with the responsibility of deciding where to place all those fantastic wedding gifts...really didn't understand what the netsuke were about - or that they were valuable.  They didn't fit in with the Palais decor, so she had it placed out of sight - in her dressing room.  Who knows, maybe they amused her.  It turned out to be a fortuitous decision by the time her children came along several years later...She was able to relate to her children with imaginary play through these little pieces.  Do you think she would have done so without them?

[marcie]

JoanP, you say "my impression- the very young bride, confronted with the responsibility of deciding where to place all those fantastic wedding gifts...really didn't understand what the netsuke were about - or that they were valuable.  They didn't fit in with the Palais decor, so she had it placed out of sight - in her dressing room.  Who knows, maybe they amused her."

I think that assessment is right on, Joan.

Emmy read fairytales to her children and let them dress up. I do think she was a storyteller and would have been without the netsuke....but what fantastic props!

[Frybabe]

I also thought they were hidden away because they didn't know what to do with them and it would have been impolite to get rid of them. It turned out well though, because it gave the children extra time with their mom that they may not have had otherwise. I am sure they looked forward to playing with the netsuke and hearing the stories. There aren't many children who wouldn't enjoy that, at least when they are smaller.

Later on, there is something else de Waal noted about the play time in one of the later sections, something that one of the children commented about it. I go no further lest I spoil it. Just keep an eye out for it.

[Babi]

 De Waal introduces us to so many facets of the arts of the time, I can't help being curious about them. Reading De Waal's irreverent remark about the statue of Goethe looking "extremely cross",  I naturally had to see it.  I agree.http://wikimapia.org/2012833/Goethe-Monument

 I've never heard of a 'secession' pattern before,  and was not at all sure what, in the card, was an example of it.  I quickly found that 'secession' was the word used in Vienna for the new Art Nouveau style.  This link gave me a better idea of what the 'secession' pattern was like.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alfons_Mucha_-_1894_-_Gismonda.jpg

 It's a pity out author didn't give us the title of the book by Jakob Wassermann that used Pip as it's protagonist.  Amazon had a lot of them,  but only as e-books (free), and only a couple in English. The rest are in the original German.  If any of you are fluent in German,  maybe you could see if you can identify the book and tell us about it. (Well, maybe not. It might be awful, of course.)

Charcoal biscuit, anyone?  Oh, yes, with actual charcoal, food quality, of course.  Excellent for digestive problems.  (Enough said about that. )

 

[marcie]

Babi, de Waal uses many terms and references that I have to look up (or should look up!) Thanks for the links.

[Frybabe]

I remember keeping a container of activated charcoal around the house early in my homemaker career.

Thanks for the links Babi. I missed the extremely crossed Goethe. I don't remember ever hearing about a secessionist art movement either.

[BarbStAubrey]

the List of Books available on Gutenburg

Caspar Hauser oder Die Trägheit des Herzens (German) (as Author)
Deutsche Charaktere und Begebenheiten (German) (as Author)
Engelhart Ratgeber (German) (as Author)
Der goldene Spiegel - Erzählungen in einem Rahmen (German) (as Author)
The Goose Man (English) (as Author)
Imaginäre Brücken - Studien und Aufsätze (German) (as Author)
Der Mann von vierzig Jahren (German) (as Author)
Mein Weg als Deutscher und Jude (German) (as Author)
Melusine - Ein Liebesroman (German) (as Author)
Der Moloch (German) (as Author)
Der niegeküßte Mund - Drei Erzählungen (German) (as Author)
Olivia oder Die unsichtbare Lampe (German) (as Author)
Die Prinzessin Girnara - Weltspiel und Legende (German) (as Author)
Die Schaffnerin, Die Mächtigen - Novellen (German) (as Author)
Schläfst du Mutter?, Ruth - Novellen (German) (as Author)
Die Schwestern Drei Novellen (German) (as Author)
Die ungleichen Schalen Fünf einaktige Dramen (German) (as Author)
Der Wendekreis - Erste Folge - Novellen (German) (as Author)
Der Wendekreis - Zweite Folge Oberlins drei Stufen, Sturreganz (German) (as Author)

Ran it through Bing and the titles in the same order in English

Caspar Hauser or the inertia of the heart (English) (as author)
German characters and stories (English) (as author)
Edwards Guide (German) (as author)
The Golden mirror - Stories in a frame (English) (as author)
The goose man (English) (as author)
Imaginary bridges - Studies and essays (English) (as author)
The man of forty years (English) (as author)
My journey as a German and Jew (English) (as author)
Melusine - A romance (English) (as author)
The juggernaut (English) (as author)
The niegeküßte mouth - Three tales (English) (as author)
Olivia or the invisible lamp (English) (as author)
The Princess Girnara World game, and legend (English) (as author)
The worker, the mighty Short stories (English) (as author)
Are you sleeping mother?, Ruth - Short stories (English) (as author)
The sisters - Three novels (English) (as author)
The uneven shells - Five one-act plays (English) (as author)
The turning circle - first episode - Short stories (English) (as author)
The turning circle - second sequence - Three levels of Oberlin, stubborn re full (English) (as author)

[JoanP]

This is really two stories, isn't it...de Waal's search for the background of the fascinating netsuke collection now in his possession - but really, his geneological investigation to learn more of his family, his roots.  I love the methodical way he goes about getting to know his great grandparents, using every source he can find.  The image of him - walking around in the Palais, trying to imagine the netsuke here...even carrying one in his pocket as he goes.  But he goes back to London and does research, before deciding he has more research to do in Vienna.

Did you notice where he says he's read 17 of Joseph Roth's novels?  I just had to look him up - Joseph Roth's novels

"Born to a Jewish family, Roth grew up in Brody, a small town near Lemberg in East Galicia, part of the easternmost reaches of what was then Austro-Hungarian empire. Jewish culture played an important role in the life of the town, which had one of the biggest Jewish populations in Europe.
He often portrayed the fate of homeless wanderers looking for a place to live, in particular Jews and former citizens of the old Austria-Hungary, who, with the downfall of the monarchy, had lost their only possible Heimat ("true home")."

Viktor Ephrussi turns up in several of his novels - fiction. De Waal writes, "During the years of travelling and researching, recalling conversations and attempting to replace memories with actual rooms and streets, this slippage between what was “real” and what was in fiction became one of the greatest complexities for me. For the family turned up in the novels of Joseph Roth and the stories of Isaac Babel."

At first I thought that this was the only way Edmond would get to know his great grandfather...  but maybe his grandmother, Elizabeth has had something to tell him...or her brother, Iggy...
 
Doesn't Iggy have stories to tell?  His flight from the house of Ephrussi reads like fiction, doesn't it?   Did you see that coming?

[marcie]

Poor Iggy was made to study finances though he had no apptitude or interest in it. Then he was made to sit in a bank. I'm glad he had the courage to run away and start over in a career that he loved in fashion design, though it sounds like he had a lot of work to do, learning from the ground up.

It's good that his family sent him a small allowance (no questions asked).

Elizabeth was able to pursue her academic dreams too and also find a sensitive husband (who unfortunately wasn't better at dealing with money than her father was). It's amazing that she had a correspondence with Rilke. She was both a lawyer and a poet.

[marcie]

JoanP, thank you for finding that information about Joseph Roth. De Waal has such a literary family. Many were either writers or the subject of other authors.

[JoanP]

It sure helps when you are trying to piece together your family history - to have a paper trail from a family of writers.  Not speaking from personal experience...

I didn't  think Iggy had it in him to leave and strike out on his own...

[Frybabe]

Thanks for the link to Joseph Roth. I am going to have to find some of his novels to download. The only Radetzky March I know is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAZbMjuM3dI Enjoy.

I also looked up Isaac Babel. He was also born in Russian and stayed there. He was executed in 1940, accused of being a foreign spy and a Trotskyite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaak_Babel He lived in Odessa for a while, married there in fact, and wrote Tales of Odessa which probably included a likeness of the Efrussi family in it somewhere.

Okay, since I took the book back, I have a question. Did the book name the design houses Iggy worked for? I'd like to see if I can find some fashion links. All I can find so far refer to the book.

Elizabeth must have been remarkably bright and brave to have gone to university and graduating during that time when the situation was deteriorating so much for the Jewish population.

[JoanP]

Fry, Iggy went by the name I. Leo Ephrussi when in America.  There was an invitation to a showing of his Paris and New York Lines of Smart Accessories at Studio Huldschinsky in Hollywood, CA

Happy Hunting!  .


ps look here too- in the last paragraph:

http://books.google.com/books?id=dQAJeZoc_f8C&pg=PT108&lpg=PT108&dq=I.+Leo+Ephrussi&source=bl&ots=jOrKNt33aJ&sig=kZzxzgIqs95U-cGcgfeLuilLdqY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6QkbUY7QDIek8ATFtIHICQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA  

[Frybabe]

I quick Google got me nowhere. The only Huldschinsky that came up was in association with some rather odd design pages for aya Huldschinsky accessories. Almost all were associated with an Interior Design outfit called Aletier AM.  Nothing at all for Dorothy Coutaeur Inc. except for the reference back to our book. Sorry folks. I was hoping to find some pix of designs sold by these outfits back then.

[marcie]

Frybabe, I can't believe that the internet has nothing on Iggy's designs. I looked too and couldn't find anything.

[BarbStAubrey]

nice write up about the book - the family - with some wonderful photos of the house in Paris and more about the Musée Nissim de Camondo - including interior shots and a shot of the gardens - seems because the family bequeathed it to the city everything remained intact through both wars as compared to Ephrussi family and other houses and family experiences on the Street.

http://parisianfields.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/the-collectors/

backwards I know but more about Charles

http://www.svreeland.com/lbp-models.html

[Babi]

  True, JOANP. And see how much easier it is to find family background when they are
prominent, wealthy, important people. They were much noticed, and also included diarists
and record keepers. No researcher could ask for more.

the more I read of the Jews of Vienna,  the more I wonder that they were able to feel so secure and settled.  They had been there for generations, had been generous to the city,  and had the power that wealth brings.  But there were still all those small cues, the little snubs from the nobility that plainly said,  'You're not one of us'.  But when things have gone smoothly for so long,  people do tend to take for granted that life will go on as it had.
    Another thirty years ir so and prosperous German Jews,  considering themselves truly German citizens,  felt confident that the rising tide of anti-semitism could not affect them.   How could they forget so soon?

[JoanP]

I don't think I'll ever look at Renoir's painting, Charles in his top hat,  without thinking of the Ephrussi family tragedy, Barb.  That painting is just across the river in the Phillips' collection in DC.  Whenever we have visitors who wish to see the city, that's one of the not to be missed museum's we visit.  The Hare with the Amber Eyes and Charles will be part of the tour...

Babi...as long as the family had their home, their Palais, they felt safe.  Inconceivable what was to follow.  It was sad seeing Viktor cooped up, not even going to the bank anymore - waiting to see what would happen next.  When the fortress walls were breeched, I thought it was over for the family.  
I was surprised to see that Elizabeth was able to attend the university across the strasse...knowing that anti-semitism was brewing there.  Was it anti-semitism, or was it resentment of the rich.  Whatever it was, Elizabeth managed to get through, to excel - a female - a Jewish female with that Ephrussi name.
 How did she do it?

Vienna has been high on my bucket list of cities to visit.  Now I'm having second thoughts.  What has become of all the confiscated art work?  Haven't read too far ahead yet - maybe we'll learn more before the final chapter.  I think I'll go look up something on today's Vienna...

[JoanP]

Me again...I didn't get very far.  I found Edmund de Waal standing in front of the Palais, giving a talk - with his family, his sons, and his father in attendance - describing his experience in writing this book and the inheritance of the netsuke.  If I can find a transcript of his remarks, I'll include them for those unable to hear him...

As he speaks, he's holding two of the netsuke in his hands...
I don't want to be a spoiler for those of you who haven't finished the book.  He speaks of the painful events of 1938 - and then Elizabeth's return visit to her old home in 1945... He really doesn't go too much into her return, but we'll get into those chapters here tomorrow.

Edmund de Waal at the Palais (YouTube)

[marcie]

Barbara, thanks for those links. Those are good photos of the house in Paris.

Joan, you ask "Was it anti-semitism, or was it resentment of the rich?" That's a good point. I couldn't help but think that when the young followers of Hitler broke into Viktor's house and started ransacking it, stealing and breaking things. They stopped short of beating up the family. Viktor remained in Vienna due to his sense of loyalty and his world view. He must have been shocked to the core to see what was happening. He had left his money in the country and invested a lot in was it war bonds? He lost virtually everything.

Thanks for the link to the de Waal video, Joan. He's a great writer but a very hesitant, reluctant speaker. But I do find him charming.

[Babi]

 So frustrating!  I had written my post here yesterday morning, ready to post it, when my daughter
appeared ready to start her day's work.  I was running late, to say the least.  In the haste and fluster to
clear out for her, I lost the post.  I would repeat it, if I could remember what I wrote!   

[marcie]

Babi, I'm sorry. That is so frustrating!

I had accidentally jumped into this section with my post yesterday about the break in to Viktor's home. Poor Viktor seems to have had his head in the sand. He didn't want to believe that the country would fall into the hands of Hitler or that it would mean that he would no longer be in a position of power. De Waal travelled to the scene again in order to write this section. He pieces events together from various sources and puts us in the rooms where the rifling through their personal belongings and wreckage takes place. His writing is very effective.

[JoanP]

So sorry Babi...hate to lose a post - even worse not to remember what was in it when you come back at the end of the day!

Viktor's relationships with his children seem just about non-existant, don't they?  With Emmy too.  The one I marvel at is young Rudolf!  Kept expecting him to get in more trouble than he did.  He is described as "contrary"...also stayed out until all hours, which must have been asking for trouble in these troubled times. Weren't you blown away - imagining him working...working anywhere - but then picture him in Arkansas!   Did de Waal ever meet him after the war - in London perhaps?  As it turned out, he was lucky to be far from Vienna. 

"Fathers, brothers were arrested."  I'm still wondering why Viktor wasn't arrested though.

Marcie, I'm still puzzling about the motiviation for the break-in at the Palais.  You're right, Viktor and Emmy were not harmed in any way...while everything was smashed...students shouting against the Jews, "Jewish opulence."   "This was the night the Jews were held accountable for all they have done."    I'm trying to figure out exactly what they meant by that. 

[Frybabe]

Kristallnacht was a portend of things to come.The excuse was the assassination of a German diplomat to Paris named Ernst vom Rath by a young Polish Jew. All the articles I see now on the web indicate that it was Nazi troups that did the damage, but about five years ago, I read an article in a Jewish magazine that it was made to look like a spontaneous riot by the citizens. The German government blames the Jews for the damages and made them pay for the damages.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX99.html

"This was the night the Jews were held accountable for all they have done."
At this point I think that meant whatever someone decided they didn't like about the Jewish community or wanted to blame someone other than themselves for their failings. The Jews have been long time easy targets for jealousy, hatred and prejudice.

[salan]

I'm still here, but running behind.  I'm trying not to read any spoilers....Will try to catch up soon.
Sally

[JudeS]

Hi
Finally returned from the visit to my son and the six day Road Scholar (Elder Hostel) seminar on Art Collectors and their Collections. It was really, really wonderful.
I am so happy to see  that the book I suggested has lead to such a lively discussion. I have only started to read your posts and think about what you are saying.

SPECIAL thanks to Joan P for that delightful video starrinng de Waal. Perhaps you have to review it again after you finish the book. I felt that it was a perfect Coda to his saga. A delight to see his family, especially his Father.

[Babi]

  I don't think those rioting students needed any motivation; all they needed was an
excuse to run wild. University age students have always been notorious in times of trouble
for taking violent action...on either side of an issue.  I was very interested, tho',
FRYBABE, by the report that the damage was actually done by Nazi troops. Either scenario
is possible.

 I find myself wondering why the family didn't stay in Switzerland when WWI broke out.  Wasn't Switzerland neutral during the first WW as well as the second?  I would think they would be much safer there. But then,
they had so much invested in Vienna, and had lived there for, what?, three generations?
  And as usual,  the Jewish bankers and financiers are paying enormous sums in loans for support of the war.
It is that generations-old skill and experience in money management that made these Jewish communities so welcome to astute kings and emperors.

[JoanP]

Remember Herodotus and his attempt to learn the reasons men go to war?  He thought that once that question was answered, future war could be avoided.  I'm trying to remember what he concluded about the strong, power-hungry leader who was able to convince others to follow him blindly, either by threat or bribery.  

As we consider Hitler's strength and his ability to destroy so many lives, I shudder.  Haven't we learned anything that will check such leaders in the future.  I fear we haven't.  How did this one man manage to take control of the world?  He had to have help, support.  In hindsight, who would have supported this mastermind if they had seen into the future?

When Hitler was appointed chancellor on January 30th 1933, it was at the head of a coalition government.  Germany was a democracy.
How did Germany descend so quickly into becoming a dictatorship?