The Art of Resistance, by Justus Rosenberg (2020)
The author, Justus Rosenberg, was well into his 90s when his memoir was published. He was born in 1921 in the Free City of Danzig, a semi-autonomous city-state that existed for about 20 years between 1920 and 1940. He was immersed in both Polish and German culture. His grandparents lived in Poland, but his parents had moved to Danzig. They believed that the Jewish residents of Danzig would be insulated from the rise of Hitler.
At age 16, Rosenberg was sent to Paris to further his education. The rest of his family remained in Danzig. When the Germans invaded France, Rosenberg’s studies came to an end. The blond-haired, blue-eyed Rosenburg didn’t “look Jewish” and soon found himself joining the underground resistance movement. The fact that he was also fluent in Polish, German and English was a major asset to the underground.
Rosenberg recounts his imprisonments and escapes in vivid detail. The book reads like a suspense story. We know from the beginning, of course, that the author survives, but that doesn’t distract from the tensions of the narrative.
After the War, Rosenberg settled in the United States where he became a literature professor at Bard College. He died in October 2021 at age 100.
4 Stars
Read: January 2022
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